The caramels are sweet and sticky, with a distinct creamy-buttery aroma. I have loved butter caramel since childhood, and you probably do too, dear readers. This is such a delicacy, almost toffee, only more elastic. But not everyone knows how to make caramel at home. It is on the principle of adding fat - butter and cream - that many recipes are based, from delicate sauces to traditional caramel apples.

I bring to your attention variations on the theme - caramel popcorn (like in the cinema), apples covered with the same, creamy caramel sauce and. Everything is very simple and without a thermometer! Go ahead, have fun caramelizing!

Homemade caramel popcorn

• 250 g granulated sugar;
• 2 tbsp. spoons of water;
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice;
• package of salted microwave popcorn.

1. Start with the salted popcorn, microwave it according to the instructions, and pour it into a large bowl.
2. Pour sugar, water and lemon juice into a small saucepan with a long handle (this will make it easier to pour). The acidity in the lemon juice will prevent unwanted crystallization, so don't omit this item.
3. Wait until the sugar has completely absorbed the moisture, and then heat, stirring lightly with a silicone spatula, until the sugar becomes liquid and clear.
4. When the sugar turns into a liquid state, do not stir it or touch it. For this amount of sugar, boiling for three minutes is enough for it to start to darken.
5. After three minutes, add melted butter to it, cut it into pieces in advance. The butter will begin to melt and foam, this is normal, stir the caramel and butter until smooth and let simmer for another minute or two. Be careful, the sugar mixture is very hot!

Pour the caramel over the popcorn and stir until the caramel coating on the popcorn is completely set. It is important to stir so that the popcorn does not clump together into a single caramel mass.

How to make caramel apples

• 250 g granulated sugar;
• 2 tbsp. spoons of water (can be with dye);
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice;
• 40 g butter with a fat content of 82%;
• 6 small juicy apples.

1. and dry with a towel. Choose small fruits so that they have time to bake in hot caramel. The apples must be dry so that it does not slip off them.
2. Stick a stick into each apple; Chinese disposable sticks are great; you can even paint them to suit your taste.
3. In a small saucepan, mix sugar with water, lemon juice, and honey. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring thoroughly.
4. Next, add the oil, stir until smooth, reducing the heat slightly. Give the mixture time to get a nice caramel color, this will happen in three to four minutes. Immediately remove the pan from the heat.
5. Dip the apples into the caramel, swirling to evenly distribute the caramel layer.
6. onto a greased baking sheet until the caramel hardens completely. While the layer is still warm, sprinkle the dessert with nuts, rice balls or cereal.

How to color caramel? Dissolve a little gel dye in water (2 tablespoons) or, if you want a pink color, replace the water with beet juice. Experiment and use your imagination!

Caramel sauce

• 250 g granulated sugar;
• 1 tbsp. spoon of water;
• 100 g cream 30% fat;
• 100 g butter with a fat content of 82%;
• a pinch of sea salt.

1. Heat the sugar and water in a saucepan, stirring as if dividing the sugar mass with a silicone spatula into sectors, diamonds and zigzags.
2. When the mixture becomes liquid, let it boil for 3 minutes and then add the chopped butter. The mixture will boil and the butter will begin to melt.
3. Stir the caramel until smooth and slowly pour in the cream in a thin stream. Another 4 minutes should pass from the time you added the oil.
4. After adding salt, thoroughly stir the caramel sauce from side to side to remove any air.
5. Pour into a glass container and let cool.

Caramel sauce is wonderful for pancakes and baked apples. Can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Caramel toffees

Ingredients for 15-20 candies:

• 250 g granulated sugar;
• 110 g butter 82% fat;
• 2 tbsp. spoons of molasses or light honey;
• 40 g cream;
• a pinch of sea salt.

1. Heat the butter, sugar and molasses for about 4-5 minutes over medium heat until the mixture turns light brown.
2. Slowly add the cream and stir for another minute.
3. Add salt and stir, remove from heat.
4. If you have silicone pastry mat- pour caramel on it and let cool. Alternatively, a greased baking sheet will do.
5. When you can safely touch the elastic caramel mass, divide it into several oblong snakes and begin to stretch and bend, stretch-twist-bend in half. Until they begin to lighten and harden.
6. Then you can cut the caramels with a buttered knife. This way you will get cute little candies. On top I put a sprig of thyme and a lavender inflorescence, I like it that way. You can also add a few crystals of salt.

