Caramel: Out of sugar, more than sugar

In the real world, sweetness is hard to come by, and apart from a few wild fruits, honey is all that's left.In the long history of human struggle, not only to cultivate a large number of sweet fruits and vegetables, but also learned to extract sugar from them, and then upgrade the sugar to various tastes.Among them, caramel is a taste created by humans.

It comes from nature and transcends nature.

1.Where are you from?Creme brulee despises chains

In the literal sense, caramel is a kind of sugar produced when sugar is heated to a slight caramelization.Caramel has amber color, a slight bitter taste, but the sweetness is still, the aroma produced in the process of coking, is the human love of the burnt aroma, glaring.

Caramel is similar in taste and color to brown sugar, but not the same.Brown sugar is an intermediate variety in the processing from sweet fruits(cane, beet, etc.)to white sugar, and its color comes from unpurified impurities.Caramel is the result of the coking of purified sugar(white sugar, glucose or fructose)after heating, and the color is formed by the coking.

It is said that caramel was first discovered by the Arabs in 1000 AD.

What really goes down in history is that it wasn't until the 1650s, after the discovery of the New World, that new immigrants to America accidentally acquired caramel while making hard candy in kettles.

But this claim is also highly questionable, because at the time, sugar was a luxury and could not be obtained in such a casual and crude way.Therefore, it has been speculated that the first caramel was made from beet juice.

▲Caramel flavored Hershey's chocolate.At the beginning of Hershey's business(in the United States in the 17th century), it did not make chocolate, but caramel.

At the beginning of the 18th century, another Goetze was a candy manufacturer that focused solely on caramel.

However, in the eyes of the Europeans, these statements are just a kind of fairy tale for the amusement of the proud Americans.

European records, as early as the Middle Ages, caramel appeared, by the so-called American invention of caramel in 1691, the French have been creme brulee(creme brulee)production process into the recipe.

▲Creme brulee

However, the British do not see it this way, they think that creme brulee is their country's traditional food, and cite the example:the famous Trinity College in Cambridge University in the 17th century, has already had a famous"Cambridge creme brulee".

But the Frenchman laughed, because the man who taught the Cambridge man how to make that creme brulee was a Frenchman.

▲On the English creme brulee, the thickness of the caramel reaches 3 mm, much thicker than the French hard creme brulee(1 mm), and it is said that when the"Cambridge creme brulee"is served, the standard is a hammer.

At this point, the Spaniards quit, saying that their crema catalana was the true originator of creme brulee.

As a result, the British and French people all laughed:brother, your pudding was invented in the 18th century, 100 years later than ours!

Spain's crema catalana, highlighted by the cinnamon flavor.

In fact, the last laugh is the Chinese.Because even we can't remember, since when, we began to fry sugar color, make braised meat.

Braised pork is the best use of caramel in Chinese food

2, talk about warm color change, soft and hard.Caramel's changing body
By now, there are more caramel flavors than can be numbered in the thousands, salty or sweet, soft or hard, crunchy or tough...These rich textures and flavors come from one important factor-temperature.

Caramel is the char reaction produced after the sugar has heated to a critical point, the char taste has a bitter taste, but also has a charming aroma, these changes, to control properly, really depends on the craft.Even a temperature difference of just 1°C will bring a completely different taste.The higher the temperature, the bitterness will gradually increase, but the sweetness will decrease.

▲The color change of sugar caramel at different temperatures, near 17010°C, only 10°C temperature difference, the color difference is worlds apart.

Different types of sugar, this critical point is also different, for example, sucrose to 170°C, glucose is 150°C, and fructose as low as 105°C.In addition, after adding butter or cream, this critical point of coking will also drop, for example, after adding milk, the coking temperature is only 120°C.

The traditional way of making caramel in the West is divided into dry and wet.The dry type is to boil the sugar directly in the pot and then char, and the wet type is to add water to the sugar, boil off the water, and then char.There is also a way to melt white sugar directly with a spray gun at high temperature to char.

