With or Without Water?

Having once seen a professional chef make caramel without using any water, I was eager to do the same. Nowadays, and 200 saucepans later, I can say that I can do it. But it’s a precision procedure, so if you’re feeling distracted or not too confident, it’s always best to add a spoonful of water before starting. This makes the caramel more forgiving and flexible, allowing you more time to get it right, especially if you’re using sugar cubes. This only comes into play when making hard caramel for use as a decoration, not for the recipes later on in the book.