Burnt sugar decoration for cake. Master Class

Don't know how best to decorate a homemade cake? Check it out, caramel is one of the best decorations.

Caramel is a thick syrup made from sugar. To make caramel professionally, you need auxiliary tools, cold table, onto which the caramel will be poured. And plates showing the heating temperature, as there are different types caramel and the degree of heating are different.

But we will prepare caramel at home. Anyone who made burnt sugar or caramel figurines in the form of cockerels, bunnies, etc. as a child will easily understand the cooking process. Let's prepare caramel for decorating cakes and pastries.

Ingredients for 1.
Portion.

Sugar 6 tbsp. Spoon.
Water 2 tbsp. Spoons.
Vinegar essence 3 ml.
Citric acid 2 g.

Cooking time:
30 min.

Take thick-walled dishes. Use sugar and water at the rate of 3 parts sugar to 1 part water. Pour water over sugar. Place on the fire and heat, stirring constantly until the sugar dissolves.
Then cook the syrup for 10 minutes until tender over low heat. The caramel will begin to turn golden from the edges of the pan, so stir and be careful not to burn the caramel.
Add vinegar essence, stir, then citric acid or fruit essence. This is to prevent the caramel from becoming sugary when cooling, and to add flavor.
To stop heating the caramel, you need to lower the pan into cold water, but carefully so as not to get burned by the steam. And immediately start drawing with caramel.
If you drop the finished caramel onto a spoon, it will harden without spreading.

Caramel decoration for the sides of the cake. Measure the height of the cake and cut out strips of parchment paper, grease with butter so that the caramel is easy to separate. Scoop a tablespoon of caramel and draw a random lattice. Until the caramel hardens too much, you can straighten it with the edge of a knife.
Then remove it before it completely sets and stick it to the cream on the cake. This should be done when the cake is already on the finished dish.
Caramel basket. The basket can be made on any rounded object: on a scoop, on a grapefruit or an orange. Grease a ladle with oil, scoop a tablespoon of caramel and, holding it over the dish, apply a lattice pattern. First thick lines, then thin ones.
When the caramel has cooled and hardened. Just grab the basket and turn it with your palm, it will detach from the scoop.
A caramel basket is suitable for serving dessert in it, or the basket can be covered like a dome, for example, in the middle of the cake.
Only if you make the middle of the basket a solid bottom and draw rays from it, then you can serve ice cream balls or other non-free-flowing dessert in such a basket.

Drawn caramel figures. Draw shapes on parchment paper, such as swirls, flowers, and hearts. And on back side Draw caramel along the translucent outline. Such figures can be placed in cream on cakes or decorated with cakes. There is already a huge scope for your imagination.

The mesh is a cobweb made of caramel. Draw random strokes of caramel on the parchment paper.
When cool, carefully break into pieces.
Decorate the top or sides of the cake with them.
Caramel leaves. Draw large drops with caramel, use a knife to form leaves, pressing down the sides of the drop, while the caramel is soft, apply a pattern of veins.
Then use your hands to stretch and turn the leaf so that it is not flat. You can use the leaves to decorate the cake or make a candy stem and attach the leaves to it. You can pull out any shapes from thickened but not frozen caramel.

Adviсe.

- When you prepare caramel, nothing should distract you.
- Prepare all additional tools and parchment paper with drawings in advance, as the caramel quickly hardens and thickens.
- Do not overheat the caramel, otherwise you may burn it and the taste will be bitter.
- If you didn’t have time to draw, and the caramel has thickened, just heat it over low heat, it will melt.
- To wash dishes from caramel, you need to pour water into the dishes and heat it up. The caramel will dissolve on its own and you won’t have to remove it from the dishes. Or just fill a bowl with water and leave it overnight, the caramel will dissolve on its own. Author of the recipe and photo: Vera.

Lace, spirals, monograms, whole bouquets of transparent colored caramel look very professional. However, in order to create such masterpieces at home, you don’t have to be a pastry chef. It’s easy to cook caramel yourself, and then form it into any decorations, from drops and cobwebs to spectacular bouquets.

