2 hours ago, pastrygirl said:My first idea is a house of cards with half sheet pan size sheets of sugar. Do I need molten sugar to glue them together or can I soften the edges with a propane torch? Will I be happier if I get isomalt instead of regular cane sugar? And can I use gel food colors in sugar?
Other ideas or tips?
The sheet pan sizes sugar sheet is actually kind of a cool idea, and you can make those up real quickly. You can adhere them with sugar, but I think given the size, I think a torch is in your favor. Isomalt and sugar definitely work differently. I have don't much isomalt at all, but do consider that you would boil to a higher temp. Isomalt is much more resistant to humidity then boiled sugar, and it does sound like humidity will be a factor, but I feel like only you can evaluate how important that will be. If it's meant to be displayed for multiple days in humid conditions, sugar may not be the best. I'm not sure how you will be coloring the pieces, like if they will all be solid colors, or some left uncolored. Uncolored isomalt will be perfectly clear, while boiled sugar will have a yellowish tinge to it. Then there's the obvious cost difference between the two mediums. Gel colors will work fine.
Something that just occured to me, how are you planning on making the panels? It kind of sounds like your planning on casting them onto sheet pans. Try this ahead of time. While you can make a bunch of them quickly, I'm not sure how well they would release, even when lined with parchment. Your typical aluminum sheet pan is not very level, usually slightly bowed instead of flat. This could lead to panels that have thicker centers and thin edges. You could put more sugar into the sheet pan for a thicker panel, but even when lined with parchment or a silpat, I feel like it would be difficult to have them release from the edge of the pan without them cracking. I suppose pan release would work, but I haven't tried this. Definitely do some trials ahead of time.
This sounds like a cool project, please post pics!
Edit: Just wanted add, thisay be a good project to use pastillage, though for large panels I think you may want a little more drying time.