At home? The viscous plastic mass is easy to cook using water and sugar. Caramel serves both as a separate delicacy and as a decoration for desserts, as well as the basis for creating lollipops and sweets. Simple ones are given below in the article.

How to make caramel from sugar and water

Properly prepared caramel should be an amber-brown color. Translated from French, the name means “made from sugar cane.” Liquid plastic mass is based on water.

How to make simple caramel? To do this, take:

• water - 3 tbsp. l.;
• sugar - ¾ tbsp.

To prepare sticky caramel, use cast iron pans with a thick bottom. A non-stick frying pan is also acceptable.

Follow the step by step recipe:

1. Pour water into a bowl, add sugar.
2. Stirring constantly, bring the mixture to a boil.
3. Turn the heat to low and cook until the contents darken.
4. Turn off the stove, pour the caramel into another bowl.

It is important not to leave the treat in the pan, otherwise it will stick to the surface after cooling. It is better to immediately use the caramel for its intended purpose.

How to make caramel with vinegar

Are you thinking about how to make caramel at home for the first time? Then be prepared for the hot treat to shoot out and burn your skin. Therefore, the fire should be minimal, and hands should be protected with oven mitts and long sleeves.

To avoid sugar recrystallization, add a little vinegar to the caramel. The acid prevents the formation of clumps that will later settle at the bottom of the pan.

Prepare the following products:

• granulated sugar - ¾ tbsp.;
• water - ¼ tbsp.;
• heavy cream - ½ tbsp.;
• vinegar - 2 drops.

How to make sticky caramel? Cream will help with this, as well as constantly stirring the mixture with a wooden spatula. Start cooking:

1. Pour sugar into a saucepan.
2. Melt it over low heat, stirring constantly.
3. Pour warm water and cream into the mixture in a thin stream.
4. Heat the contents until smooth, add two drops of vinegar.
5. Remove from stove.

Once cooled, pour the caramel into a storage container. The mass will become thick, but will not harden. Therefore, use it to decorate desserts, add to cereals, and caramelize fruits.

How to make caramel from sugar and milk

Do you want to get delicious elastic caramel? The delicacy recipe contains milk, which will give the dish hygroscopicity and prevent it from completely hardening. Remember the rules: use the right utensils and protect your hands.

You will need the following ingredients:

• milk - 0.5 l;
• butter - 100 g;
• granulated sugar - 3 tbsp.

How to make caramel from sugar at home? Here are the preparation steps:

1. Heat the milk in a saucepan.
2. Add sugar and cook until brown.
3. Chop the butter into pieces and add to the mixture.
4. Keep track of the time. To get a thick caramel cream, just cook for one hour. For condensed milk it is one and a half hours, but for caramel it is two and a half hours.

The universal recipe allows you to use caramel for any purpose. Create unique homemade desserts with sugar treats.

Enjoy homemade caramel and surprise your guests. Store the dessert in the refrigerator and use within two weeks. The whole family will appreciate your efforts.

People learned to make sticky and sweet caramel mass a long time ago; caramel is the most popular and accessible type of candy today.
Liquid caramel

Lollipops, monpensiers, hard candies with filling - all these are varieties of caramel familiar from childhood. People learned to cook a sweet, sticky mass a long time ago; caramel is the most popular and accessible type of candy today.

Who invented caramel?

It will not be possible to find a single author of this sweet throughout the centuries, since Indian Dalits were the first to think of roasting sugar cane over a fire more than two thousand years ago. Having chopped the cane into porridge, they used fire to turn it into the first caramel. Since that time, the production of delicious sweets has undergone a lot of changes, releasing thousands of types of caramel onto the food market in all countries of the world.

