Copyright © 2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All Rights Reserved Basic Syrups, Creams, and Sauces 12

Sugar Cooking Copyright © 2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All Rights Reserved 12 Syrup Strength Indication of the concentration of sugar in a solution. Once the sugar has dissolved, we can increase the concentration of sugar by continuing to boil the syrup. When all the water has evaporated the remaining melted sugar begins to caramelize, or brown. One pint of water is enough to dissolve 3-4 lbs. of sugar. The Brix scale is a measure of the sugar concentration in a solution. The simple way to measure sugar concentration is to use a hydrometer, a hollow glass tube with a weight at one end. A hydrometer used specifically to measure sugar concentration is called a saccharometer. Basic Syrups, Creams, and Sauces

Sugar Cooking Copyright © 2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All Rights Reserved 12 Crystallization and Inversion Graininess is a common fault in many candies and desserts. Graininess results when cooked sugar crystallizes—turns to tiny sugar crystals rather than staying dissolved in the syrup. Seeding is the chain reaction of when one sugar crystal comes in contact with the sugar syrup and turns the whole thing into a mass of sugar crystals. To avoid crystallization during the first stages of boiling sugary syrups Do not stir the syrup. Wash down the sides of the sides of the pan with a brush dipped in water. Cover the pan during the first boiling for several minutes. Basic Syrups, Creams, and Sauces

Sugar Cooking Copyright © 2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All Rights Reserved 12 Syrups cooked until they have a high concentration of sugar are liable to crystallize after they have been cooled. This can be controlled by inversion, a chemical change of regular sugar into another form of sugar that resists crystallizing. Ingredients that may be added to invert sugar are: An acid, cream of tartar or lemon juice Glucose or corn syrup Basic Syrups, Creams, and Sauces

Sugar Cooking Copyright © 2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All Rights Reserved 12 Stages of Sugar Cooking Testing the temperature with a candy thermometer is the most accurate way to determine the doneness of a syrup. Basic Syrups, Creams, and Sauces

Sugar Cooking Copyright © 2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All Rights Reserved 12 Stages of Doneness in Sugar Cooking Stage°F°C Thread Soft Ball Firm Ball Hard Ball Small Crack Crack Hard Crack Caramel Basic Syrups, Creams, and Sauces

Sugar Cooking Copyright © 2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All Rights Reserved 12 Basic syrups for the bakeshop Simple syrup, stock syrup, a solution of equal weights of sugar and water. Dessert syrup, a flavored simple syrup. Basic Syrups, Creams, and Sauces

Sugar Cooking Copyright © 2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All Rights Reserved 12 Procedure for Preparing a Simple Syrup Combine equal weights of water and sugar. Stir and bring to a boil over moderate heat. Cook and stir until sugar is dissolved. Remove any scum. Cool the syrup and store in a covered container. Basic Syrups, Creams, and Sauces

Sugar Cooking Copyright © 2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All Rights Reserved 12 Procedure for Preparing a Dessert Syrup Prepare and cool a simple syrup. Add any desired flavoring according to taste. OR Prepare a simple syrup, but add the rind of an orange or lemon to the sugar and water before bringing it to a boil. Remove rind from cooled syrup. Basic Syrups, Creams, and Sauces

Basic Creams Copyright © 2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All Rights Reserved 12 Whipped Cream Cream for whipping should be at least one day old. Chill the cream and all equipment thoroughly. Use a wire whip for beating by hand or the whip attachment on the mixer. Use medium speed on mixer. Use extra fine granulated sugar or sifted confectioners sugar if sweetening the cream. Basic Syrups, Creams, and Sauces

Basic Creams Copyright © 2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All Rights Reserved 12 Whipped Cream Do not over whip. Cream to be folded into other ingredients should be slightly under whipped. Fold in flavoring last. If the cream is not to be used immediately, store it, covered, in the refrigerator. Basic Syrups, Creams, and Sauces

Basic Creams Copyright © 2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All Rights Reserved 12 Meringue : whipped egg whites sweetened with sugar. Common meringue (French meringue): room temperature egg whites beaten with sugar. Swiss meringue: egg whites and sugar that are warmed over a hot water bath as they are beaten. Italian meringue: beating a hot sugar syrup into the egg whites. Basic Syrups, Creams, and Sauces

Basic Creams Copyright © 2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All Rights Reserved 12 Meringue Soft meringues: may be made with as little as 1 lb. sugar to 1 lb. egg whites. Hard meringues: baked until crisp and twice as much sugar. Basic Syrups, Creams, and Sauces

Basic Creams Copyright © 2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All Rights Reserved 12 Guidelines for making meringues: Fats prevent whites from foaming properly. Egg whites foam better at room temperature. Do not overbeat. Sugar makes egg white foams more stable. Mild acid helps foaming. Basic Syrups, Creams, and Sauces

Basic Creams Copyright © 2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All Rights Reserved 12 Crème Anglaise : vanilla custard sauce and is a stirred custard. Use strict sanitation procedures. Set up a stainless steel bowl in an ice bath before beginning cooking. When combining the egg yolks and sugar, whip the mixture as soon as the sugar is added. Heat the milk to scalding before combining with egg yolks. Slowly beat the hot milk into the beaten eggs and sugar. Set the bowl containing the egg mixture in a pan of simmering water to prevent curdling. Basic Syrups, Creams, and Sauces

Basic Creams Copyright © 2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All Rights Reserved 12 Crème Anglaise: vanilla custard sauce and is a stirred custard. Checking for doneness When the mixture reaches 185°F (85°C). When the mixture lightly coats the back of a spoon. Immediately pour the sauce through a strainer. If the sauce curdles, immediately stir in 1-2 ounces (30-60 mL) of cold milk, transfer it to a blender and blend at high speed. Basic Syrups, Creams, and Sauces

Basic Creams Copyright © 2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All Rights Reserved 12 Pastry Cream, crème pâtissière, contains a starch thickening agent to stabilize the eggs. Crème chiboust is pastry cream with the addition of meringue and gelatin. Dissolve the sugar in the milk and bring to a boil. Beat egg yolks and whole eggs in a bowl. Sift the cornstarch and sugar into the eggs. Temper the egg mixture Return the mixture to the heat and bring to a boil. Stir constantly. Remove from heat when thickened and add butter and flavorings. Cool and chill as quickly as possible. Basic Syrups, Creams, and Sauces

Dessert Sauces Copyright © 2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All Rights Reserved 12 Custard sauces Chocolate sauces Lemon sauce Fruit sauces Purées of fresh or cooked fruit, sweetened with sugar, called coulis. Heated, strained fruit jams and preserves, diluted with simple syrup, water or liquor. Caramel sauces Caramel is simply sugar cooked until it is golden. There are two methods available for caramelizing sugar: Wet method Dry method Butter caramel Basic Syrups, Creams, and Sauces