Caramel is partially burned sugar which has a brown color and a pleasant brown sugar flavor. Caramel is used to flavor candy and soft drinks such as Coca Cola. The word caramel also refers to a soft, chewy caramel-flavored candy made by boiling milk and sugar together.
Caramel is also commonly used as a food coloring (with the E number E150).
Caramel can be made from sugar by heating it slowly to a temperature of 170 degrees Celsius. 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.
In the presence of amino acid and a reducing sugar, the Maillard Reaction occurs.