Be patient with these caramel spirals– they take time and a steady hand, but they are totally worth all the effort.
Caramel Sugar Spirals Ingredients - 1/4 cup golden syrup - 1/4 cup water - 2 cups sugar + a cylindrical metal tool (I used the back of my whisk) + 1 tbsp butter, or oil
Directions:
1. Add all ingredients into a heavyweight, deep pot. It’s important that you have a relatively large pot as the sugar cooks, it starts to bubble, and you don’t want to risk having it boil over.
2. Bring sugar, corn syrup, and the water to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Cook over medium heat until the mixture turns into amber color and registers 300′F (hard-crack stage) on a candy thermometer.
3. Pull the pot off the stove and dip the tines of a fork into the caramel. You will need to allow it to cool to about 200′F before you can start spinning the caramel around your cylindrical metal tool.
If the caramel is too hot it will move and drop too quickly and be VERY hard to work with. The caramel is ready to work with when a spoonful of the caramel is lifted then dropped back into the pan, and it pours very slowly.
4. You’ll want to grease your metal tool so that the sugar will release a lot easier. When the caramel is ready take a spoonful from the pot and start the spiral by winding the sugar strand around the bottom third of the metal tool, moving away from the edge you are holding it on. Working quickly and smoothly continue to wind the sugar strand along the steel. Allow the sugar spiral to cool for for 20-30 seconds before you attempt to remove it. Repeat the process for more spirals. This step might take a little practice, but after a few tries, you’ll start to get a feel for how to wind the sugar around the rod.
5. Return any unused, or broken spirals back to the pot. When the caramel cools it will begin to harden and will eventually harden– you’ll know because at this point, it becomes impossible to work with. You can re-melt the caramel slowly, by returning the pot to your heat source, and on LOW heat, allow the caramel to melt. You don’t want to re-heat the caramel on medium-high heat, because you risk burning the sugar, and you’ll get a bitter taste, and a dark color sugar– so.. just be patient with it :) 6. CLEAN UP: so at this point, you probably have a sticky, hard clump of caramel on your utensil (well, I know I did). Just add a cup or two of water to your caramel pot, and bring to a rolling boil. The hot water will melt the sugar.