Caramel decor has many advantages. It looks beautiful in photos and videos and gives any product a professional and stylish look. Once hardened, caramel decorations are very difficult to spoil. Unlike chocolate, cream or jelly, they do not spread, melt, or change color. The natural shade of caramel is all shades of gold and honey. Using dyes, the mass can be tinted; a pleasant aroma will be given by essences, which are added drop by drop after cooking.

Caramel decorations store well. They can be made in advance, placed in boxes and stored in a cool, dry place. The only drawback of the material is fragility. Beginners should not make complex monograms, flowers and three-dimensional designs. It is better to limit yourself to cobwebs, openwork hemispheres, drops, leaves and spirals. They look unusual and stylish, and are quite easy to make. Professionals advise making jewelry with a reserve; in case of breakage, the damaged element can be quickly replaced.

Caramel decor is ideal for cakes covered with mastic, cream (butter, protein, custard), chocolate or sugar icing. Caramel does not go well with nut topping, grated chocolate or streusel; in this case, you should choose a different decor. Those losing weight should take into account that sugar decorations are quite high in calories.

Despite the fact that there is now a huge selection of confectionery products, including cakes, in stores, many housewives prefer to bake them themselves in order to surprise guests and household members. Berries, cream, chocolate and mastic, as well as caramel for the cake are usually used as decoration.

How and why confectioners use caramel

The history of the viscous sweet mass made from sugar supposedly began in India a couple of thousand years ago. Then, as a delicacy, people belonging to the untouchable caste fried chopped sugar cane over a fire, obtaining a kind of caramel. However, in the form in which the sweet is known today, it did not appear until the 16th century. And the first product made from caramel was a regular lollipop.

Now there are several types of caramel:

hard,
soft,
candy,
with various additives.

There are, of course, others, but they are already a mixture of those presented or their varieties.

You can use any caramel to make cakes and decorate them, but each of them will have its own “function”. Thus, soft cakes are usually sandwiched between layers, and candy cakes are used to make exquisite decorations.

Recipe for making caramel

The simplest caramel is made from water and sugar. They do this as follows:

Take 4 parts sugar to 1 part water.
Water is poured into a stainless steel pan, and sugar is added there.
Stirring continuously, bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat.

Sometimes vinegar or lemon juice is added to water and sugar to avoid sugar crystallization and premature hardening of the sweetness.

The finished caramel begins to darken, but you should not allow it to become completely brown. Now it must be immediately poured into a glass or ceramic dishes– and you can use caramel to decorate cakes.

How to make figures from caramel

If you decide to decorate a cake with caramel, then you can not just pour it on upper layer, but make unusual decorations. To do this, you need to act quickly before the sweet mass has time to cool.

If you dip a wooden stick into caramel, a thin “thread” will follow it, which will be the main material for decoration.

You can use this thread to write on the cake or twist it into intricate caramel shapes. Separately, butterflies, flowers, cobwebs, notes and treble clefs are “drawn” on a silicone mat, and then the frozen “sculpture” is placed vertically in the cake.

The most common decoration made from melted sugar is a spiral. It can be round or oblong. A flat round one can be made on the same silicone mat, and if you want it to be in the shape of a hemisphere, then the caramel “thread” is wound onto a ladle. An oblong spiral is obtained by removing the frozen decoration from the round handle of a whisk or ladle.

But if you make multi-colored caramel from isomalt and dyes, then you can sculpt a variety of figures. This is done like this:

Isomalt is melted without water in a saucepan.
Add dye to it.
Pour onto a silicone mat and cool slightly.
Knead the mass with your hands, stretching it.
Figures are quickly sculpted before the material hardens.

So that the material of the required consistency is at hand at all times, it is divided into two parts, one is worked with, and the other is kept under the lamp at this time so that it does not cool down, and then they are changed.

Caramel is not the most capricious material. Even a novice pastry chef can handle it, once he gets used to it. And it gives simply enormous scope for imagination.

Have you tried making caramel yourself? Tell us what you did in the comments.

Sugar caramel. Method for making caramel:

Filling a deep plate cold water and put the molds nearby - everything should be at hand.
Place the pan over medium heat, add sugar and heat it until liquid state. Do not stir the substance until most of the sugar has dissolved.
When the sugar has completely melted, switch the switch to the lowest heat and lower a spoon or mold into the solution. As soon as it is full, place it in a plate of water for 10 seconds, then place it on a damp towel and move on to the next form.
Fill the pan with water to scrape up any remaining caramel and remove the finished treats from the molds. Making your own caramel from sugar turned out to be easy, didn’t it?

