Quick Caramel Sweet Rolls Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why is my homemade caramel hard? ›

The water evaporates, leaving sugar crystals behind. If even one sugar crystal falls back into the pan of cooking caramel, it starts a chain reaction of sugar crystals and the entire pan will harden. The result? Gross, grainy caramel that is unusable in most recipes.

Give your caramel at least two hours to set, or overnight if possible. You can also pop caramel into the fridge to help it set up faster. The caramel will sweat a little when brought out of the fridge, but will still taste fine. If you don't eat it right away, here's how to store caramel.

Dry caramel is quicker to make than wet caramel, but it's also trickier: Without additional liquid, the sugar can caramelize very quickly, burning before you realize it. Using moderate heat, as Mel suggests, can help safeguard against burning, as can vigilance: Don't walk away from the pan once you've started.

For the "dry" caramel method, you simply heat the sugar in an empty pan until melted and caramelized. It's quick and direct, but the risk is that some parts of the sugar melt faster than others, and can burn before the rest had made it even to light amber.

If the temperature gets too hot and the caramel becomes too hard as it cools, you can put it back in the pan with a couple of tablespoons of cold water to try and save it.

Clear caramel is definitely a simple syrup you're looking for. If you are looking for something thicker than simple syrup stay on low heat and cook it a little longer and/or add cornstarch to the water BEFORE BOILING. Cornstarch dissolves best it cool liquids.

Caramel sauce is a wonderful topping for ice cream, cake, pie, and bread pudding. While a typical caramel recipe calls for heavy cream, what if you don't have any handy? This easy recipe uses milk and butter instead, ingredients you're more likely to have on hand.

If caramels are too soft, that means the temperature didn't get high enough. Again place the caramel back into a sauce pan with a couple of tablespoons of water and heat to 244°F. If you don't have a candy thermometer, you can test with a cold water test. Details on how to use this method can be found here.

Generally, “caramel” is defined as a chewy, light-brown candy made from butter, sugar, and milk or cream. For example: I love eating caramels because they are soft and chewy. In contrast, “Carmel,” is used as a proper noun, and it is a popular beach town in California, known as Carmel-by-the-Sea.

There are two basic methods of making caramel – wet and dry; the basic difference between the two methods being water. Essentially both methods are heating sugar, then adding fat (butter and cream, typically); but the wet uses water to dissolve the sugar faster.

Is caramel just boiled sugar? ›

Caramel is white granulated sugar that's been heated slowly to 340 degrees Fahrenheit. This gradual heating process breaks down the sugar's molecules and creates a deep golden brown color and rich flavor.

You probably started with too high a percentage of water, and/or didn't wait long enough. Caramelization won't begin until the temperature is considerably above 100 C (212 F), and for that to happen, very nearly all the water must be driven off. Just keep the pot over strong heat, and wait — carefully.

If caramels are too hard, you can try placing them back in a saucepan, adding a couple tablespoons of water and stirring until the thermometer reads 242°F. Pour back into a prepared buttered pan. If caramels are too soft, that means the temperature didn't get high enough.

Microwave: Add caramel to a microwave safe bowl & melt the caramel on high for approximately one minute (60 seconds). Stir to make sure that the heat is evenly distributed then put the bowl back in the microwave on 50% power for another minute.

This is especially likely to occur if there are sugar crystals left on the sides of the pan or if you stir the sauce while it's cooling. Evaporation: Caramel sauce contains water, either from the initial sugar-water mixture or from added cream or butter.