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Browning for sauces (caramel coloring)

Erken's sauce browning (caramel coloring): 2 kg sugar is burned dark brown with 1 tbsp water in a frying pan, carefully thinned with 1.5 l boiling water, cooked down to a syrup, cooled, and bottled.

Source: Henriette Schønberg Erken, Stor kokebok, 1914-utg. s. 353 (falt i det fri)

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About the dish

Browning — burned sugar — was the housewife's means of giving sauces and soups a dark, appetizing color before ready-made sauce browning became common. It was cooked in large batches and stored in bottles.

How to make it

  1. 1

    Burn the sugar

    Stir the sugar with 1 tablespoon of water in a heavy-bottomed frying pan over the heat until the sugar is dark brown.

  2. 2

    Thin with boiling water

    Thin little by little with the boiling water. Be careful — the mixture sputters violently.

  3. 3

    Cook down

    Let the mixture cook down to a syrup.

  4. 4

    Cool and bottle

    Cool the browning and pour it into jars or bottles.

Changes from the original

Measurements modernized. The amount of water is read as 1½ liters (OCR unclear). The steps have been written out in modern language; "stekepande" is kept as frying pan/heavy-bottomed pan.

Tidsmaskin – hva endret seg?

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Fra19141949Modernisert
Til19141949Modernisert
1914 (korrekturlest, s. 353) → 1949 (korrekturlest, s. 390)~46% av teksten endretfjernetlagt til
2 1/2 kg. sukker 1 1/2 l. vand. vann Sukkeret og 1 spiseskefuld vand spiseskjefull vann røres i en stekepande stekepanne over ilden, varmen til sukkeret er mørkebrunt, spædes spes litt efter litt med det kokende vand, vann, koker ind inn til en sirup, avkjøles og heldes paa glas helles på glass eller flasker.

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Frequently asked questions

What is browning, and what is it used for?
Browning is a dark sugar syrup made by burning sugar and thinning with water. It is used to give sauces (as well as soups and pan juices) a deeper brown color, without adding any flavor beyond a faint caramel bitterness.
How is it made according to the 1914 recipe?
2 kg sugar and 1 tablespoon of water are stirred in a frying pan over the heat until the sugar is dark brown. Then it is thinned little by little with 1 1/2 liters of boiling water, cooked down to a syrup, cooled, and poured into jars or bottles.
Why must the water be boiling when you thin it?
Because the burned sugar mass is very hot; cold water makes it splatter and set into lumps. Boiling water added a little at a time dissolves the caramel evenly and safely.
How long does the browning keep?
Because it is a dense sugar syrup, it keeps for a long time in a tightly closed jar or bottle — the recipe is meant precisely to make a large stock to draw from as needed.

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