READ THROUGH BEFORE YOU START AND HAVE EVERYTHING IN PLACE BEFORE YOU START AND HAVE A PLAN.


What you need to start:

1. Heat (stove) source: Gas and induction are best as they are easily regulated
2. Pans: Copper is best, but stainless and alum work
3. Sieve: To remove impurities that rise to the surface
4. Pastry brush: wide flat brush to wash down sides of pans
5. Thermometer
6. Acid Solution: ONLY needed for pulling or blowing.
ACID SOLUTION RECIPE:
1 ounce tartaric acid crystals 1 ounce boiling water. Stirl well and store in a dropper bottle.
7. Colorants: check that they are acid free
8. ice bath: shocks sugar to stop the cooking
9. Silpat: a sheet pan (large) sized silpat will hold 3 pounds of sugar or ISOMALT

RECIPE FOR PULLED AND BLOWN SUGAR:
1 pound 8 ounces cold water
3 pounds sugar 8 to 10 ounces of glucose
3 to 8 drops of acid solution ( this is the variable)


( when using ISOMALT the ratio is for EVERY POUND OF ISOMALT you use 4 OUNCE of WATER)

Place water into a pot, add the sugar and bring to a boil stirring constantly. Remove any scum that rises.

Add the glucose, bring to a second boil, clean the sides of the pan

add color and acid at 280 degrees F and continue to boil till it reaches 335 degrees F ....EXACTLY!

shock the sugar in water bath to stop the boiling

Pour onto a lightly oiled marble slab or silpat

* If you follow the above recipe and your sugar is too soft your glucose may be made from potatos. You will have to decrease the amount of acid solution. IF the sugar is to brittle and hardens to fast, it's probably corn based and you need to use a few more drops of the acid solution.

When you pour your ISOMALT onto silpat fill pan up with water and put onto your heat source so you can get the cooked sugar off when you wash.

The sugar cools from the edges in. So, as soon as you can you can start "folding" your sugar. Push the edges in toward the middle then pick up the silpat and fold the sugar over onto it self. It sould feel like you're working with bubble gum. When you start to pull the sugar you start to incorporate air into the sugar and makes it opaque.

If you let the sugar cool to store after you wrap it and you "warm" in the microwave the air will need to be put back in before you use it.

I would add a couple things too the equipment list here.
(1). A metal spatula or metal dough cutter for turning the hot sugar.
(2). A pair of rubber gloves. Not that they are going to help any.

Rookie, we double up on the gloves, but wait till the sugar can be touched, or pick up the corners of the silpat to pick up the corners...quickly but still touchable. We build callouses...The metal retains heat and you're trying to cool it down to the texture of bubble gum..lol

and if worse comes to worse..dip my burnt fingers in the bucket of ice that I have set aside to shock the sugar...

Shocking myself in the process..lol!

Cake Rookie, please post some pictures of your sugar work or direct me to see them. I'll bet they will knock my socks off!!!

*Happiness is a warm cake and a cold glass of milk!

Don't have any right now!!! This is not stuff you can just leave lying around the house. Have plans this weekend to do a blown sugar swan maybe I can post some pics of it. Sorry, ddi'nt mean to make anyone mad just trying to HELP!

PastryDiva, you should do a tutorial on this in the articles and include some pics. That would really help out a lot!

Cake Rookie..

not me...I love to exchange ideas and techniques. I learn something new EVERY day!

Bless your heart, sweetie...don't be upset...

I would LOVE to see your pictures...I"m sure though if you're like me and are too busy making, decorating and delivering them..you forget to take picturs of your work..lol or I forget my camera!!

* Diva handing Cake Rookie nice cupppa warm tea..lol

Misdawn...

I can get that to you by next week, as I will be taking detailed pictures as I did for the Cocoa Painting..lol

Well, I'm off to get a facial and haircut..tired of pushing my greasy ole lady strands under a snowball cap at school.

Have fun everyone and play nice...

Cake Rookie...you should really change your name to Cake Expert...you stopped being a "rookie" a long time ago as evidenced by your work! I'm sure that if I tried to make a sugar swan..it would look more like a DUCK!...with MAD CHICKEN VIRUS!..haha! But, I'd still love it and hug it and squeeze it...and...oops..It broke!..haha

Keep it up..and maybe I will be seing YOU on the FoodTV Challenge!!

Glucose is good because it will not recrystallize. But light corn syrup will work it is a type of invert sugar.