Caramel

A piece of caramel confectionery.

Caramel is a food which has a brown color and a sweet toasted flavor, derived from the caramelization of sugar. Caramel is used to flavor candy and soft drinks such as Coca Cola. It is also commonly used as a food coloring (with the E number E150).

Caramel can be made from sugar by heating it slowly to around 170° C (the particular temperature depends on the sugar, see caramelization). As the sugar melts and approaches this temperature, the molecules break down into other volatile compounds that give it the characteristic caramel color and flavors.

The word caramel also describes a soft, chewy caramel-flavored candy made by boiling milk and sugar together. Its color and flavor are due not to caramelization, but to the Maillard reaction, which occurs between an amino acid and a reducing sugar.

• carambar
• toffee

Caramel is also an concept representation markup language system for generic programming.