How to burn sugar
Your grandma knew how to make this old time treat for cakes and ice cream
Burnt sugar ice cream, burnt sugar cake, burnt sugar pie; perhaps you've heard of some of these deserts or maybe you've even eaten and enjoyed them, but it's hard to find someone who knows how to correctly burn sugar. Typically, it's not truly burnt at all because the person making it chickened out for fear of truly burning it, or it's burnt up!
There is an art to burning sugar and once you learn a few tips, you'll see that it is actually quite easy.
Burning sugar requires a large skillet; some swear by cast iron, others cast aluminum, but I have used both and I currently use a T-Fal lined skillet that I THINK is aluminum simply because it's big enough. Big enough meaning it needs to measure around ten-inches for a full cup of burnt sugar.
Measure one cup of white sugar into the skillet and turn the heat to a fairly high temperature (8 on a dial with 1-10 or Medium High on a burner with the temperature described rather than numbered). Also have measured out and ready to pour, an equal amount of liquid – usually milk or water depending on the recipe. I prefer to use a heat resistant spoon or a spatula with a flat edge that will evenly scrape the bottom of the skillet as I stir, and stir you will; burning sugar takes lots of stirring and you should never walk away even if it's just to answer the phone. In a few minutes the crystal white sugar will turn to clear liquid.
KEEP STIRRING. Next the liquid will begin to darken and turn a brownish color.
KEEP STIRRING. As the liquid darkens in color, stir at a snails pace. In time the mixture will start to bubble.
CONTINUE SLOWLY STIRRING. As the mixture makes bubbles it will change from a brownish color to sort of a rust or orange color. As it turns, CONTINUE TO STIR until the entire pan is covered in tiny orange/rust colored bubbles. Now carefully and slowly add the liquid with caution as the mixture as a tendency to spew or froth and foam.
KEEP STIRRING until it stops spewing. Some of the sugar will harden; keep stirring until it has dissolved into the liquid. If the mixture has a curdled look and quite frequently it will, especially if the liquid used is milk, allow it to cool slightly then run it through the blender. Burnt sugar alone will have a bitter taste but it is delicious when mixed with other ingredients. Typically, people either love or loath burnt sugar; there is seldom an in-between person who sorta likes it.
My favorite Burnt Sugar Ice Cream: (Everyone can make this easy recipe)
Ingredients list for Burnt Sugar Ice Cream (Makes 1 gallon)
3 cups sugar (for extra sweet, add another ½ cup of sugar)
5 cups milk
4 eggs
1 quart half and half
1 can evaporated milk
1 teaspoon real vanilla
Burn one cup of sugar and add one cup of milk to the mixture using directions above. Run through the blender until smooth and set aside. In a 4-6 quart sauce pan combine 4 cups of milk and four eggs. Using a wire whisk to stir and beat the eggs and milk together at the same time, (saves washing another pan) stir the mixture and cook until it starts to thicken. (Stir this mixture continually as it scorches easily) If the mixture has a curdled look when it cools, run it through the blender as well. In a one gallon ice cream container, combine the burnt sugar mixture with the eggs and milk mixture. Add 1 quart of half and half, 2 additional cups of sugar (I run the sugar through the blender with eggs and milk mixture so that it is completely dissolved and does not settle to the bottom) 1 can of evaporated milk and 1 teaspoon of real vanilla extract. Freeze following the directions that came with your ice cream freezer and enjoy!
About the Author
Donna Covey grew up on a farm and she and her parents raised chickens and milked. During hot summer months without air conditioning, every Saturday night her mother would mix up a freezer of burnt sugar ice cream. She and her brother and sisters would hand crank the freezer until it got too stiff, and then her father would finish the job. "There's nothing like home made when it comes to ice cream. Every year I make four gallon of burnt sugar ice cream for the ice cream social at our local county fair. People ask for my ice cream by name and refuse to eat burnt sugar ice cream that someone else has made because they know they really like my ice cream. I am constantly amazed at the number of people who don't know how to burn sugar for it truly is becoming a lost art."
Tell others about
this page:
Comments? Questions? Email Here