Burnt Sugar Simple Syrup | Caramel Color for Food
Sometimes my husband teases me and says I use our indoor smoke alarm as a kitchen timer. Fine, I admit it (begrudgingly) as I shoot him a killer side long glance. But really, it only happens rarely and unintentionally...toast being my favourite, unfortunate victim.
But how about burning something intentionally? How about waiting expectantly for plumes of smoke to emanate from the saucepan? How about gleefully holding out for the distinctly bittersweet aroma of something burning to cut through the air while simultaneously pushing down a slight tremor of panic wondering if you've gone too far? How evil and deviant. Who does that on purpose? Well, that's what you have to do to make burnt sugar, also known as black jack or burnt caramel, which is popularly used as caramel color for food.
Burnt sugar is made by melting sugar well past the amber colored, caramelized sugar point (around 300°F-345°F) until the sugar darkens and burns, reaching a temperature of nearly 400°F.
 |
| Burnt Caramel Syrup |
Uses for Burnt Sugar Syrup/ Burnt Caramel Syrup
It's a bit like a volcanic process. The melted sugar gets all bubbly and smoky just like a volcano spewing out molten lava. As the sugar lava cools it solidifies into an absolutely solid lava like rock. By re-melting the solidified burnt sugar with a little bit of water, a thick viscous 'burnt caramel syrup' is formed, that can be used in small quantities as caramel coloring and flavoring for fruit cakes, bread and other foods like Jamaican Black Rum cake, Burnt Sugar Cake, Caramel Custard, Creme Brulee or Flan. For me, burnt caramel is a must in my Indian Christmas Plum Cake to give the cake a deep, dark rich color and flavor.
 |
| My Indian Christmas Plum Cake with Rum |
This dark, aromatic, treacle-like burnt caramel syrup can be further thinned down with more water to make a 'burnt sugar simple syrup'. This syrup is a popular ingredient used to add depth and bittersweet complexity to cocktails like the Burnt Sugar Old Fashioned, as well as in specialty coffees.
Burnt sugar syrup is also a good substitute for recipes that call for molasses.
 |
| Burnt Caramel Syrup |
How to Make Caramel Color for Food
Making burnt sugar syrup to use as food coloring is really simple. Imagine a recipe that only requires one ingredient- Sugar! You don't require a thermometer to get this right. You just need to rely on just two of your senses- sight and smell. (Please, no tasting at any point in the process). Once the liquid sugar starts getting foamy and starts smoking, this will be accompanied by a very strong and distinct smell of burnt sugar.
Caution! When caramelizing and burning sugar, take care as the molten sugar is ridiculously hot. Do not be tempted to taste or touch the sugar at any point during the process. And take care not to let the bubbling sugar splash on you when stirring.
This burnt sugar syrup can be stored unrefrigerated for months in a tightly sealed bottle.
A Burnt Sugar Simple Syrup Recipe
Yield: 300ml of burnt caramel syrup (thick)
Ingredients:
☐ 1 tablespoon water
Step by Step Instructions
Step 1. Heat sugar
Put the white sugar in a heavy bottomed saucepan. Add 1 tablespoon on water and heat on medium-high heat, uncovered and without stirring.
In about 3 minutes, the edges of the sugar will start bubbling and turning brown.
 |
| Heat sugar with 1 tablespoon of water |
Step 2. Sugar starts caramelizing
Give the pan a shake from time to time to allow the sugar to melt evenly. Or you can stir it with a wooden spoon.
In another 3 minutes, all the white sugar would have melted and started caramelizing (turned brown), becoming liquidy and bubbly.
 |
| Melting sugar starting to caramelize |
Step 3. Sugar turns darker and smell changes
Continue to heat, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. The liquid sugar will begin to turn darker in color changing from a caramel color to a dark brown. The smell will soon change from a sweet caramel smell to a burnt caramel smell as it starts burning and turning darker.
 |
| Caramelizing sugar |
Step 4. Caramelized sugar turns foamy
In another 3 minutes, the molten sugar will start getting very frothy and bubbly and starts rising in the saucepan.
 |
| Foam rising in saucepan |
Step 5. SMOKING! Caramelized sugar starts smoking
Within seconds, it will start smoking. The smell is a very distinct, sweet burnt caramel smell. Caution! the liquid sugar is very hot. Take care not to splash it on yourself while stirring.
 |
| Burnt caramel starting to smoke |
Step 6. Cool Caramelized Burnt Sugar
Remove from heat and allow to cool. The whole process from start to finish will take 9-10 minutes.
The burnt caramel is very dark in color, almost black. As it cools, it become thicker, more viscous and tacky, forming spider webby copper-wire like strings if the spoon is lifted off the warm black sugar.
Eventually, once the burnt sugar cools fully, it will be rock hard and shiny and will be fused to the saucepan. While it might seem unusable at this point, this is exactly where you want to be.
Step 7. Liquify Burnt Sugar
To turn the hard burnt caramel into a usable form with treacle-like consistency, add 1/2 cup of water to the cooled, hardened burnt caramel and heat it on a low-medium flame. The caramel will slowly start softening up. As it softens, stir it with a wooden spoon. It should become a thick, treacle like syrup that thickly coats the back of a wooden spoon. When cooled, it can be poured into a glass bottle and stored unrefrigerated for up to a year.
To make a thinner burnt sugar simple syrup, use more water to reach the desired consistency.
 |
| Liquified and cooled burnt caramel thickly coats the back of a wooden spoon. |
Related Recipes:
 |
| Click here for the recipe |