Caramel (/ˈkærəˌmɛl/ or/ˈkɑːrməl/)[1][2] is a range of food ingredients made by heating sugars to high temperatures. It is used as a flavoring inpuddings and desserts, as a filling inbonbons orcandy bars, as a topping forice cream andcustard, and as a colorant commonly used in drinks.
The process ofcaramelization primarily consists of heating sugars slowly to around 170 °C (340 °F). As the sugar heats, themolecules break down and re-form into compounds with a characteristic colour and flavour.
The English word comes from Frenchcaramel, borrowed from Spanishcaramelo (18th century), itself possibly from Portuguesecaramelo.[4] Most likely that comes from Late Latincalamellus 'sugar cane', a diminutive ofcalamus 'reed, cane', itself from Greekκάλαμος. Less likely, it comes from Medieval Latincannamella, fromcanna 'cane' +mella 'honey'.[5] Finally, some dictionaries connect it to Arabickora-moħalláh 'ball of sweet'.[6][7]
Caramel sauce is made by mixing caramelized sugar withcream. Depending on the intended application, additional ingredients such as butter, fruit purees,liquors, orvanilla can be used. Caramel sauce is used in a range of desserts, especially as a topping for ice cream. When it is used forcrème caramel or flan, it is known as clear caramel and only contains caramelized sugar and water. Butterscotch sauce is made with brown sugar, butter, and cream. Traditionally,butterscotch is a hard candy more in line with a toffee.[citation needed]
Milk caramel manufactured as square candies, either for eating or for melting downOmar caramel candies
Caramel candy, or "caramels", and sometimes called "toffee" (though this also refers to other types of candy), is a soft, dense, chewy candy made by boiling a mixture of milk or cream, sugar(s),glucose, butter, and vanilla (or vanilla flavoring). The sugar and glucose are combined and heated to reach 130 °C (270 °F); the cream and butter are then added which cools the mixture. The mixture is then stirred and reheated until it reaches 120 °C (250 °F). Upon completion of cooking, vanilla or any additional flavorings and salt are added. Adding the vanilla or flavorings earlier would result in them burning off at the high temperatures. Adding salt earlier in the process would result ininverting the sugars as they cooked.
Alternatively, all ingredients may be cooked together. In this procedure, the mixture is not heated above thefirm ball stage (120 °C [250 °F]), so that caramelization of the milk occurs. This temperature is not high enough to caramelize sugar and this type of candy is often calledmilk caramel orcream caramel. Even though caramel candy is sometimes called "toffee" and is also compared with butterscotch, there is a difference. While toffee and butterscotch are more closely related than caramel, they do have most of the same ingredients. However, toffee and butterscotch use molasses or brown sugar while caramel uses white sugar. They are also cooked at different temperatures and they each have their own cooking techniques that make them unique in taste and shape.[8]
As early as the 19th century, baked products with caramelized sugar and salted dough appeared in certain regional cuisines, notably thekouign-amann in theBrittany region of France where this pairing is strongly apparent. During the early 20th century and followingWorld War II, this pairing was expanded into other types of pastries and cakes.[9]
Salted caramel sweets with milk or butter were sold in Brittany as early as 1946, reviving recipes already used before World War II. TheQuiberonniniche [fr][10] andSalidou [fr]spread are examples of such products which gained popularity in the late 1940s and 1950s in Brittany. Recipes almost always contained milk or butter which made these productsperishable and limited their commercialization.
In 1977, French pastry chefHenri Le Roux [fr] developed a significantly more stable salted caramel sweet in Quiberon, Brittany, in the form of a salted butter caramel with crushed nuts (caramel au beurre salé), using Bretondemi-sel butter.[11] It was named the "Best confectionery in France" (Meilleur Bonbon de France) at the ParisSalon International de la Confiserie in 1980. Le Roux registered the trademark "CBS" (caramel au beurre salé) the year after.[12]
Salted caramel sweets became widely popular throughout France and other French-speaking European countries (notably Belgium and Switzerland, which already had a tradition for fine chocolate and confectionery), and for years French, Belgian and Swiss children added it to theirgoûter, a meal eaten around 4 pm to restore their energy after school.Goûter usually consists of bread with jam or caramel spread, croissants or pain au chocolat, fruit and hot chocolate.[citation needed]
In the late 1990s, Parisian pastry chef Pierre Hermé introduced his salted butter and caramelmacarons, and by 2000, high-end chefs started adding a bit of salt to caramel and chocolate dishes. In 2008 it entered the mass market, whenHäagen-Dazs andStarbucks started selling it.[13]
Originally used in desserts, the confection has seen wide use elsewhere, including inhot chocolate and spirits such asvodka. Its popularity may come from its effects on thereward systems of the human brain, resulting in "hedonic escalation".[14]
Caramel colouring, a dark, bitter liquid, is the highly concentrated product of near total caramelization, used commercially asfood and beverage colouring, e.g., incola.[citation needed]
Caramelization is the removal of water from a sugar, proceeding toisomerization andpolymerization of the sugars into various high-molecular-weight compounds. Compounds such asdifructoseanhydride may be created from themonosaccharides after water loss. Fragmentation reactions result in low-molecular-weight compounds that may be volatile and may contribute to flavor. Polymerization reactions lead to larger-molecular-weight compounds that contribute to the dark-brown color.[15]Caramel can be produced in many forms such as sauce, chewy candy, or hard candy depending on how much of an ingredient is added and the temperature it is being prepared at.[8]In modern recipes and in commercial production,glucose (fromcorn syrup or wheat) orinvert sugar is added to prevent crystallization, making up 10–50% of the sugars by mass. "Wet caramels" made by heating sucrose and water instead of sucrose alone produce their own invert sugar due to thermal reaction, but not necessarily enough to prevent crystallization in traditional recipes.[16]
