Caramel

The word caramel has a latine root (it comes from caramellus: "sugar cane"). Toffee is quite similar but needs butter. I'll explain here the basic principles to make caramel - you can use those principles to make thousands of different caramels !




Ingredients:

• sugar (it's even better with brown sugar)
• water (1/3 of the sugar's weight)
• 1 cs lemon juice or vinegar

1. Boil together the sugar and the water until the sugar is entirely melted
2. Lower the fire temperature and continue to cook until it gets a little yellow
3. Take off the fire and add 1 cs cold water (be careful with the projections)
4. Add the lemon or the vinegar for it not to crystalize
5. Cover and leave it for a few minutes
6. Bring it again on a low fire and cook until it gets the color you wish (from transparent-yellow to light brown) - Don't forget that the color always gets a bit browner when you take the caramel off the fire for the second time, so don't leave it too long.
7. It's ready, but if you want something more liquid or browner, just add a bit of cold water and cook it again. (Take care not to doo it too much, because when it gets too brown, the taste becomes too strong and it's almost impossible to eat it).

To make toffee, you can add butter, cream, milk, nuts and chocolate to your caramel. Liquid caramel can be used as a coat for cakes (ex: Semolina Cake). For covering choux à la crème or fixing together pieces of pastries, it's better to use a very light and liquid caramel.