And now - little tricks that will help make your sweet treat even more attractive and tasty.

Trick 1.
To prevent the sugar from rolling into pieces, add a drop of vinegar or lemon juice to the pan during heating, then the caramel will turn out homogeneous.

Trick 2.
To get transparent and voluminous caramel, pour 4-5 tablespoons of hot water into dissolved sugar. During the simmering process, a ball will swell from this water, after which you need to catch it and just wait until it cools down.

Trick 3.
To give the caramel a piquant taste, after removing from the heat, add cognac or any citrus juice; if you add herbs, you will get homemade cough drops.

Are you wondering how to make caramel from sugar to make lollipops? This is also very simple - you will need wooden sticks, for example, from ice cream, or, as a last resort, toothpicks (for mini caramels). When the pan is on low heat, simply wrap the thick mixture around these sticks and wait for the excess to drip off.

So we learned how to make caramel from sugar, spending a minimum of time and available materials. Now you can please delicious dessert both little guests and their friends - who said adults don't like lollipops? In the future, after good practice, you will be able to cook cockerels and other complex figures at home.

Caramel decorations

Caramel is sugar syrup heated over high heat. The precision of caramel preparation is very important, the difference between a subtle and sweet taste and one that burns in a few seconds. It is advisable to start cooking the caramel on high heat and after a minute reduce the heat to low heat, stirring occasionally. It is important to prepare all auxiliary tools in advance. Since the caramel cools quickly, you need to have time to turn it into the desired shapes. If the caramel has already hardened, you can gently heat it up and it will return to the desired state.
Very important: Since caramel can reach a temperature of about 160C, you need to work in such a way as not to cause burns to yourself or others.

Caramel. Basic recipe.

Ingredients:

½ tbsp. (100 g) sugar
2 tbsp. l. water (the amount of water should slightly cover the sugar)

It is advisable to use a pan with a thick bottom, which ensures even and not sharp heating. As mentioned above, start heating on high heat for a minute, then reduce to less than medium. Before boiling, you need to stir the sugar completely. After this there is no need to interfere. It will take 7-10 minutes for a golden mass to begin to form along the edges of the pan, which gradually fills the entire pan. You can rock the pan from side to side to improve the process. When the golden mass covers the entire pan and all the sugar has dissolved, the caramel is ready. We wait until all the bubbles disperse (we shake the pan) and the caramel becomes transparent.

Remove the pan from the heat and lower (carefully) into a large saucepan filled with cold water to stop the caramel heating. Sometimes it is advised to take a brush, dip it in cold water and run it from the inside along the edges of the pan during cooking (do it very carefully). We prepare the decorations, thought out in advance, so that the caramel does not have time to harden.
The taste depends on the color of the caramel. When it is light, the taste is simply sweet; the darker the caramel, the more interesting and subtle the taste.

Problems that may arise during the cooking process:

If crystallization of sugar begins and it gradually turns into a solid mass, you will have to redo it first or warm it up easier (the main thing is not to burn it).

To remove the hardened mass from the pan, you will have to pour boiling water over it all and scrape it with a rubber whisk or something else without damaging the coating of the pan.

Strawberries in caramel

Grease the surface where the caramelized strawberries will be placed. Thread the strawberries onto a wooden toothpick or skewer. Carefully dip into the caramel and place on the prepared surface.

Caramel basket

Turn the silicone mold upside down. If there is no suitable one, you can use similar shape a plate covered with aluminum (foil) or just an iron plate of the desired shape and oiled (some use a ladle upside down). We scoop the caramel into a spoon and first make a thick strip of caramel at the base of the mold or plate. Then we make longitudinal and then transverse stripes, trying to achieve the picture - prison bars. We wait for the caramel to cool down a little, but remove it while still warm. Carefully remove the foil or silicone from the basket.

The amount of caramel obtained from the basic recipe should be enough for 8 ramekins.

