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 heavy weight, 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.
1. Add all ingredients into a heavy weight, 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, 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.
May 6th, 2010 at 8:18 pm
I've always wanted to play with melted sugar and I love how you
showed the process. Beautiful!
May 6th, 2010 at 8:30 pm
That's wonderful and very helpful. Thanks for sharing. I love the spirals. Petra
May 6th, 2010 at 9:49 pm
Awesome, just awesome.
May 6th, 2010 at 10:15 pm
great post, i have been wanting to try this..i really need to..it would any dessert divine..
sweetlife
May 6th, 2010 at 11:41 pm
Beautiful!
May 7th, 2010 at 12:41 am
Oooo, I'll be needing to do this very very very soon
. Thank you for sharing this post. Great instructional shots.
May 9th, 2010 at 12:29 am
Great post!
May 13th, 2010 at 5:27 pm
these are such a great idea! i'll be sharing on Foodwhirl.com soon.
May 17th, 2010 at 4:02 am
Wow, these look great! I can't wait to try to make these, but I'm not sure I'll be able to do it as well as you have done. Nice work!
May 20th, 2010 at 12:23 am
Love these!
Featured today on foodwhirl:
http://foodwhirl.com/spotlight/spotlight-caramel-spiral
thanks for sharing the how-to
dot
June 27th, 2010 at 9:05 pm
Is there a time limit on how far in advance these can be made or how the best way to store them? Should they be left out in the open etc.? Thanks I love how cute and beautiful these are!
June 28th, 2010 at 5:23 am
DanaG21- I find that in hot and humid weather these don't store well. My advice would be to place these in a parchment lined tupperware container that is air-sealed, and store in a cool dry place.
July 3rd, 2010 at 9:45 am
I'd like to try, however, in the ingredients it says use golden syprup but in the directions it states corn syrup…they're not the same thing are they? Or is golden syrup an alternative for us UK folks
July 4th, 2010 at 3:04 am
Oh wow, these caramel spirals are so cool! Great photos, too!
July 6th, 2010 at 8:44 pm
OMG! These are incredible, I can't believe they're edible.
April 7th, 2011 at 7:44 am
Good blog post. What I would like to contribute is that personal computer memory must be purchased but if your computer still cannot cope with anything you do along with it. One can install two good old ram boards containing 1GB each, as an example, but not one of 1GB and one of 2GB. One should look for the manufacturer’s documentation for the PC to be certain what type of ram it can take.
April 26th, 2011 at 9:47 am
I can’t wait to try this. They look so cool!
May 7th, 2011 at 1:00 pm
I can´t even express how thankful I´m that you´ve posted this recipe here – I´ve been looking all over the internet for these caramel decoration- and I like your description best. Thanks again for sharing it with us!
June 4th, 2011 at 2:44 am
Hi I followed the ingredients and direction but reduced it to 1/2. My caramel became sticky when cooled down. I tried spiral but did not harden after even 10 minutes, Where did i go wrong? help!
June 12th, 2011 at 7:35 pm
Hey Joy,
It is likely that the sugar didn’t reach the proper hard-crack stage (300′). If it doesn’t reach this temperature, its structure will be as you described it. I suggest to get yourself an accurate candy thermometer, and try it again. Goodluck
August 15th, 2011 at 8:43 pm
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being hardest and 1 being easiest, how dificult would you say these are to make?
August 18th, 2011 at 11:50 pm
10 at first– after a few goes, it drastically drops to about a 4.
October 3rd, 2011 at 10:04 pm
WOW!! they are simply beautiful.. I will try making them soon..
thanks for sharing!
February 22nd, 2012 at 12:51 pm
Can you add food coloring to this recipe?
May 4th, 2012 at 12:56 am
@Ashley – That was the exact question I was wondering too ! I read all the comments to see if anyone said anything about it. Guess, I will just have to try myself …
July 5th, 2012 at 3:58 am
fantastic!!!!! it is such a beautiful thing.
September 2nd, 2012 at 11:28 am
Hi there:)
How do you store these sugar swirls if you make them a day in advanced ?
Many thanks
March 24th, 2013 at 1:52 pm
I’m going to make them to put on my flourless Passover cakes, thank you! My cake needs height, and my husband dislikes flowers being placed on cakes, and my kids don’t like fruit on cakes. These will be perfect!
March 24th, 2013 at 2:05 pm
hi, thank you so much for this, if we can’t find the golden corn syrup would the clear one work as well?
Thank you in advance.
March 24th, 2013 at 4:16 pm
Did you use “Golden Syrup” or corn syrup?
March 28th, 2013 at 5:49 am
This is pure genius! They are so pretty! Thank you so much for sharing!!!
March 28th, 2013 at 10:28 am
Che cosa è lo golden syrup??? In Italia non esiste !!con che altro ingrediente lo posso sostituire??Saluti cari e auguri da Bologna laura
March 28th, 2013 at 3:06 pm
These spirals are so cute! You make them similar to the way I make my homemade caramel pies. I just melt the sugar and add it to my custard, continuously stirring till it is thick enough, then pour into a prebaked crust and bake until the meringue is browned.
Thank you for sharing the way you make the spirals! If you don’t mind, I would like to share your magic on my blog, linking back to your’s of course. Please let me know what you think about that. I am also following your blog now.
Hugs, Paula
March 30th, 2013 at 9:48 pm
I love these. Look forward to having a go. Have you tried dipping them in melted chocolate?
April 3rd, 2013 at 4:12 am
I have always wanted to do this!
April 7th, 2013 at 8:17 pm
Thank you for sharing!! Yours is the only one I’ve read adding the tip on clean-up. FANTASTIC!!!
May 1st, 2013 at 7:57 pm
These are absolutely and simply beautiful. I can’t wait to give them a try. My niece will be going off to Boston College in the fall and we are having a graduation party for her in May (when she actually graduates). BC’s colors are crimson and gold and these spirals would be perfect to accent the cake I am going to make. I have been ill of late so I am not entirely sure that I will get to these or not, but if not for this event, then certainly for another. They look so fancy! Oh, do you know if you could add edible glitter to them while they’re still wet?