What is caramel

Translated from French, the word caramel means made from sugar cane. Caramel is a hard or plastic mass consisting of maltose, sucrose and glucose, obtained by heating sugar with starch syrup or inert syrup. Typically, a 2:1 ratio of sugar and molasses is used in the production of caramel. Caramel cooked with inert syrup is more hygroscopic and contains more fructose. Freshly made caramel is elastic and can be given any shape.

How to make caramel at home

The simplest caramel can be made from water and sugar. This will require ¾ cup granulated sugar and three tablespoons of water. Pour water into a small saucepan, add sugar and bring the syrup to a boil while constantly stirring. As soon as it starts to darken, the caramel is ready. You can’t leave it in the pan: after it cools, it sticks tightly to the walls of the pan. Secrets of making caramel.

Hot liquid caramel is used to decorate cakes, fruits, sweet salads, desserts, ice cream, and is used to make a beautiful lattice. To do this, grease a flat dish or a round glass cup turned upside down, a salad bowl (depending on the desired shape of the lattice), and pour the caramel in a thin stream in the form of threads with a tablespoon, giving it the most unusual shape - lattice, dome, splashes, and so on. As soon as the mixture has cooled, carefully remove it from the dish and decorate the dessert.

How to avoid crystallization

Heat the sugar over low heat, without stirring, until it is completely dissolved. Bring the syrup to a boil only when the sugar has already dissolved, and do not stir after boiling.

You can squeeze a little lemon juice. Or - as stated above - you can apparently add a little vinegar for this, preferably homemade apple cider vinegar, of course.

Dip a pastry brush into hot water and brush the crystals off the sides of the pan until they dissolve into the syrup.

Many products are wrapped in caramel: apples, nuts, citrus fruits, creating a completely new dish. The inventive thought of the German pharmacist Karl Soldan in 1899 helped produce candy caramel with bitter medicinal herbs. His little daughter Lucy became ill and refused to take the tasteless medicine. Then the doctor resorted to a trick, making sweet caramel from the same herbs. This is how the Dr.C.Soldan’s trademark appeared, known throughout the world for its medicinal syrups and caramel with eucalyptus and menthol. Currently, in Germany, the pharmaceutical factory in Adelsdorf produces up to one hundred tons of medicinal caramel.

Candy Recipes

Caramel “Cockerel on a stick” is familiar to most buyers since childhood. The good thing about candy molded caramel is that it doesn’t need any introduction. “Cockerel on a stick” is a brand that has been in demand by Russian children for centuries.

On a note
Traditional recipe for making “Cockerel on a stick”:
– Melt granulated sugar in a saucepan over low heat, add vanilla sugar and cognac. Keep on fire for no more than 1 minute, stirring thoroughly all the time. Remove from heat and add a few drops of lemon juice and mint oil.
– Pour the syrup into small molds and cool.

Recipe 1

100g water + 300g sugar. Bring over low heat until dissolved. Cook for about 10 minutes. But here it is determined experimentally (depending on water and sugar). Under no circumstances should it turn brown. It appears if you overcook and the sugar begins to burn. If you don’t cook it enough, the candy will not harden and will be like toffee. Instead of wooden sticks, you can cut cocktail straws. Grease the mold with vegetable oil before pouring, and be sure to keep it in the cold after pouring. The most difficult thing is to make a purely transparent cockerel without dye.
Burnt sugar candies
Almost all generations, without exception, who grew up in the former Soviet Union have childhood memories of red cockerels on a sugar stick and homemade burnt sugar lollipops, but here is another recipe for such a nostalgic delicacy.

Required Products:

• 250 g granulated sugar,
• 1 tablespoon vanilla sugar or powder,
• 1/3 cup cognac or brandy,
• a couple of drops of lemon juice and mint oil.

Cooking method:
Melt granulated sugar in a saucepan over low heat, add vanilla sugar and cognac. Keep on fire for no more than 1 minute, stirring thoroughly all the time. Remove from heat and add a few drops of lemon juice and mint oil.
Pour the syrup into small molds and cool. Lollipops are not only tasty, but also useful for dry coughs.
Place the stick in the mold so that it sticks when the caramel hardens.