Caramel ball

To do this, you will need a device in the form of two skewers (skewers) at a distance of 20 cm from each other, fixed motionless. Take a fork and drizzle caramel over the skewers. We collect the resulting threads from the skewers into one ball.

Caramel decorations at home. Secrets of caramel for decorations

Standard caramel from water, sugar and citric acid, used to make well-known lollipops, is not suitable for making elegant decorations; in extreme cases, it can be used to make a decorative mesh, formed from thin streams of foil squeezed onto a sheet and cooled caramel mass. Or a cast base for other decorations. You cannot make a caramel flower from such a mixture; it is only suitable for casting.

To make the caramel mass suitable for modeling, it is made more plastic by adding molasses during production. It's quite difficult to buy molasses in retail stores, so if you want to make caramel flowers at home, try replacing it with maple syrup or fresh, uncandied honey (it should flow from a spoon). As a last resort, use artificial honey as a plasticizer.

Cooking method:

First way

Pour 3/4 cup water into a saucepan and bring it to a boil.
Add sugar, vinegar essence and mix well.
Bring the finished solution to a boil again and cook until taking a caramel sample (taking a few cooled drops of caramel, which should not stick to the teeth or bend).
Pour the caramel into a cooled, greased bowl. vegetable oil.

Add sugar, stir and bring to a boil again.
Add molasses to the resulting solution and bring to a boil.
Strain the resulting mass through a sieve and boil until it tastes like caramel.
Cool the mixture slightly and add vinegar essence, coloring and flavoring, mix well.
The finished caramel can be bent or stretched using a wide knife greased with butter.

Tip: to prevent the caramel from hardening prematurely, cook it in small portions in a small bowl.

One of the most colorful ways to decorate a cake is with crushed caramel placed on top of whipped cream or yogurt. To make crushed caramel, grease a frying pan or large leaf parchment paper. Then spread the caramel over its surface to form a layer about 3 mm thick. Leave the caramel to harden. When it hardens, separate it from the paper or pan and begin to carefully break off small pieces from it.

Caramel also goes well with fruits, giving them a pleasant sweet and sour taste. Prepare caramel and decorate the cake with kiwi slices, tangerine slices, strawberries and cherries. We are sure your guests will be delighted.

In addition, you can make spirals from the leftover caramel, which are suitable for decorating cakes. To do this, grease the sticks with oil and roll the caramel into ropes. Wrap the resulting strands on sticks or a rolling pin and leave until the caramel hardens. When the caramel hardens, carefully remove the spirals and decorate your dessert with them.

You can make various abstract patterns from caramel: scoop up the slightly cooled caramel with a knife or fork and pull it out onto parchment paper. Caramel can be twisted, changed direction, giving it any shape.

More interesting option– amber scattering of caramel. To create it, add citric acid instead of vinegar essence when preparing caramel. Next, equip yourself with a silicone pastry brush and parchment paper. Dip a brush into the hot caramel and sprinkle drops over the baked goods.

You can make a whole dome out of caramel. Cut the grapefruit in half and brush the peel with oil. Also coat the parchment paper with oil, roll it into a bag, fill it with caramel, make a small cut at the tip of the bag. Squeeze the caramel onto the grapefruit halves to form a fine mesh. Once the caramel has set, carefully remove the mesh from the grapefruit. Ready!

Video CARAMEL DECORATIONS for desserts.

Caramel is sugar syrup heated over high heat. The precision of caramel preparation is very important, the difference between a subtle and sweet taste and one that burns in a few seconds. It is advisable to start cooking the caramel on high heat and after a minute reduce the heat to low heat, stirring occasionally. It is important to prepare all auxiliary tools in advance. Since the caramel cools quickly, you need to have time to turn it into the desired shapes. If the caramel has already hardened, you can gently heat it up and it will return to the desired state.
Very important: Since caramel can reach a temperature of about 160C, you need to work so as not to cause burns to yourself or others.

Caramel. Basic recipe.

Ingredients:

½ tbsp. (100 g) sugar
2 tbsp. l. water (the amount of water should slightly cover the sugar)

Problems that may arise during the cooking process:

If crystallization of sugar begins and it gradually turns into a solid mass, you will have to redo it first or warm it up easier (the main thing is not to burn it).

