Homemade caramel on a stick

Cooking method

1. Step 1:

   

   Gather your ingredients for the caramel.

2. Step 2:

   

   Also get ready the wooden sticks you'll press into the lollipops. Wooden skewers work perfectly for this. If they're too long, snap them in half. Prepare the surface the caramel will set on — a silicone (Teflon) baking mat is best. If you don't have one, use plain parchment paper brushed generously with a neutral, odorless vegetable oil. I also used sprinkles to decorate.

3. Step 3:

   

   Use a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Add the sugar, then pour in the water and lemon juice. Stir to combine.

4. Step 4:

   

   Set the saucepan over the heat. Stirring with a spatula, cook until the sugar has completely dissolved.

5. Step 5:

   

   The mixture will come to a boil. From this point you no longer need to stir constantly. Keep a bowl of cold water nearby — you'll use it in place of a candy thermometer.

6. Step 6:

   

   Let the caramel boil for a while — it will bubble vigorously and take on a faint golden tint. That's your cue to test it. Dip a wooden stick into the boiling syrup for a second, lift it out, and immediately plunge it into the cold water. Once it's in the water, swirl the stick quickly to chill the caramel.

7. Step 7:

   

   Pull out the stick and feel the caramel clinging to it. If it's soft and squishes easily, keep cooking. If it turns hard right after the cold water, it's done. In this photo mine is still a bit pliable, so I keep cooking.

8. Step 8:

   

   Now the color tells you the caramel should be ready. The cold-water test confirms it — the little ball of caramel on the stick hardened almost instantly. Turn off the heat.

9. Step 9:

   

   Using a spoon, pour the caramel onto the mat or paper in evenly sized rounds.

10. Step 10:

    

    Press a stick into each round, pushing it in gently.

11. Step 11:

    

    If you like, scatter sprinkles over the top.

12. Step 12:

    

    Make lollipops this way with all the remaining syrup. Let them cool completely, and only then peel them off the paper.