Crème caramel: caramel sticks to the bottom of the ramekin... What to do? | RICARDO (2024)

FAQs

Crème caramel: caramel sticks to the bottom of the ramekin... What to do? | RICARDO? ›

Don't worry, this has happened to me, too. It's normal. Caramel hardens when you pour it into a ramekin but gradually melts into syrup during cooking. If the layer of caramel poured into a ramekin is too thick, it will not have time to completely melt during cooking.

Caramel is sticky business, and if you're making candies, pouring it into an ungreased pan is a huge mistake. It will be difficult (or maybe impossible) to get out! Make life easier by lining your pan with parchment paper and coating it with a layer of baking spray to keep the candy from sticking.

If the layer of caramel poured into a ramekin is too thick, it will not have time to completely melt during cooking. This is why caramel will stick to the bottom. My advice? Pour a thin layer of caramel into your ramekins and everything should turn out fine.

Boil. After making a batch of caramel sauce, caramel apples, fudge, toffee, peanut brittle, butterscotch, or any other stovetop candy, simply fill the dirty dish with water and bring it to a boil. By the time the water starts to bubble, it will have removed most of the hardened candy from around the sides of the pot.

Clean Bottom of an Oven with Washing up Liquid.

Dilute 1/4 cup Fairy Liquid into four cups hot water and use the soapy water to soak a few old rags. Open the wet cloths and lay them over the top of the baked-on grease and sugar stains and let sit for several hours.

Strain the Sauce: If your caramel sauce still turns out grainy or with a few candy-like chunks despite your best efforts, strain it through a fine-mesh sieve to remove any remaining sugar crystals and achieve a smoother consistency.

If caramels are too hard, you can try placing them back in a saucepan, adding a couple tablespoons of water and stirring until the thermometer reads 242°F. Pour back into a prepared buttered pan. If caramels are too soft, that means the temperature didn't get high enough.

Add an acid: Adding an acid keeps sugar from recrystallizing by breaking down a portion of the sucrose molecules into fructose and glucose molecules. Our Caramel Sauce, for instance, includes cream of tartar as insurance against the sugar crystallizing.

- Use cooking spray in the pot, bowl, pan or any other dish you choose to melt the caramel in, to help prevent it from sticking.

Line a baking sheet with a baking mat or grease the sheet with some oil or butter. This is necessary because caramel usually sticks to parchment or wax paper.

Why is my caramel sticky? ›

Increasing reducing sugars will add to the flavor and color of caramel – but too much can cause excessive stickiness. Check the pH of premix, water and other ingredients, including scrap, to identify excessive inversion as the problem. Caramel premix should have a neutral pH (6.8-7.0).

To help avoid crystallization, after you combine the sugar, salt, and water there's a bit of hands-on work: you want to whisk it occasionally until you're confident the sugar is fully dissolved. Then, keep a close eye on the sugar-water mixture as it cooks into a pretty golden color but avoid stirring it any further!