To remove the hardened mass from the pan, you will have to pour boiling water over it all and scrape it with a rubber whisk or something else without damaging the coating of the pan.

Strawberries in caramel

Grease the surface where the caramelized strawberries will be placed. Thread the strawberries onto a wooden toothpick or skewer. Carefully dip into the caramel and place on the prepared surface.

Caramel basket

Turn the silicone mold upside down. If you don’t have a suitable one, you can use a plate of a similar shape, covered with aluminum (foil) or just an iron plate of the desired shape and oiled (some people use a ladle upside down). We scoop the caramel into a spoon and first make a thick strip of caramel at the base of the mold or plate. Then we make longitudinal and then transverse stripes, trying to achieve the picture - prison bars. We wait for the caramel to cool down a little, but remove it while still warm. Carefully remove the foil or silicone from the basket.

The amount of caramel obtained from the basic recipe should be enough for 8 ramekins.

Caramel ball

Caramel tube

You will need a small glass jar.

Caramel spiral

Lubricate the musat with oil. While rotating the mousse, pour in the caramel. Let it cool and remove from the mousse.

Figures on parchment paper

Naturally, we rub parchment paper with oil and write out pretzels or shapes as we wish.

Caramel is a delicacy known since childhood. Rare child Having eaten a cockerel on a stick, I did not try to melt the sugar and make candy myself, and many succeeded. It would seem that caramel decorations - what could be simpler? Indeed, making caramel is quite simple, but working with it requires additional tools, talent and patience.

If you are ready to repeat the feat of the masters and make your own decorations from caramel, for example, caramel flowers, leaves or more complex compositions, then you will need cooking utensils with thick walls, a thermometer up to 200 degrees, liquid dyes, an alcohol lamp for fastening the elements and a caramel lamp, which keeps the caramel elastic. If high art gives way to imagination, your creativity and excellent taste, then take a closer look at the rather simple, but nevertheless original ways of decorating desserts that Culinary Eden offers.

Before you start creating caramel decorations, you need to properly prepare the caramel itself. There are two methods of preparation.

First way

Ingredients:
1 cup granulated sugar,
3/4 glass of water,
3-5 drops of vinegar essence 3%,
food paint.

Preparation:
Pour ¾ cup of water into the caramel cooking pot and bring it to a boil. Pour sugar into boiling water, stir thoroughly and add vinegar essence. Bring the resulting solution to a boil and cook until a caramel sample is taken. The caramel test is carried out using several chilled drops of caramel; they should not bend and stick to the teeth, but should be crushed well. The finished caramel is poured into a chilled bowl greased with vegetable oil. When the caramel has cooled a little, add coloring to it.

Second way

Ingredients:
35 ml water,
100 grams of sugar,
50 g molasses,
3-5 drops of vinegar essence
or 10-12 drops of dissolved citric acid

Preparation:
Pour water into the caramel cooking pot and bring it to a boil. Add sugar, stir and bring to a boil again. Add molasses to the resulting solution and bring to a boil. Strain the resulting mass through a sieve and boil until it tastes like caramel. To the slightly cooled mass, add citric acid or vinegar essence, a dye of the color you want and flavoring, mix well.

To prevent the caramel mass from hardening before you form the intended pattern, you need to cook it in small portions in a small bowl. The finished caramel mass is stretched and folded, giving the required form using a wide knife lubricated with oil.

One of the most simple ways cake decorations are crushed caramel. It is better to use cream as a base white- protein, from whipped cream or yogurt. The royal natural color of the caramel will be better visible on white cream, and if you decide to make it multi-colored, the colors will look brighter on a white background.

To get a similar decoration, prepare the caramel, grease a frying pan or a large sheet of parchment paper and spread the caramel over its surface to create a layer about 3 mm thick. Leave the caramel to harden. When it hardens, separate it from the paper or frying pan and begin to carefully break off small pieces from it, with which you can decorate your cake like a mosaic.

Caramel will also be useful for lovers of fruit and berry cakes. It will make the berries sweeter, giving them a sweet and sour taste. Prepare fruits and berries: peel the kiwi and cut into thin slices, divide the tangerines into slices and peel the membranes, cut the strawberries into quarters.

