# Getting Right Consistency for Caramel Filling...How??????



## showboat93 (Jun 4, 2009)

Hello,

I am trying to make caramel filling (sugar, milk or cream, burnt sugar, vanilla, etc.) but just cannot get it to the right texture/consistency. The taste is just right but consistency not. I need the caramel to be stable at room temperature, meaning that it should be like cream cheese...easy to slice with a fork but not runny. Is there a specific temperature I need to cook this to in order to achieve this?

Thank you for any suggestions.

Regards,
David
showboat93


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## blueicus (Mar 16, 2005)

The key to consistency is moisture content. When you're boiling a sugar syrup the concentration of the sugar in the mix corresponds to what candy-making stage it is at. By the time caramel turns brown the amount of water in that mixture (Even though it's bubbling and fluid) is nearly 0% and made up of almost entirely sugar, and by adding a liquid (such as the cream) you are increasing that moisture again.

I make a clear caramel using exactly 1/3rd the mass of water to the amount of sugar I used to make the caramel after it has turned the desired colour... this yields a sauce of consistent viscosity. By changing the amount of liquid you add you can change the viscosity of your caramel.

For caramel candies you are going to want to have a liquid content similar to a soft-ball stage of sugar, approximately 85%. So heat up your sugar and add around 20% (by weight) of the amount of liquid to the sugar and mix until the mixture is smooth (more water will evaporate while you're doing this)... upon which time you can immediately cool down. Alternatively, you can heat up the mixture again (if you're adding more liquid) and reach the stage you want but I find that you really don't want to cook the dairy for that long, sometimes you will see the fat separate from the milk solids and that yields an oily product.


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