Caramel sauce and cream
Sugar caramelizes around 160°C (320°F), far above the 100°C (212°F) where water boils. Cream is mostly water, so it flashes to steam, foams up and flings scalding sugar. Stand back and keep your face away from the pot.
Warm cream, deep pot
Warm the cream first so the shock is smaller. Take the pot off the heat, pour slowly while whisking, and use a deep pot, since the foam climbs fast. If hard bits form, return the pot to low heat and they melt back in.
Test yourself
Questions from the interactive lesson, with the answer and the why.
Why does caramel bubble up violently when you add cream?
The cream's water turns to steam on the hot sugar. Caramel is much hotter than boiling water, so the cream flashes to steam instantly.
True or false: Pouring cold cream into hot caramel is the safest method, because it cools the pot quickly.
False. Cold cream causes the biggest steam burst. Warm cream and slow pouring tame it.
What went wrong? You dump cold cream all at once into a small saucepan of caramel. Foam climbs over the rim and the sugar hardens into lumps.
Cold cream hit the hot sugar all at once and flashed to steam. A large amount of cold cream boils instantly and also chills the sugar into lumps.
Fill the blank: Warm cream bubbles less because there is a smaller temperature ___ between it and the sugar.
Warm cream bubbles less because there is a smaller temperature gap between it and the sugar. A smaller gap means less shock and a gentler release of steam.
Why use a deep pot that looks too big for the amount of sauce?
The cream's steam makes the sauce foam up. Steam inflates the sauce into foam, which needs headroom to avoid boiling over.