caramel

/kar"euh meuhl, -mel', kahr"meuhl/, n.

1. a liquid made by cooking sugar until it changes color, used for coloring and flavoring food.

2. a kind of chewy candy, commonly in small blocks, made from sugar, butter, milk, etc.

3. a yellowish brown or tan color.

[1715-25; < F < Sp or Pg caramelo < LL calamellus little reed (by dissimilation), equiv. to calam(us) reed (see CALAMUS) + -ellus dim. suffix; meaning changed by assoc. with ML cannamella, canna mellis, etc., sugar cane, equiv. to L canna CANE + mel honey (gen. mellis)]

* * *

▪ candy

      candy substance obtained by boiling sugar to or beyond approximately 240° F (115° C), at which point its mass takes on a slightly yellowish colour and pleasantly burnt smell.

      Caramels vary in consistency between the short, or soft, and the long, or more chewy types depending upon the proportions of ingredients. Corn syrup added to the basic sugar constituent controls graining and contributes body. Milk, essential to the traditional “carmel-candy” flavour, imparts a creamy, collapsible consistency. The blended ingredients, including fats and starches, are stirred continuously during cooking and then poured into vessels or over cooling slabs in preparation for cutting and wrapping.

      Although the making of cream caramels requires a high degree of skill, caramel is a basic candy that is more important to mass producers of sweets than to the individual confectioner. Various grains of caramel may be dipped, coated, or coloured and flavoured with fruit and nuts, as well as coffee. Apples coated with caramel and skewered on sticks are a popular form of the candy in the United States.

* * *