Hi,

In this recipe --
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/re...s/photo/236889 -- for a
caramel pudding tart, my caramel filling came out kind of
yellow/creamish rather than the deep amber that is portrayed here --
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/re...s/photo/236889.

I cooked the sugar/water solution mentioned in the recipe for as long
as it told me, and it seemd to become a deep amber before I poured the
milk in. Any ideas what the problem might be?

Thanks!

Akilesh

Akilesh Ayyar wrote:

> Hi,
>
> In this recipe --
> http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/re...s/photo/236889 -- for a
> caramel pudding tart, my caramel filling came out kind of
> yellow/creamish rather than the deep amber that is portrayed here --
> http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/re...s/photo/236889.
>
> I cooked the sugar/water solution mentioned in the recipe for as long
> as it told me, and it seemd to become a deep amber before I poured the
> milk in. Any ideas what the problem might be?
>
> Thanks!


The key variables here that effect color are

- Degree of cooking of the sugar (more = darker outcome)
- Amount of milk added (more = lighter outcome)

Unless you added too much milk, the way to get it darker
would be to cook it longer. Swirl the pan around before
assessing the color - caramel tends to form hotspots which
can make determining the true color difficult. It's possible
you estimated the color from a dark hotspot and then ended
up pulling it off the heat too soon.

--
Reg

Akilesh Ayyar wrote:
> Hi,
>
> In this recipe --
> http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/re...s/photo/236889 -- for a
> caramel pudding tart, my caramel filling came out kind of
> yellow/creamish rather than the deep amber that is portrayed here --
> http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/re...s/photo/236889.
>
> I cooked the sugar/water solution mentioned in the recipe for as long
> as it told me, and it seemd to become a deep amber before I poured the
> milk in. Any ideas what the problem might be?
>
> Thanks!
>
> Akilesh

I make a lot of caramels. In my experience, there are several places where
this recipe could be improved. Firstly, rather than attempting to brush
sugar crystals down, which I have never found to work, just cover the pot
and cook for 2 minutes. The steam will do the job for you. Secondly, I doubt
that a whisk is the best implement to use when endeavoring to get the
caramel off of the bottom of the pan. A flat-bottomed wooden spoon would
probably do a better job of scraping the caramel up. If you need to, you
could then switch to a whisk to make sure it is combined with the milk
mixture. Thirdly, caramel is of course lightened when you add milk or cream.
Note that this recipe says to cook the caramel that will go into the custard
to a DEEP amber. I have the feeling that you didn't caramelize it enough.
Forget about the 10 minutes: just cook it until the color is really deep.
The time required will depend on many factors, such as burner temperature,
pan, humidity, etc.

Great answers! Thanks!

Akilesh Ayyar wrote:
> Hi,
>
> In this recipe --
> http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/re...s/photo/236889 -- for a
> caramel pudding tart, my caramel filling came out kind of
> yellow/creamish rather than the deep amber that is portrayed here --
> http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/re...s/photo/236889.
>
> I cooked the sugar/water solution mentioned in the recipe for as long
> as it told me, and it seemd to become a deep amber before I poured the
> milk in. Any ideas what the problem might be?
>
> Thanks!
>
> Akilesh