Recipe 2: Homemade “Hearts” lollipops

Ingredients – Homemade “Hearts” lollipops:

2 cups sugar
2/3 cup light corn syrup
3/4 cup water
1 tsp flavoring
1/4 tsp. liquid food coloring
candy thermometer

In a large saucepan, stir together sugar, corn syrup and water. Stir over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Let the mixture simmer without stirring. This syrup is very hot. Don’t let children get close to the fire, let them watch from afar!

When the syrup temperature reaches 260°F (about 127°C), add coloring. Do not stir: the boiling process will color the syrup itself.

Remove from heat when temperature reaches 300°F (about 148°C). Watch carefully, from 260°F to 300°F (about 127°C to 148°C) the temperature rises very quickly. When the boiling stops, stirring gently, add flavorings. Then carefully pour the warm syrup into a ceramic jug or glass container. This makes it easy to fill the molds. This will also allow you to gently microwave the mixture if it cools too quickly. Immediately pour the syrup into the mold.

You need to wait until the lollipops have cooled completely and remove them from the mold. Stick a beautiful pencil into the plastic holder.

Making caramel at home is a very fun activity. You can make decorations for cakes from caramel, sculpt a variety of shapes - great for the holidays, and as a gift - original and tasty. The caramel recipe is not at all complicated, but there are some minor subtleties.

You need a saucepan with a thick bottom - otherwise it will burn.

We make caramel according to the recipe: 1 cup sugar + 1/4 cup water (enough so that the sugar is only slightly moistened) + 1/2 teaspoon vinegar. I can’t say exactly what vinegar does here, but it is added there (according to old recipes). Most likely - to avoid crystallization of sugar.

Then we cook everything over low heat until we test for a “hard ball” (drop syrup into the water, we want it to become like chewing gum - it doesn’t disintegrate, but sticks and stretches). It’s better to undercook than to overcook, otherwise you’ll end up with burnt sugar - it’s not an acquired taste and not everyone likes it.

If you are going to sculpt from caramel, then after cooking we put the container in which everything was cooked in a pan with hot water so that the caramel hardens more slowly, and you have time to make something out of it.

We take the required portion of caramel with a spoon and spread it in different directions several times, then it will become “pearly”, and after that we sculpt it as if from mastic. If some part has frozen ahead of time, then it can be heated over a fire - it will soften, and then you can sculpt again.

If you need liquid caramel, then add a little butter and water to the resulting mass (when the sugar has melted and boiled for about 10 minutes), and if you need thick caramel, then pour it into greased molds and let cool. You can also make caramel with the addition of citric acid, nuts, cocoa or chocolate.

There are special devices for sculpting caramel. It’s difficult to find these for sale in Russia, but they are available abroad.

When heated, granulated sugar (brown sugar can also be used) melts and at 170°C acquires a golden and then dark brown color. The darker the color, the more intense the aroma. Some recipes recommend adding water to make caramel, but this is not necessary - Sugar can be melted without water at all.

To make caramel, place sugar in a saucepan and place over medium heat. Do not stir until most of the sugar has melted. Once the sugar has melted, stir until it reaches the desired color (this is quick, only 1-4 minutes). Watch your sugar carefully - caramel darkens quickly and may burn .

Caramelized sugar can be used to coat caramel custard molds, make caramel nuts, and to flavor mousses or ice cream. Well, as already said, sculpt various decorations from caramel.

How to avoid crystallization

Heat the sugar over low heat without stirring until it completely dissolves. Bring the syrup to a boil only when the sugar has already dissolved, and do not stir after boiling.

You can squeeze a little lemon juice. Or - as stated above - you can apparently add a little vinegar for this, preferably homemade apple cider vinegar, of course.

Dip a pastry brush into hot water and brush the crystals off the sides of the pan until they dissolve into the syrup.

Be careful not to touch hot caramel - it can cause severe burns.

Caramel - melt sugar WITHOUT WATER

This is already our recipe, according to which we have been cooking lately; we no longer use any other recipes:

Making caramel without water.

