Making Caramel Sauce

[Jeffery C]

Can this be substituted in all recipes? Could I do this for pulled sugar?

I have always used lemon juice for my caramel sauces but I have never made pulled sugar. I dont know the exact acidic level of either cream of tartar or lemon juice so I would google that before attempting to use it with a pulled sugar recipe.

Edited March 17, 2011 by Jeffery C (log)

[CanadianBakin']

Just wanted to let you know I figured out how to fix the problem but I don't understand the why. The recipe specifies cooking the sugar to 350F. That works at home but at work I have to pull it at about 345F. I thought it might be the difference in thermometers so I used both the one from home and from work. They do differ by a couple degrees but regardless of which one I was reading I still had to pull it off the heat before it hit 350F. Happy to have a resolution but it would be great to understand why.

[Blether]

Exactly the same pot in both places ?

[bkeith]

Cream of tartar acts as an acid which helps turn some of the granulated sugar into invert sugar which helps to prevent re-crystalization. You can substitute a few drops of lemon juice.

Can this be substituted in all recipes? Could I do this for pulled sugar?

Yep -- works fine. I watched Roland Mesnier do this a few years back (sugar and water in a pot, bring to a boil, squeeze in some lemon juice and add a big glop of glucose, boil to temp, pull, make amazing things).

I've since done the same, and it works great. I followed his lead and didn't measure the lemon juice, but I'd estimate I used approx 1/2 - 1 tsp lemon juice per pound of sugar.

[chezcherie]

i would think if you are quadrupling the recipe, you shouldn't need to 4x the cream of tartar. i'd try the same amount as a 1x recipe, or maybe a tiny bit more, but not 1/2 tsp. good luck!

[Mjx]

My first thought for a possible offender was corn syrup. Most things that contain it in any significant amount taste bitter/metallic (or, sometimes, soapy) to me. It's a bit of a pain to change recipes to replace corn syrup with sugar, but it is doable, and I've been really happy with the results of everything I've done this for, from chocolate sauce to fondant.

[Jeffery C]

corn syrup is used in recipes that require an invert sugar because it is WIDELY available. most of the time it is added as a safe guard as invert sugar is very stable and does not crystalize easily. the addition of this type of sugar to a crystalized form helps to keep the crystalized sugar from restructuring once it has been liquified. most edible inverted sugars will do and usually can be omitted, depending on the recipe.

[CanadianBakin']

Exactly the same pot in both places ?

Same pot, same thermometer, both electric stove tops.

[Jeffery C]

Upon removing from the heat source do you shock the pot by setting it in a pan of water to remove some of the excess heat? this helps to keep the pan from to continuing to cook the sugar.

[Mjx]

corn syrup is used in recipes that require an invert sugar because it is WIDELY available. most of the time it is added as a safe guard as invert sugar is very stable and does not crystalize easily. the addition of this type of sugar to a crystalized form helps to keep the crystalized sugar from restructuring once it has been liquified. most edible inverted sugars will do and usually can be omitted, depending on the recipe.

As I noted upthread, I mentioned the possibility of omitting corn syrup only because it can be a source of the sorts of off-flavours she described.

Inverted sugars certainly do make recipes that include them much easier to work with than those that rely on sugar alone, but it is possible to make most, if not all sweets without them (you do need to be more careful, with regard to crystallization).