The world of cooked sugar is a magical realm. The temperature to which sugar is heated, together with the components it is mixed with, can produce wildly completely different textures and flavors. Sugar crystals rework into many beloved confections by way of caramelization, the breakdown of sugars as they warmth, altering each their shade and taste.

Caramel, butterscotch, and toffee are all made utilizing the identical cooking method and are sometimes mistaken for each other. These sweets show how delicate variations—such because the addition of milk, cream, or butter, and the exact temperature at which cooking is stopped—can produce completely different flavors and textures. 

To raised perceive the variations amongst caramel, butterscotch, and toffee, I spoke with Nathan Myhrvold, the creator of Modernist Delicacies, and Nik Sharma, a Critical Eats contributor, cookbook creator, and editor in residence at America’s Take a look at Kitchen. Here is what I realized in regards to the variations, plus one of the best makes use of for every of those sticky sweets.

Caramel

Ingredient: Granulated sugar
Cooking Temperature: Recipes vary from about 250 to 350°F (121 to 175°C), relying on the specified outcome

Caramel is made by heating granulated sugar (white sugar) till it melts and caramelizes. There are two important strategies: dry caramel and moist caramel. Dry caramel is made by heating sugar by itself, with out added liquids,  whereas moist caramel begins with sugar dissolved in water. The temperature you prepare dinner it to will decide the ultimate taste and texture: The longer the prepare dinner time the tk the flavour.  Luxurious caramel sauces and smooth, chewy candies are created by including cream and butter on the finish of caramelization. 

Cooking caramel requires a watchful eye. Even probably the most skilled cooks have scorched or crystallized a batch. As sugar cooks, its flavors deepen and turn into extra complicated— however there is a nice line between superbly caramelized and burned. Myhrvold recommends caramelizing sugar in a small pan to cut back the probabilities of burning, explaining that it may be tough to warmth a big pan evenly, leading to elements of the sugar cooking too rapidly. Making caramel properly requires precision: Taking the sugar to only the proper amber shade will reward you with wealthy,  nutty, and malty flavors.  

Sharma explains that sugar naturally needs to crystallize and can seize any probability to revert to that state throughout cooking. Including acid, corresponding to lemon juice or cream of tartar, might help stabilize the combination by stopping crystallization. In case your sugar does crystallize, the excellent news is it’s simply sugar. If a batch goes mistaken, toss it out and easily strive once more. 

Caramel is an extremely versatile ingredient. As Myhrvold notes, how you propose to make use of it’ll decide the components you add. Whisking cream into caramel on the finish of cooking helps preserve a fluid consistency as soon as cooled, which is good for sauces and incorporating into buttercreams. Iconic caramel-based desserts embody caramel cake, tarte Tatin, crème caramel, and millionaire’s shortbread.

Butterscotch

Components: Sugar (usually brown) and butter
Cooking Temperature: Roughly 234 to 265°F (112 to 129°C), relying on desired outcome

Butterscotch stands other than different caramelized confections as a result of it usually is made with brown sugar as an alternative of granulated sugar, and butter is all the time included in the course of the cooking course of. As Sharma explains, brown sugar— which is both partially refined sugar that retains some molasses or white sugar coated with molasses—has the next moisture content material, which makes it harder to burn, and a pure acidity that makes it much less vulnerable to crystallization. 

Butterscotch can take many types, together with sauce, sweet, or pudding. Butterscotch pudding is a basic preparation made by tempering egg yolks with milk or cream, then incorporating them again into the butterscotch base. Heat butterscotch sauce, with its viscous texture, is a good topping for desserts, ice cream, and different desserts. And naturally, there are butterscotch onerous candies—immediately recognizable by their canary yellow wrappers— that are made with out milk or cream, in order that they have a much less wealthy taste than different butterscotch confections. 

To make butterscotch, you whisk butter and brown sugar collectively on the range till it reaches your required temperature: Cooking the combination to the smooth ball stage (234 to 240°F/112 to 115°C) will provide you with a pourable sauce; taking it to the onerous ball stage (240 to 265°F/115 to 129°C) will give you chewy candies. 

Regardless of the inclusion of “scotch” in its identify, there is no Scotch in butterscotch. Butterscotch reportedly originated in Yorkshire, England, within the mid-Nineteenth century. In keeping with an entry in Britannica, “scotching” could discuss with the observe of scoring the sweet whereas nonetheless heat, making it simpler to interrupt into items as soon as hardened. Others counsel it is merely a nod to Scotland.

Toffee

Components: Sugar (usually brown) and butter
Temperature: Roughly 300 to 335°F (148 to 168°C)

Toffee distinguishes itself from caramel and butterscotch in a single key manner: It is usually served as a tough sweet. The method begins very similar to butterscotch—by caramelizing sugar with butter—after which the combination is taken to the onerous crack stage of  300 to 335°F (148 to 168°C). The upper temperature produces a deeper, extra complicated taste and offers toffee its signature nuttiness and brittle snap. When toffee is ready as a sauce, as in sticky toffee pudding, the addition of molasses and/or heavy cream helps forestall it from hardening, leading to a clean, pourable consistency.

Toffee candies are sometimes enhanced with chocolate or nuts, which counterpoint its wealthy taste. At Dandelion Chocolate in San Francisco, one of the crucial standard confections is their Cocoa Nib Toffee, coated in delicate, fruity 70% Zorzal Comunitario chocolate from the Dominican Republic. Pastry chef Zach Juliano explains that they make their toffee with a mix of brown and granulated sugars emulsified with native clover butter, which supplies the confection with a extra complicated taste than one made with simply granulated sugar alone. The butter’s fats content material amplifies the sugar’s nutty caramelized taste, whereas the chocolate’s fruitiness, paired with sea salt and cocoa nibs, helps spherical out the confection’s sweetness.

Key Takeaways

Caramel, butterscotch, and toffee every showcase the magic of caramelized sugar, and reveal how variations in temperature, timing, and components can result in dramatically completely different outcomes. 

Caramel is cooked to the very best temperature of the three, and is usually used as a sauce or taste base for different desserts. It’s normally made solely with granulated (white) sugar and develops a deep, wealthy complexity because it approaches the caramel stage.

Butterscotch is cooked to the bottom temperature and all the time consists of butter. Brown sugar is usually used, giving butterscotch its signature sweetness and nutty taste.  Butterscotch is commonly made into candies or sauces. 

Just like butterscotch, toffee is made with butter and sugar however cooked to the onerous crack stage, which supplies it its brittle texture and deeper, extra nuanced taste. 

Cooking sugar requires persistence and precision. A superb sweet thermometer, a watchful eye, and all of your components lined up earlier than you begin are important. With a strong recipe and a little bit of care, success with caramel, butterscotch, and toffee will be yours.