Pour 2 cups of sugar (WITHOUT WATER) into a ladle. stir without interruption(we heat on an electric stove, on three rubles from 4 stove positions, because on quite high heat). When it starts to become liquid, lower it to two degrees, without ceasing to stir (in no case do we stop stirring, otherwise it will immediately burn). When completely melted, lower to unity and stir until completely dissolved. Be careful not to let out smoke or burn it. You can even remove it and continue stirring so as not to overheat.

When everything is melted, pour it into a silicone mold. Caution, VERY hot!

It hardens to the point of hardness, becomes like glass, not sticky at all, but completely solid. Then we break it into pieces and eat it like candy. TASTY! You can dissolve it in water, make a syrup, it will taste a little like Pepsi-Cola. This syrup can be made thick (dissolve a lot of burnt sugar in a small amount of water), excellent for coffee, gingerbread, etc.

Before pouring into the silicone mold, you can add spices to the caramel, stir, and then pour into the mold and let it harden.

Delicious caramel-based sweetness

Slowly heat one glass of sugar until it becomes liquid, add half a liter of milk, and cook for 10 minutes, stirring, then add 2 tablespoons of honey, 100 g of butter, 2 tablespoons of vanilla sugar, and cook over low heat, stirring, as much time for the mass to thicken.

Place the mixture on greased parchment paper and wait for it to cool slightly, then cut into squares or diamonds with a knife.

Ready caramel

For those who don’t really like to experiment: you can find good caramel on sale. For example:

Monin syrups is produced by the French brand of the same name, which is known as the leading manufacturer of alcoholic and non-alcoholic syrups in the world. They have There is also caramel syrup.

Kotanyi has excellent caramel with different flavors in mills: vanilla , orange, and many other varieties. Perfect for muffins, coffee, tea, porridge, almost anything.

Candy caramel Malvik "Mini-M"- this is a tasty and natural delicacy that you can enjoy almost endlessly. For those who want to try everything at once, this assortment was specially created in which everyone will find their favorite taste.

Dear sweet tooth, let me tell you a recipe for making delicious homemade liquid caramel in 15 minutes. Yes, I’m not mistaken: this caramel sauce is prepared very quickly and easily, but it’s up to you to decide how to use it. At a minimum, you can simply eat it with a spoon (that’s what my children do), add it to your favorite desserts, pour it over thin pancakes or fluffy pancakes, serve it with golden-brown pancakes or decorate cupcakes. In general, there are a lot of options. Let's look together at how to make delicious caramel sauce at home.

Ingredients:

• cream (fat content not less than 33%) - 120 milliliters;
• butter - 90 grams;
• granulated sugar (or brown sugar) - 200 grams;
• vanilla sugar with natural vanilla - 1 teaspoon.

Liquid caramel in 15 minutes. Step by step recipe

1. To ensure that our homemade caramel does not burn during cooking and does not have a burnt sugar taste, you need to use a stainless steel pan with a thick bottom.
2. So, pour 200 grams of sugar, one teaspoon of vanilla sugar into a saucepan and place on medium heat. The sugar should melt. To ensure that the sugar melts evenly and does not burn, stir it constantly with a wooden spoon.
3. When the sugar has completely melted and acquired a beautiful amber color, add the butter cut into pieces.
4. Mix everything vigorously for one minute.
5. Now add cream. To prepare a delicious caramel sauce, it is best to use heavy cream (33% or higher), then the caramel will have a pronounced creamy taste and a wonderful appearance. Therefore, be sure to buy thicker cream.
6. Mix everything very well for two minutes. It is necessary that all the ingredients are combined and the mass becomes homogeneous.
7. The fire should be minimal. Work carefully as the caramel is very hot and you should be extremely careful.
8. Now that the caramel has become homogeneous and acquired a beautiful amber color, remove the pan from the heat and pour it into a storage container (a beautiful jar or tray).
9. When hot, quick caramel has a liquid consistency, but when it cools completely, it thickens significantly.

If you want a thicker caramel, you should keep the pan of caramel sauce on the heat a little longer. And lovers of salted caramel can add a pinch of salt at the end of cooking. The “I Love to Cook” website team wishes you bon appetit and a sweet mood.