Controlling the thickness of simple caramel

[itsuung]

Hello! I’ve been looking for a way to control the thickness of simple caramel but i couldn’t find one! I always use dry caramel method because it works best for me. But, using such method means i only use sugar without any other liquid right? That way i can’t control the thickness of the caramel. I’ve seen controlling the thickness with corn syrup or lemon juice but i can’t find the exact measurement, also with lemon juice i don’t want to change the taste of the caramel itself.

The goal is to create thick enough caramel that can coat the outer layer of donuts so that when you bite into it, it will crack easily. Last night i tried with the method mentioned above (about 10tsp of sugar with 1tsp of lemon juice, kinda hard to find corn syrup here) and it’s still too thick, it’s still applicable but when the caramel solidified its just a lil bit too hard to my liking.

Is there any guide as to how to control the thickness of simple caramel? Thanks!

[jimb0]

Have you thought about looking at how candied apples are made? You could caramelize the sugar, then stir it into the rest of the ingredients either wet or cooled and ground. 

[itsuung]

11 minutes ago, jimb0 said:

Have you thought about looking at how candied apples are made? You could caramelize the sugar, then stir it into the rest of the ingredients either wet or cooled and ground. 

Ooh i know about the candied apple but never thought about that because I'm just not used to that stuff (we don't have them here in Indonesia!). Just checked out some videos and i think the answer might be the corn syrup, so i guess I’ll try to find some on a bigger grocery here in my city. Thanks!!

[pastrygirl]

So you want a hard crack caramel, but only a very thin layer?  I wonder if you could sprinkle the doughnut with sugar and caramelize it with a propane torch a la creme brulee ... without burning the pastry or lighting the residual fry oil on fire, that is

 

 

[Jim D.]

Getting the right thickness of caramel for your purposes is not going to be easy. I don't know if you have ever eaten a candy apple, but it is a dentist's dream come true.  Requires very, very careful eating.  And, of course, you shouldn't try to make the caramel on a humid day. Your eaters' teeth may be stuck together permanently.

[jimb0]

Not to mention that a caramel will inevitably suck the water out of the doughnut despite your best efforts.

 

I wonder if the best way to go might not be to make a crumb with a hard caramel ground up into bits, maybe with or without nuts. Glaze the doughnut then dip into the crumb - you'd still get the flavour and crunch of the caramel but in more manageable sizes.

Edited June 7, 2020 by jimb0 (log)

[Jim D.]

19 minutes ago, jimb0 said:

Not to mention that a caramel will inevitably suck the water out of the doughnut despite your best efforts.

 

I wonder if the best way to go might not be to make a crumb with a hard caramel ground up into it bits, maybe with or without nuts. Glaze the doughnut then dip into the crumb - you'd still get the flavour and crunch of the caramel but in more manageable sizes.

 

Excellent idea. I make a crème brûlée bonbon, and to get the crunch, I make a hard-crack caramel and grind it in a food processor. If ground enough (but not too much), it will have crunch but will not be difficult to eat. But again, it won't last in humidity (I have the advantage of being able to encase the caramel bits in a little chocolate, protecting them from the elements).

[itsuung]

21 hours ago, pastrygirl said:

So you want a hard crack caramel, but only a very thin layer?  I wonder if you could sprinkle the doughnut with sugar and caramelize it with a propane torch a la creme brulee ... without burning the pastry or lighting the residual fry oil on fire, that is

 

 

Now the problem is that i don’t know where to find such torch in my town 🤣 but honestly, the idea was to create cheat creme brulee, and for a better experience (i find it very satisfying to split the donuts in half with the caramel cracking like glass) but yeah im exploring the best technique possible for this, thanks for the suggestion!

 

20 hours ago, Jim D. said:

Getting the right thickness of caramel for your purposes is not going to be easy. I don't know if you have ever eaten a candy apple, but it is a dentist's dream come true.  Requires very, very careful eating.  And, of course, you shouldn't try to make the caramel on a humid day. Your eaters' teeth may be stuck together permanently.

I’ve seen them in youtube videos and yeah it looks like it’s very hard to eat one. But hey I don’t understand what will happen if I make caramel on a humid day? Never had a day that’s not humid here in Indonesia.. is that going to be a problem??

 

20 hours ago, jimb0 said:

Not to mention that a caramel will inevitably suck the water out of the doughnut despite your best efforts.

 

I wonder if the best way to go might not be to make a crumb with a hard caramel ground up into bits, maybe with or without nuts. Glaze the doughnut then dip into the crumb - you'd still get the flavour and crunch of the caramel but in more manageable sizes.

 

yeah i guess that’s the problem! When i tried this method for the first time after I leave it overnight the donuts kinda drenched in oil-caramel mixture and it became soggy.. I’ll definitely try your suggestion, thanks!!