Lyle’s Golden Syrup, a British cane sugar syrup, and I go way back. 20 years, at least, before I stepped foot in a professional kitchen. My mother gave me Laurie Colwin’s incredible book, Home Cooking, and I became obsessed with making, eating and achieving the perfect gingerbread. Gingerbread’s fine, moist crumb is the product of using different kinds of sugars, how they’re proportioned, and how many of them are invert—meaning sugars that are liquid in their natural state. And golden syrup was the key, I found, to the gingerbread of my dreams. You see, invert sugars ensure soft, malleable textures, which explains why they also play a huge role in candy making.
Lyle’s Golden Syrup perfected my gingerbread, thick from the tin with a slightly caramelized flavor. And now, as a pastry chef, I like to pay homage to the ineffable, illustrious Lyle’s Golden Syrup with this chewy, salted caramel.
Lyle’s Golden Syrup Caramels
Adapted from Alice Medrich, Pure Dessert
2½ cups Lyle’s Golden Syrup (you can also use Steen’s or cane syrup, but please, no corn)
2 cups sugar
1½ teaspoons fine sea salt
2 cups heavy cream
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into cubes, softened
Special equipment
1 candy thermometer
One 9-inch square baking pan
- Line the bottom and sides of the baking pan with aluminum foil and grease the foil with butter.
- Combine the syrup, sugar and salt in a heavy 3-quart saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring until the mixture begins to bubble steadily.
- Wash the sugar from the sides of the pan with a clean pastry brush, dipped in water. Cover and cook for a few more minutes then remove the cover and wash down the sides of the pan with your pastry brush again. Keeping the sides of the pan clean prevents the sugars from crystallizing.
- Attach the candy thermometer to the side of the pot, without letting it touch the bottom and cook, uncovered, without stirring, until it reaches 305°F. Meanwhile, heat the cream in a small saucepan until it simmers.
- When the sugar mixture reaches 305°F, turn off the heat and add the cubed butter. Carefully and gradually stir in the hot cream, going slowly as the mixture will bubble up quickly and create a lot of steam.
- Turn the heat back on to bring the whole mixture up to an energetic, but not violent boil. Stir until any thickened syrup at the bottom is dissolved and the whole mixture is smooth. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is 245°F, then begin to stir constantly.
- For soft and chewy caramels, cook to 260°F. For firmer chewy caramels, cook to 265°F. Remove the pot from the heat.
- Pour the caramel into the lined pan and let it sit for 4 to 5 hours, or overnight, until firm.
- Lift the pan liner from the pan and invert the sheet of caramel onto a sheet of parchment paper. Peel off the liner. Cut the caramels into bite-size pieces using an oiled knife. Wrap each one individually, in wax paper or cellophane.
More autumnal treats:
Grown-up Peanut Butter Cups by Stella Parks
Maple Panna Cotta with Almonds by Ithai Schori
Chocolate-Pear Bread Pudding by Melissa Clark
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