Easy caramel removal method

If you’ve watched Episode 4 of the Great British Bake Off this week, you’ll be all about the caramel come this weekend.

So. You’ve made your millionaire shortbread, your croquembouche, your delicate nests. Everyone loves them; of course they do, your creations are beautiful and tasty! Well done you. You nailed Caramel Week.

Caramel is all fun and games, until you have to clean it off. Caramel sets like resin on the bottom of a pan and on any utensil you touch with it. When you don’t have legions of poor TV runners to tidy up after you, you might find yourself scrubbing away at what feels like shards of sweet, vicious glass for hours at a time: I’ve come this close to abandoning many a pan to the caramel I made the day before.

Read on for some caramel tips that Paul Hollywood would never tell you (honestly, when do you think was the last time that he did the washing up?)

How to remove caramel from a pan

• Boil a kettle, and fill the caramel pan ¾ full
• Put on the hob on a medium heat and gently stir to let the caramel dissolve in the water
• If you have spoons or other utensils that have caramel on them, add them to the pan, too.
• Bring to a boil, and once you’ve ensured all the caramel in the pan has dissolved, pour it down the sink. (Be careful because it’s like molten lava at this point.)
• If you have caramel around the sides of the pan: run the boiling water over the caramel on the sides by tilting the pan in that direction as you pour. Go slowly, and the caramel on the sides should dissolve as the hot water flows over it.
• Wash up as normal.

This method beats soaking, by a good 8 hours. You’re welcome!