Using homemade caramel syrup (from 1919)
by Harriet R Whitaker – New-York Tribune (New York, New York) October 19, 1919
The flavor of homemade caramel syrup depends entirely upon the degree to which the sugar has been brought before the water has been added. When one is making a stock syrup, great care is needed to prevent sugar from getting too brown or scorching, which gives a bitter flavor.
To dissolve the hard caramelized sugar usually takes so much time that the delicious flavor is seldom used, but if it is made into a syrup and bottled — your own homemade caramel syrup — it will be ready for instant use.
Put granulated sugar in a saucepan or frying pan over heat and stir constantly until sugar has melted and becomes a deep brown, but not black. Then add an equal amount of boiling water to make a thick syrup, boil a minute, and pour into jars or bottles. If it should become “sugary,” add a little water when reheating in amounts needed.
1. Caramel cream cake recipe
Mix one cup of sugar with one-half cup of butter, add one-half cup of caramel syrup, and one cup of sweet milk. Fold in two cups of flour mixed with two teaspoons of baking powder and one-fourth of a teaspoonful of salt. Bake in layers.
2. Caramel cream filling
Add one-half cup of caramel syrup to two cupsful of scalded milk. Stir in two tablespoons of cornstarch dissolved in a little cold milk reserved for that purpose.
Add one tablespoonful of butter, and when the cornstarch is cooked, add one beaten egg. Stir until egg is cooked and the mixture smooth and thick.
Spread between layers and on top as soon as it is cooled. Two tablespoons of cocoa may be added to this cream when cooking for variety.
If there is no milk at hand, use the following recipe:
3. Economical caramel cream filling
Cook one-half cup of thick caramel syrup with one cup of hot water and one-eighth of a teaspoonful of salt. When boiling, thicken with two tablespoonfuls of cornstarch mixed in a little cold water. Add a tablespoonful of butter and a sixteenth teaspoonful of nutmeg if desired. Spread between layers before it gets too cool to spread smoothly.
4. Caramel fudge cake recipe
Blend one and a fourth cups of thick, cold caramel syrup with one-half cup of butter, add two well-beaten eggs and a cup of milk or water. Stir in three cups of flour mixed with two teaspoonsful of baking powder and one-fourth teaspoonful of salt. Bake in layers.
5. Fudge filling recipe
Cook one cup of thick caramel syrup, one-half cup of milk, a sixteenth teaspoon of salt, and one-fourth cup of chocolate or cocoa together. When the mixture forms a soft ball in cold water, add two tablespoonsful of butter. Remove from stove and beat until it commences to cream, and pour over layers at once.
6. Caramel bread pudding
Soak three cups of bread crumbs in one quart of hot milk to which has been added one-half teaspoonful of salt, one cup of caramel syrup and three tablespoonsful of butter.
When cool, whip in two well-beaten eggs and a sixteenth teaspoonful of grated nutmeg. Bake in buttered dish set in a pan of hot water. Serve cold with whipped cream.
7. Caramel pinoche recipe
Add one cup of milk to one cup of warm caramel syrup, heat, then add one cup of granulated sugar. Stir constantly and cook until it forms a soft ball when dropped in cold water.
Then add two tablespoonfuls of butter, and one cup of broken pecan nut meats. Remove from the fire. Beat until creamy, then drop by the teaspoonful onto buttered plates.
8. Caramel ice cream with “trimmings”
Scald one quart of milk and one cup of caramel syrup, add a sixteenth teaspoonful of salt and three well-beaten eggs which have been mixed in a little milk before adding to the hot mixture. Cook in double boiler until the custard coats the spoon. Remove at once to pan of cold water and stir a few moments. When cold, freeze.
This makes a delicious dessert when a few plump raisins, candied cherries or thin slices of citron are added after the dasher is removed. When serving, sprinkle over each portion a spoonful of powdered nut meats.
9. Caramel coconut
Allow one tablespoonful of cornstarch and one teaspoonful of grated coconut moistened with a little cold milk to each cup of hot milk used. When thickened, add salt and caramel syrup to taste.
Pour at once when cooked into ramekins and cover with a meringue made from stiffly-beaten egg white sweetened with granulated sugar, using a tablespoonful of sugar to each egg white. Brown in oven and serve with thin cream.