Prepare caramel and decorate the cake with kiwi slices, tangerine slices, strawberries and cherries. Grease and roll parchment paper into a ball. Pour the caramel into a bag and cut off a small corner. The smaller the cut, the thinner the pattern will be. Squeeze the caramel onto the fruit and draw the most intricate patterns with it, because the more openwork and thinner it is, the more beautiful it will turn out!

If the decoration is already ready, but the caramel remains and has not yet had time to dry, then you can make spirals and decorate the cakes with them or use them as an independent dessert. To do this, you need slightly cooled, plastic caramel, butter and a rolling pin or several thinner sticks according to the number of spirals required.

Grease the sticks with oil and roll the caramel into ropes. Wrap the resulting strands on sticks or a rolling pin and leave until the caramel hardens. When the caramel hardens, carefully remove the spirals and decorate your dessert with them.

Does the soul require something abstract? You're welcome. Each time a different, incomparable, one and only abstract caramel pattern made only by you. For such creativity, you will need parchment paper, a rolling pin, a fork, a wide knife and any other available tools.

Grease parchment paper and rolling pin with oil. Scoop the slightly cooled caramel with a knife or fork if you want a more complex and subtle pattern, and pull it onto paper. Don't forget to twist the caramel, change the direction and plane of movement. Scoop the caramel with a knife and transfer it to the rolling pin. While the caramel has not hardened, stretch, bend it and give it any shape.

Surprise your guests with amber sprinkles on your culinary work of art. When preparing caramel, instead of vinegar essence, add citric acid, this will make the caramel yellow color. Don't wait for it to cool down; it's better to immediately arm yourself with a silicone baking brush and start creating.

Place parchment paper around the cake. Dip the brush into the hot caramel and quickly transfer it to the cake with the egg white or whipped cream frosting. Start drizzling the caramel. You will get voluminous splashes of different shapes and sizes, which after hardening will resemble scattered amber.

Do you want something completely original? Make a caramel dome for your brownies. Of course, it will take quite a lot of materials, as well as effort, but isn’t the result worth it? Stock up on grapefruits, there should be exactly half as many of them as cakes, parchment paper, butter and, of course, caramel.

Cut the grapefruits in half exactly and brush the skins with oil. Grease the parchment paper with oil and roll it into a ball. Fill it with caramel and cut off a small corner. Squeeze the caramel onto the grapefruit halves to form a fine mesh. When the caramel hardens, remove the mesh from the grapefruit; this must be done as carefully as possible, because the structure turns out to be quite fragile. Cover your cakes with the resulting domes and original dessert ready!

As you can see, to work with caramel you can do without alcohol lamps, thermometers and special lamps, and make decorations no less original and tasty than those made by professionals. The main thing is your creative mood, the desire to create, experiment and surprise. Caramel is just a material that in your hands turns into exceptional, unlike others, different, amazing masterpieces every time.

It is important to enjoy the process of decorating with caramel and if you succeed, then experiment, create, master new materials, come up with something new and surprise others!

