ONE MORE MAJORLY IMPORTANT THING: I don't know why Keegan said it was an ice tray because it was not. If you use a good ole' ice tray it will melt and make a heaping mess and you do not want to touch the sugar when it is hot or you will get severe burns. Use a silicone tray....the ones she used were the Wilton ones that have multiple cavities. I saw them at the store and I want to say Wilton is marketing it as a brown pan or something but it is silicone so it works and that is exactly what she had, just groups of them.
I'm so glad you mentioned the Wilton Brownie Bites pan. I just bought one tonight using a coupon and probably wouldn't have thought of it. One of those the answer is right under your nose. I don't know how much the ice trays those are talking about ordering are, but Wilton's Brownie Bites pan is $10 at Michaels and has 24 1.5inch cavities.
I may have to go back and buy a second one with the other 50% off coupon I have.
Here is the link to the Wilton one: http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?id=AF414343-1E0B-C910-EAF4100780D53DC6&killnav=1
I missed the show, trying to catch on what the conversation is about. I have the Wilton's brownie pan. Can I make sugar ( or isomalt ) ice cubes? Would be great for a Winter centerpiece I'm planning for a large event. Thanks foe any help.
You can also buy hard candy molds from Lorann's Oil. Here is one that might work.
https://www.lorannoils.com/p-8611-sheet-mold-rectangle-breakup.aspx
I've been dying to try this, so decided to do it for my cousin's wedding cake. His sister is paying me to do the cake and gave me carte blanche on the design. I went to golda's kitchen online and bought a bag of isomalt and the silicone ice cube trays. Just finished and only burned myself once with isomalt (can we say ouch!). I didn't get that many tiles with the bag of isomalt - a 2 cup bag gave me about 50 or 60 tiles. I'm gonna try more with just sugar and corn syrup too see if there is a big difference.
I can hardly wait to see how this turns out Morselsbymark. I would love to try it myself.
Morselsbymark,
PLEASE, PLEASE write down for us, Exactly what you did to make your tiles with the isomalt.
I have Isomalt, silicone molds, etc.. all the parts, but I just don't know how to use it all. What temp. do you do what..... I know we would all REALLY appreciate your help when you get a chance. I know you have cakes to do!!
Thank you SOOO much!!,
Cables4fun!!
So here goes - Isomalt isn't really worth the investment for these tiles. I heated 1/2 cup isomalt with 2 tsp of water on high heat until 260, added my color and heated to 300. Imersed in cold water to halt cooking, poured in molds (and on my arm leaving a bad burn - so be careful). That was yesterday and today they were sticky like someone licked them - yuck! I have them now in a plastic container separated by parchment since I only need them for Saturday.
If I didn't work full time and didn't have another cake for mid week or not catering the wedding as well, I would make more like I did today with sugar. I used 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, 1/3 cup light corn syrup and 1/3 cup water. Heated on medium high to 300, removed from heat added color, let temp drop to about 260, then poured in molds. IMO, better results than Isomalt and less costly. This recipe yielded the same if not more amount of tiles than Isomalt did. I used an entire 2 cup bag of Isomalt and got about 60 tiles.
Since I will only be decorating the cake Friday night and will probably only get home late Saturday, I will try to post pics as soon as I get up Sunday - CC is better than a cup of coffee! PS - I am trying to get a cake chat started on MSN messenger, if anyone is interested, PM me with your email address so I can send the invite.
Thank you, thank you Morselsbymark!! I can hardly wait to try this. I will be waiting to see the pictures!
Morselsbymark just a quick question. I was looking for a recipe for molten sugar and all the ones I found used cream of tatar. Did you have to use any? And about how long did it take to get the temp to 300? I've seen where they said to do it very slowly and take an hour to raise the temp up that high and I've seen where they said to do it as quickly as possible. Which one worked best for you? I've done this once, yesterday, and really didn't get my temp up high enough I don't think. Although I did follow the recipe I had completely. It was like your sticky ones.
Casey - I didn't use any cream of tartar and they are as hard and glossy as jolly ranchers. I wasn't paying attention to the clock, but I'd guess it took about 10 minutes or so. My burner (glasstop stove) was set between 6 and 7. I had some melted sugar left after I filled my trays, so I just left it on the burner set to 1 until I could refill the molds. My tiles that were sticky are the result of it being humid - the weather here has been wonky cold then hot and cold again, and I had the oven on doing cakes last night. Good luck and let me know how the recipe works for you.
ok so excited! I was following the other tile thread which said not to use sugar but when I read this one I jumped for joy! So I just made some tiles!!!! in the brownie pan with the recipe above......did not take long at all. so i thought I'd let ya'll know how they turned out ( not trying to steal thread)
I waited til temp dropped to 260 and this first row came out great but then got too cool and the rest weren't quite as clear, so I think next time I will let it stay hotter before I pour.
I did not get the "swirled" color I was hoping to get like in the challenge, but there are subtle differences.
I poured the sugar straight out of the pot (my pot had a pour spout) and inbetween each square there was a "dribble" that can be broke off but left a mark. I figured would be ok when tile was flipped over but I took one out when it was cool and the side touching the silicone had kind of a matte finish, so the top is much better to use.
Mark when you filled your molds, did you use something (like a dipper) to pour the sugar? I was concerned about trying to get the same thickness but I was having to work so quickly b/c the sugar was hardening fast.
