Golden Syrup

the recipe for the dark thick syrup in the middle is provided below

Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival is 35 days from today, on September 27, 2015, which means plenty of time to make delicious mooncakes. I use Lyle's Golden Syrup which is too expensive, about $7.00 for an 11-ounce jar, so I looked online for homemade golden syrup so I can make lots of mooncakes. Golden syrup is an invert sugar syrup that needs acid to prevent crystallization.

There are several very similar to each other recipes available online most specifically for making mooncakes. I was not happy with the first one that uses lemon juice. It produced a syrup that has a very pronounced lemon flavor, light yellowish instead of golden color, and has none of the yummy caramel flavor of Lyle's. I'll use this in other recipes but not in mooncakes.

very light golden color, has strong lemon flavor, not as thick as Lyle's

I like the recipe below that caramelizes a little of the sugar to a dark color before adding the rest of sugar and water. I used citric acid instead of lemon juice and added a small amount of sea salt. This syrup is closer to Lyle's in color, thickness (viscosity), and flavor with almost no hint of acidity.

If you have a kitchen scale, use it to measure the ingredients. A candy thermometer is helpful but not entirely necessary. Use it but eyeballing the syrup is more accurate, in my opinion.

Golden Syrup
100 grams sugar
25 grams water
300 grams boiling water
500 grams sugar
1 teaspoon citric acid
½ teaspoon fine sea salt, optional

• Place 100 grams sugar and 25 grams water into a medium stainless steel saucepan. On medium heat, caramelize sugar to a dark color, twirling the sauce pan around for even heating. Once the mixture is dark, add the boiling water, remaining sugar, citric acid, and salt and heat until the caramel is completely melted. 
• Lower heat to simmer and cook for 45 minutes, or 240°F/115°C on candy thermometer, until very thick and dark golden in color. 
• Leave to cool completely before storing into sterilized jar or bottle. Store in a cool place.