▲Hard creme brulee under the airbrush.The caramel on the surface of the pudding, under the heat of the airbrush, melts into syrup until it boils and bubbles, and the color gradually turns from light yellow to burnt yellow.The burnt aroma permeates the air, the caramel gradually cools, and the surface forms a hard shell.

And the clever people of my big Heaven Dynasty, long ago created the method of mixing oil, water and water oil to fry sugar color, the fried sugar color, and meat match, is the perfect combination of color and fragrance.

▲Caramelized melon seeds, although early into a network red.But that's nothing compared to the caramel flavor of roasted chestnuts in sugar.

Caramel coloring

caramel as a food additive, the official name is"caramel color", so that caramel everywhere is caramel color, industrial synthesis of caramel color methods are mostly chemical, but the raw material is still from natural sugar.In beverages, chocolate, all kinds of snacks, wine, as well as soy sauce, vinegar and other kinds of food, will use caramel color.

The unique color and taste of Coca-Cola comes from caramel

Out of sugar, more than sugar.Salty and sweet times

Caramelization gives caramel rich layers of flavor, and other ingredients added to the caramel give it a varied texture.

The most basic ingredients for caramel are:milk, cream, corn syrup, sugar, oil, butter, honey.

Milk and cream:Prevent caramel from becoming hard and make it softer;

Corn syrup and molasses:Adjust the sweetness of caramel;

Butter and other fats:adjust the caramel taste, maintain elasticity;

Chocolate, vanilla, maple, cinnamon, sea salt, etc.:Add caramel flavor.

Caramel color clothing is a popular color in winter

The taste of salt in caramel is the taste of this era

When it comes to flavor creativity, the French have always been masters, and when it comes to caramel, they are still not far behind.

French chef Le Roux created salted butter caramel with crushed nuts and was awarded the best dessert in France by the Paris International Salon in 1980.In 1990, another French dessert master, PierreHerme, invented the salted caramel macaron, which became a hit.

▲Sea salt caramel macaron

Since the advent of sea salt caramel, it has immediately become a flavor that is sought after around the world.The sharp saltiness of the sea salt stimulates the rich sweetness of the caramel, making the layers of slightly bitter taste in the sweet caramel more tangled, and the aftertaste is endless.

The French most admire the combination of"salt flower"and caramel

The Sweet and Salty Party went quiet and became good gay friends.

The American food industry has pushed this taste to the peak of The Times, and the sea salt caramel flavor has become the mainstream dessert flavor today.

Salty and sweet-the taste of this era.

2008 is known as the year of salty caramel.This was the year that Haagen-Dazs introduced salted caramel ice cream and Starbucks Childhood introduced sea salt caramel hot chocolate.Retail and dessert giants also began selling sea-salt caramel flavored ice cream, cookies, brownies and more in childhood.

Caramel brownie, the perfect fusion of chocolate and caramel

▲The salty and caramel taste of kinky bread snacks is another salty and sweet combination

As a food ingredient, caramel is usually added to milk to make universal caramel sauce and caramel syrup, which can be directly added to bread, cakes, milk tea, coffee and other foods.Hershey's, Monin, and Taikoo are all common brands for caramel sauce/syrup

▲Used to be the popular Starbucks caramel Macchiato and caramel Frappuccino

toffee is also made with caramel added with butter, milk and cream, making it either a sticky fudge or a smooth hard candy.Because toffee is so famous, many"caramel flavors"sell better as"toffee flavors."

Caramel Apple, is the western sugar gourd, also called apple(Candy Apple)or Toffee apples(Toffee apples), romantic French called"love apple Pommes d'amour", is a Western Christmas snack.

▲No caramel, no sticky sweet Snickers bar

ladyM's perennial caramel-flavored mille layer cake

▲Caramel sundaes

▲Caramel flavored banana Pancake breakfast

▲Traditional pound cake with caramel sauce