You can also buy hard candy molds from Lorann's Oil. Here is one that might work.
https://www.lorannoils.com/p-8611-sheet-mold-rectangle-breakup.aspx
i see that there are a lot of different molds, but then it also says "flexible molds" underneath the "hard candy molds". so what i'm wondering/asking is, are the hard candy molds specifically used for hot sugar candy? because they looked plastic (as opposed to say, silicone) and i know that hot sugar would melt through the plastic. but then the "flexible molds" it says not to be used for hard candy.
i made the square tiles tonight (inspired by all of you!) and i used the wilton brownie silicone pans. very, very easy to use. little sugar, little water, little corn syrup, little color... ready to go. and i have never, ever, EVER used hot boiling sugar before (and was VERY nervous since i am disgustingly accident prone.. and have a very, very low pain tolerance) but they came out awesome, very easy. i will be doing this a LOT more often.
*ignore the first paragraph, i missed the obvious intro on the lorann website. they are fine for high temps
Here's a link to a pic of the Food network Challenge cake with the tiles:
http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site36/2009/0105/20090105__20090107_D01_FE07FDCONTEST~p2_200.JPG
The decorator was Jennifer Matsubara.
It's a small pic and she is not finished with the cake at the point the photo was taken, but you can get an idea of the blue tiles she uses. I wish you could see more detail...
Does anyone have a larger photo?
Mark when you filled your molds, did you use something (like a dipper) to pour the sugar? I was concerned about trying to get the same thickness but I was having to work so quickly b/c the sugar was hardening fast.
Alice1230 - as I poured each row (my mold is 3 x 6), I tapped the mold to get rid of the peak. To keep the sugar at a pouring consistency, I just returned it to a warm burner for a few minutes. The result is definitely worth this step. I poured straight from a pot without a spout.
Mark when you filled your molds, did you use something (like a dipper) to pour the sugar? I was concerned about trying to get the same thickness but I was having to work so quickly b/c the sugar was hardening fast.
Alice1230 - as I poured each row (my mold is 3 x 6), I tapped the mold to get rid of the peak. To keep the sugar at a pouring consistency, I just returned it to a warm burner for a few minutes. The result is definitely worth this step. I poured straight from a pot without a spout.
Thanks for the tips!
Okay, so I've read the thread and bought my Wilton silicone brownie pan.
Before I start, though, I have 3 questions:
1) Do I spray the pan with PAM before adding the melted sugar? (I'm thinking no.)
2) Can I flavor the sugar with Lorann lemon oil?
3) What can I color the melted sugar with -- Americolor gels, Wilton paste, McCormick food coloring, or do I have to have special candy colors?
Thanks! I'm so excited to try this!!
I love that cake challenge cake too. Now I'm hooked on sugar. I made this one with the sugar tiles. Working today on a queen cake with tiara, roses and jewels...I hope I can get them to stick to the tiara, wish me luck.
Here's the sugar tile cake I did.
http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1565615
JGMB: I have not made these before, but really want to. From research:
1) Do not spray the silicone pans (baking 9-1-1)
2) You can flavor with Lorann oils (baking 9-1-1)
Don't know the answer to #3, but I'm guessing candy colors. HTH.
Tinygoose: loved your tile cake Did you just pour your tiles in or use a dropper or some other method to guarantee the same thickness?
Morselsbymark: thanks for the info-didn't really want to invest in Isomalt.
Tiny Goose, I love your cake, too! In fact, I started to leave you a compliment beneath it, only to find that I already had.
AKS, thanks for answering 2/3 of my questions!
Julie
So glad you guys posted all of this useful info. I have been wanting to try some sugar work lately and tiles seem like a good place to start. Doesn't sound too difficult!
Morselsbymark: thanks for the step by step.
Does anyone know what to use to color the sugar?
JGMB: I have not made these before, but really want to. From research:
1) Do not spray the silicone pans (baking 9-1-1)
2) You can flavor with Lorann oils (baking 9-1-1)
Don't know the answer to #3, but I'm guessing candy colors. HTH.
Tinygoose: loved your tile cake Did you just pour your tiles in or use a dropper or some other method to guarantee the same thickness?
Morselsbymark: thanks for the info-didn't really want to invest in .
Thank you. I just pored from the pan. You get used to pouring the about same amount into each one, less is more. I just got a new silicone measuring cup from (says isi basics on the bottom) and it works well for jewels, etc.
Woo Hoo, I just delivered "The Queen's Cake" (40th bday party) Here is the link. It has a tiara and sugar jewels, these were made with isomalt. Yeah, it's done, can I have my life back now....lol.
http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1603002
So much information on this thread. Thanks, everyone, for your hints! I hope to learn more about isomalt in the near future.
If you will follow the link below....scroll down, and click on the picture of the cake, it will enlarge so you can see it better.
http://www.denverpost.com/lifestyles/ci_11380664
HTH
I have the wilton brownie silicone pan, but it's rounded. Do the tiles come out too round?
I would absolutely love to try these tiles for a cake I have at the end of July. Does anyone know how bad the heat will affect the sugar? Does isomalt hold up better in the heat?
I have to transport the cake about 1 1/2 hours, is there a way I can maybe store the tiles and then assemble at the venue? Just trying to keep them from melting and getting too sticky.
Any advice you experts can provide would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your help!
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%