Decorations made from pouring caramel mass

From a viscous thick caramel mass, which has a temperature of about 70°, you can prepare decorations for cakes in the form of fountains, domes, stands, cobwebs, etc. To prevent decorations from the caramel mass from quickly becoming sugary and darkening, it is best to use refined sugar when cooking caramel or thoroughly cleaned granulated sugar. For this you need to take light caramel molasses; The more molasses you use, the more plastic the caramel mass becomes. If molasses is replaced with other anti-crystallizers (invert syrup, various acids) or the dose of molasses is reduced, the caramel mass, after cooling below 70°, quickly hardens, which makes molding difficult. When making caramel mass, you should keep in mind that the less molasses you add, the more water you need to add. Caramel syrup is prepared in the same way as fondant syrup, only the caramel mass intended for decorations is boiled in small portions in a small bowl over high heat, since when cooked over low heat the caramel mass turns yellow. To cook the caramel mass, take sugar, dissolve it in hot water, after which the edges of the dishes are washed with water. After this, the syrup is boiled. As soon as foam appears on its surface, it is carefully removed. After the syrup boils, wash the edges of the pan again, cover the dish with a lid and boil the syrup to 118°, add molasses heated to 50° and, reducing the heat slightly, boil the mass to a caramel temperature of 158-163°. To prevent the color of the caramel mass from changing, it is cooled immediately after cooking. The bowl with caramel syrup is immersed in cold water for a few seconds, or the caramel syrup is poured onto a cold marble or baking sheet, lightly greased. Fat must be free of moisture, odor and foreign impurities. The caramel spreading over the marble is bent using a wide knife, also greased. Tint the caramel mass with dissolved food colors. When heated at high temperatures, the paints decompose and curl, so they are added after the caramel mass has cooled to 100°. The consistency of the paints should be creamy; dry paints do not dissolve well and form small dots in caramel. When tinting the caramel mass in several colors, it is poured in portions onto a table with a marble lid or into small frying pans and tinted separately. If you need to heat the caramel mass, then place it in a frying pan and place it in an oven, oven or heating device. The caramel mass should be flavored and acidified with various acids and essences after it has been cooled to 80-90°, since with more high temperature some types of acids are destroyed and aromatic substances evaporate. It is best to make a paste and knead it into the caramel mass. For 1 kg of caramel mass, take 8 g of ground tartaric acid, 3 g of fruit essence and 2 g of diluted paint. Products made from caramel mass have the ability to quite quickly absorb moisture from the air, which is why their surface becomes wet, sticky, loses its shine, and becomes covered with a candied, dirty crust, under which further destruction of the product continues. To prevent caramel products from being destroyed, you must adhere to the following rules: a) add molasses and acid to the caramel mass in doses not exceeding the norm; b) produce products from caramel mass in a warm, dry room; c) do not take caramel products from a hot room to a cold room and vice versa; d) form caramel products with your hands, having previously washed them with alum, so that your hands do not get wet; e) dip caramel products into the syrup; e) keep the finished caramel products under steam for 1 second, sprinkle with white or colored granulated sugar and then dry. A fountain of caramel mass is made to decorate cakes. On a table with a marble top you need to draw six figures in the form of knots of the same size, which are lightly coated with melted fat. Roll four cornets of the same size from wrapping paper, place them tightly one inside the other and glue them with eggs, cut off the thin end of the cornet to form a hole with a diameter of 5 mm. This cornet is made in order to maintain the temperature of the caramel mass and not burn your hands when working with it. After this, roll up a cornet from parchment paper, which is inserted into the lornetics from wrapping paper, so that the thin end of the parchment cornet protrudes out. Then cut the thin end of the parchment cornet to form a hole with a diameter of no more than 1 mm. Pour the caramel mass into the cornet to half its volume, close the parchment cornet first, and then the rest. Squeeze caramel out of the prepared cornet using a thin thread along the contour of the pre-drawn images. Then carefully remove the knot while it is still flexible and move it to another place to cool. After this, pour the caramel mass onto a table with a marble lid, giving it the shape of a small round cake, into which insert the prepared cooled caramel knots. Glue the ends of the knots on top with hot caramel mass. The dome is made to decorate cakes and other custom-made items. Apply a thin layer of fat to a metal or dome-shaped dish. After cooling the fat from the cornet, release the caramel mass onto the mold according to the patterns previously outlined on it. Cover the base of the mold with a thicker layer of caramel mass. When the caramel mass has cooled slightly, carefully separate the caramel dome from the mold. To do this, lift it slightly with your fingers and turn it, but do not remove it from the mold until it has cooled completely. After complete cooling, stick caramel-glazed nuts, fruits or flowers made of caramel, marzipan onto the caramel dome and carefully remove the product from the mold. The dome can be made from caramel different colors. Make plates and stands from caramel mass boiled to 163°, cool it and quickly roll it into a flat cake on a warm board. Place the cakes in greased molds of different sizes and styles (narrow, flat, plate-shaped). The leaves are made from pouring caramel, tinted in green color. Cut small veins into half of the potatoes, reminiscent of the veins of a leaf, then dip the potatoes into the hot caramel mixture and place on the table with a marble lid, greased. The caramel sheet, freed from the potatoes, can be folded and shaped when warm. different shape. A caramel web is prepared using a wire whisk, the ends of which are dipped into a hot caramel mass, and the thin caramel threads formed at the ends of the wires are applied to specially placed thin metal rods or wooden sticks. Caramel fines should be made using a cornet. Place all kinds of figures on greased marble or on a confectionery iron sheet, which can be used to decorate cakes, pastries and other products.

