OK, here they are .... no perfected yet, but I'm pretty happy with how they turned out!

Sorry about that ... this better??

They look fabulous!! you've got the tie-dye look down! So, is that all you did? Just added the color after removing from heat and no stirring it in?

They're awesome!

FlourPots, yes, they are rock hard like a piece of candy (and shiny too!!). I actually went to Target today, and looked in the pharmacy area and found diabetic sugar substitute - I looked at the ingredients, and guess what??? ISOMALT!!!

So, I tried it! MUCH better this time, and the color is true! I was really happy with them!

The color is beautiful...Great Job!!

What brand of sugar sub did you use?

Do you mind sharing about how much you paid for the sugar sub? I am only wondering how it compares to the prices available from online supply stores.

Absolutely gorgeous! I can't believe the difference. (Your other ones were very pretty too, but these really pop.) Do you think it was the isomalt or the difference with the mixing? I know both played a role, I just have to over-think things and explore all variables.

OK, here's what I learned ...

When you use ISOMALT, you use 2lbs. of "sugar" and 2 cups of water.

Stir to dissolve and boil without stirring until 320 degrees.

At about 300 degrees, I put a TINY drop of pink gel color - the boiling action stirred it in to a very light pink.

After you hit 320 degrees, take off heat and let sit until the bubbles dissipate and it gets pretty clear -- at THAT point, I dipped a long toothpick in hot pink gel color and just swirled it around 2-3 times.

Let it sit for a few seconds more and then pour into molds - it should look "tie dyed".

Next time I'm going to let it sit a little longer before I swirl in the dark color -- I would have like a more dramatic contrast, but I did it a little too hot and when you put the color in it bubbles slightly from the difference in temperature - SO, next time, add dark color a little later ...

That's all I can tell you - this was only the second time I did anything like this, so I don't know anything else! ha ha ha...

Amy

I think it was litterally called "Diabetic Sugar Substitute" ( I threw the box away!) and it was $6.00 per box and I used 2.

I'm sure it was an expensive experiment, but I couldn't wait to try and didn't want to wait for Isomalt in the mail!!!

Thank you very much for all the great info

Thank you soo much for sharing that!

Actually, $12.00 probably works out a little cheaper. The online isomalt usually runs about $11.25 per 2 cups/1 lb and then you have to pay shipping. Thanks for the tips! I have heard of so many people on CC wanting to try the technique......I guess we will see many pix of tiled cakes in the upcoming weeks.

Hey... I just topped 200 posts and "earned" another star! How fun!

Thanks for the great info, as always!!!

Do you still have your first ones? Do they still look good? I've heard about sugar getting sticky and melting, so I was wondering if they have done that?

The second ones look great!

If you need to store them for a long time, you can get those little silica packets from the cake supply shop as well. They are inexpensive and will keep candies and such from getting sticky. I would guess it's only a really big problem if your humidity is high.

I have question; how do you attach the tiles to the cake do you think? I so want to try these, they're beautiful! But I can't figure out how to attach them; I mean, icing would show through right? Anyone know...?

Icing would probably show through, but white icing might actually intensify the color.

Thanks for posting all this great info--can't wait to try it!!

She used white icing ......on the cake challenge. There are pix of the cake on the first page of this thread, I believe.

Oops.....sorry. They are on the 2nd page of the thread.

I bought the silicone brownie pans from micheals. I am going to try to make it actually look like ice on an igloo. Yeah I know its summer but I figured its never too early to practice!

Katie

Katie, Since you are going to want to bend them a little before they are totally hard, I would definitely use isomalt instead of sugar, as that is supposed to stay pliable a little bit longer.
good luck. Post your pictures.

Katie, also, if you will be handling them a lot to make the igloo, make sure you use rubber gloves so you don't get finger prints and smudges on them!

Also, I was thinking that the sugar in the fondant would adhere to the sugar in the tiles ... with just some water??? No???? Do I HAVE to use icing??

What do you think? I won't be doing the actual cake until late next week (it's for my girls 4 and 6 birthday party) so if anyone does it sooner and knows how to adhere them to fondant, please let me know!!!

Ooh.....I don't do fondant, so I'm not sure. How do you usually stick things onto fondant? Good question........ Maybe she only used icing b/c it was less work than covering with fondant......just spread the icing and stick 'em on. Don't even have to worry about smoothing it all that well.
I don't know. Hopefully someone who works with fondant can help you on this one.

THANKS FOR INFO

yeah I was thinking because they need to be whitish and I know how easy it is to turn sugar brown I was planning on using isomalt. I was going to wait until they firmed up and the put them on a round ball pan to harden then transfer them to the cake...and I was just going to cover the cake with buttercream

We will see.. I will post pictures!

Coupla things. When I use isomalt I do not use any water just melt it. And the other thing interestingly enough, is that the pros use thick vinyl to pour their sugar out on because it does not make the bubbles form inside the sugar piece.

I've got some thinner vinyl somewhere (I used to anyway) so I'm gonna see how it does.

Another thing, put your food color in while it's bubbling so it cooks off the moisture--otherwise it stays sticky.

Sugar thoughts for you.