Processed
Caramel Powder
A tier
Caramel powder is cooked sugar (sometimes with dairy) dried and milled so a drink, ice cream, or dry mix can taste of caramel without a wet sauce. It is not caramel colour (the burnt tint additive) and it is not a toffee to chew. Good powder smells of butterscotch and dissolves into milk with a tan swirl. Dairy-containing powders are richer and more perishable; plain sugar caramels are darker and more bitter-sweet. It lumps in steam. Do not expect it to behave like granulated sugar in a cake cream—the crystals are already cooked and often sticky. Dust it, dissolve it, or fold it into a ganache.
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History
Industrial confectioners dried caramel masses into powders for beverage and ice-cream plants.
Instant caramel-latte mixes made caramel powder a grocery flavour, not just a factory drum.
Pastry suppliers sold caramel powder as a dry flavour for creams and entremets.
Clean-label ice creams listed caramel powder instead of unnamed "flavouring."