Croquembouche is a traditional French wedding cake. It is a tower of profiteroles. Decoration and filling can be to suit every taste. Yes, a gorgeous croquembouche is already participating in the competition, but I can’t help but offer my own. That's why. For my husband and I’s anniversary this year, I planned to bake this particular cake long before the competition. The choice fell on a French traditional cake, because Paris for us is much more than just the “city of lovers”. So, I present to your attention my croquembouche!

Ingredients for Croquembouche with Caramel Strings:

(dough) - 3 pcs
(dough + 2 more tbsp for caramel) - 1 cup.
/ (dough) - 1 cup.
(100 g - dough, 200 g - cream, 50 g - glaze) - 350 g
(double in cream (pack of 6 pcs. - 270 g)) - 6 pcs.
(glaze) - 100 g
(2 tbsp - glaze, 1 tbsp - for white chocolate. Can be replaced with cream) - 3 tbsp. l.
— 100 g
(caramel) - 1/2 cup.
(dough) - 1 pinch.

Cooking time: 180 minutes

Number of servings: 8

Nutritional and energy value:

Recipe for Croquembouche with caramel threads:

First, let's bake profiteroles from choux pastry.
To do this you need to melt butter in a water bath with the addition of 1 glass of water and a pinch of salt. As soon as the oil boils, add flour, stirring constantly.

Boil the flour for a few minutes. The dough should pull away from the walls and come together into a single lump. Remove from the water bath and continue stirring for another five minutes. During this time, the dough will cool to the desired temperature so that the eggs do not curl.

Beat the eggs into the dough one at a time, kneading each time until smooth. As a result, we get a smooth dough that lags well behind the walls.

Dessert spoon(about 2/3 of a spoon) place “lumps” of dough on a greased baking sheet. The distance between the profiteroles should be sufficient, as they will increase in size. Place in an oven preheated to 200ºC, after 10 minutes reduce to 180ºC and bake for another 20 minutes. You cannot open the oven while baking - they will settle!

While the profiteroles are baking, prepare the cream. My choice fell on marshmallow cream.
Microwave 6 double marshmallows for about 30-60 seconds. During this time, the marshmallow will swell and become soft.

Beat the marshmallows, adding butter in small portions. When half the oil has been added, place the bowl in cold water and continue whisking, adding the remaining oil little by little. Beat until smooth. The result is a thick, shiny cream. When frozen, it holds its shape well.

Meanwhile, our profiteroles arrived in time. We take them out of the oven, put them on a dish and let them cool. When the profiteroles have cooled, we begin filling them with cream. This can be done using a pastry syringe or by cutting on one side.

Preparing the glaze. In a water bath, melt a bar of dark chocolate (100 g) and 50 g of butter, adding 2 tbsp. l. milk (can be replaced with cream). The glaze is ready when all the chocolate has melted and there are no grains.

Now we give our cake a shape - lay out a tower of profiteroles. Dip each profiterole halfway into the glaze and place it on a plate in a circle (do not fill the center of the circle). First we choose the larger things. We make the next “floor” a little narrower. And so on until there is 1 profiterole on top.
I had 8 things downstairs, and there were 5 floors.
If you filled the profiteroles while making a cut, you must first dip the cut (otherwise they will open).

The turret can be placed in the refrigerator while we prepare the next stage. Melt white chocolate in a water bath with the addition of 1 tbsp. l. milk. And pour white chocolate over the croquembouche for contrast. And again you can put it in the refrigerator while you cook the caramel.

Let's start making caramel. First, let's prepare a place for further work: Cover the table with parchment paper or foil, prepare a fork and skewer, place a bowl of cold water next to it, into which a saucepan with caramel will fit.
In a thick-bottomed saucepan or frying pan, melt granulated sugar (1/2 cup) with water (2 tablespoons) over medium heat, stirring. The sugar should dissolve before boiling. After boiling, do not stir. Cook caramel until amber color. We take a sample - drop the caramel into cold water - a ball should form, if the drop spreads, the caramel is not ready yet.