1. Copyright © 2017 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All Rights Reserved12
Basic Syrups, Creams, and Sauces
Copyright © 2017 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All Rights Reserved

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Basic Syrups, Creams, and Sauces
Sugar Cooking
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.
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Basic Syrups, Creams, and Sauces
Sugar Cooking
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, or…
Cover the pan during the first boiling for several minutes.
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Basic Syrups, Creams, and Sauces
Sugar Cooking
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
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Basic Syrups, Creams, and Sauces
Sugar Cooking
Stages of Sugar Cooking
Testing the temperature with a candy thermometer is the most accurate way to determine the doneness of a syrup.
Copyright © 2017 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All Rights Reserved

6. 12 Basic Syrups, Creams, and Sauces Sugar Cooking
Stages of Doneness in Sugar Cooking
Stage °F °C
Thread
230
110
Soft Ball
240
115
Firm Ball
245
118
Hard Ball
Small Crack
Crack
Hard Crack
Caramel
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Basic Syrups, Creams, and Sauces
Sugar Cooking
Basic syrups for the bakeshop
Simple syrup, stock syrup, a solution of equal weights of sugar and water.
Dessert syrup, a flavored simple syrup.
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Basic Syrups, Creams, and Sauces
Sugar Cooking
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.
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Basic Syrups, Creams, and Sauces
Sugar Cooking
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.
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Basic Syrups, Creams, and Sauces
Basic Creams
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.
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Basic Syrups, Creams, and Sauces
Basic Creams
Whipped Cream
Do not over whip.
Cream to be folded into other ingredients should be slightly underwhipped.
Fold in flavoring last.
If the cream is not to be used immediately, store it, covered, in the refrigerator.
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Basic Syrups, Creams, and Sauces
Basic Creams
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.
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Basic Syrups, Creams, and Sauces
Basic Creams
Meringue
Soft meringues: may be made with as little as 1 lb. sugar to 1 lb. egg whites.
Hard meringues: 2 parts sugar to one part egg whites; baked until crisp.
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Basic Syrups, Creams, and Sauces
Basic Creams
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.
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Basic Syrups, Creams, and Sauces
Basic Creams
Crème Anglaise: vanilla custard sauce, a stirred custard.
Use strict sanitation procedures.
Set up a stainless steel bowl in an ice bath before beginning cooking. Set a strainer over the bowl.
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.
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Basic Syrups, Creams, and Sauces
Basic Creams
Crème Anglaise: vanilla custard sauce, 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 into bowl over ice bath.
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.
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Basic Syrups, Creams, and Sauces
Basic Creams
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 and beat well.
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.
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Basic Syrups, Creams, and Sauces
Dessert Sauces
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
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