SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS
Exploring the Science of Sugar Candy: Cooking Sugars
FoodCrumbles.com
July, 2021
Honeycomb
Caramel
Marshmallows
Rock sugar
What do:
Have in common?
Honeycomb
Caramel
Marshmallows
Rock sugar
Kurma
What do:
Have in common?
They all start out as a sugar syrup!
The sugar syrup is crucial for getting the right texture (e.g. crunchy, liquid, viscous)
What's sugar?
There are a lot of different types of sugars! All are small carbohydrates (mono- or disaccharides). Here, we're talking about sucrose, a disaccharide. It's your 'regular' cane or beet sugar.
Science Intermezzo
Sucrose molecule
Making a sugar syrup
01.
Dissolve the sugar (sucrose)
02
Cook the sugar solution to the desired temperature
What happens when boiling sugar (sucrose)?
1. Water evaporates
Science Intermezzo
2. As a result, the concentration of sugar increases.
3. This causes the boiling point (temperature) to go up!
Why is this important?
The concentration of sugar in your syrup (and thus its boiling point) determines the consistency of your candy!
Let's look at some examples!
(these are cooked syrups that have been cooled back to room temperature)
105°C / 221°F
Appearance: Flows, it's a liquid
When to use?: Syrups (e.g. drizzle over a cake, to make jalebi candy)
112°C / 234°F
When to use?: in preserves, for kurma cookies
Appearance: Still flows, but clearly a lot thicker!
Don't have a thermometer?
Use the ice water test to test the consistency and concentration of your syrup:
Science Intermezzo
1. Prepare a jug of cold ice water
2. Take a sugar syrup sample
3. Drop in the ice water
4. Evaluate consistency of the sugar
Don't have a thermometer?
Use the following descriptors:
Science Intermezzo
– Thread: ≈102 – 113°C – Soft ball: ≈113 – 118°C – Firm ball: ≈118 – 121°C – Hard ball: ≈121 – 132°C – Soft crack: ≈132 – 149°C – Hard crack: ≈149 – 154°C
Keep in mind, a thermometer is more accurate (especially if you're not that experienced!)
115°C / 239°F
When to use?: fudge, fondants
Appearance: Again, a lot thicker! Doesn't really flow anymore
121°C / 250°F
When to use?: Italian meringue, marshmallow
Appearance: Forms thick long sheets when pulled
125°C / 257°F
When to use?: Nougat
Appearance: Very very viscous, hard to pull and stretch
135°C / 275°F
When to use?: Taffy, toffee, brittle
Appearance: Syrup doesn't flow anymore, it turned solid!
150°C / 302°F
When to use?: Honeycomb
Appearance: Syrup doesn't flow anymore, it turned solid!
≥160°C / 320°F
When to use?: Caramels
Appearance: Starting to turn brown!