Skip to content
H. Schønberg ErkenArkivet
NOENLog in

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)

Be the first to rate

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.

Time machine – what changed?

Pick two editions and see what Henriette Schønberg Erken added, removed or changed between them.

From19141949Modernised
To19141949Modernised
Modernised → 1949 (proofread, p. 390)~69% of the text changedremovedadded
2 kg sukker. 1,5 l vann (kokende). 1 ss 1/2 kg. sukker 1/2 l. vann (til å fukte sukkeret). Rør sukkeret med Sukkeret og 1 spiseskje spiseskjefull vann røres i en tykkbunnet stekepanne over varmen til sukkeret er mørkebrunt.. Spe mørkebrunt, spes litt etter efter litt med det kokende vannet. Vær forsiktig – massen freser kraftig.. La blandingen koke vann, koker inn til en sirup.. Avkjøl kuløren sirup, avkjøles og hell den helles på glass eller flasker.

Note on Modernised

Mål modernisert. Vannmengden er lest som 1½ liter (OCR utydelig). Trinnene er skrevet ut i moderne språk; «stekepande» beholdt som stekepanne/tykkbunnet panne.

Community interpretations

Be the first to share your own version.

See interpretations →

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.

Related recipes

More dishes in the same category from the archive

Read also

Kommentarer

Ingen kommentarer ennå. Bli den første til å dele!