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Bubble sugar


chefpeon

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Ok, so on another thread, the topic of bubble sugar came up. There's some folks that want

to know what it is and how to make it. Anyone want to explain?

I know what it is, and I read about how to make it once, but I completely forgot. I'd like to

know too.......

anyone?????

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In school we made bubble sugar with regular sugar, all the time. Melt the sugar as you would for any other purpose (ie caramel), but don't let it get hot enough to discolour. On your work surface, lay down a sheet of parchment paper. Wipe it with a cloth soaked with strong alcohol; or spritz it with a spray bottle. Quickly, before the alcohol evaporates, pour the sugar onto the parchment about 1/3 of the way down. Lift up the end of the parchment and let the sugar slide toward the bottom. Then pick up the other end and let the sugar slide back. Wherever there is alcohol the sugar won't stick, creating a pattern very much like the two-silpats method Sinclair discusses. Leave it sit on a flat surface until cooled and hardened, then break it up and use as desired.

We used about 1 1/2-2 cups of molten sugar for a full-sized sheet of parchment; this made a nice thin sheet. The sugar can be tinted with food colouring before pouring, which makes a nice colour accent on your plates. We used this a lot at school.

We also occasionally used the two-silpats method, though IIRC the instructor had a different name for that. I'd have sworn we used regular sugar, too, rather than isomalt, but I could be wrong about that.

“Who loves a garden, loves a greenhouse too.” - William Cowper, The Task, Book Three

 

"Not knowing the scope of your own ignorance is part of the human condition...The first rule of the Dunning-Kruger club is you don’t know you’re a member of the Dunning-Kruger club.” - psychologist David Dunning

 

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There is also a third method for making bubble sugar other than the two-silpat or alcohol versions above: Cook sugar, isomalt or combination using whatever recipe you use for poured sugar. Take a sheet of parchment and wad it tightly into a ball. The idea is to create a fine network of bumps and creases. De-wad the paper and spred it flat on a sheet pan. Pour some hot sugar along one short edge and lift up that side of the paper to let the sugar flow over the wrinkled parchment. The main down side to this technique is that it's sometime difficult to get the sugar to release from the paper in large pieces without breaking.

Each of these methods will give you very different results and they are all useful depending on what look you need.

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In school we made bubble sugar with regular sugar, all the time.  Melt the sugar as you would for any other purpose (ie caramel), but don't let it get hot enough to discolour.  On your work surface, lay down a sheet of parchment paper.  Wipe it with a cloth soaked with strong alcohol; or spritz it with a spray bottle.  Quickly, before the alcohol evaporates, pour the sugar onto the parchment about 1/3 of the way down.  Lift up the end of the parchment and let the sugar slide toward the bottom.  Then pick up the other end and let the sugar slide back.  Wherever there is alcohol the sugar won't stick, creating a pattern very much like the two-silpats method Sinclair discusses. 

When you say strong alcohol, are you suggesting only non-potable? Like Rubbing alcohol, or can you use liquor?

"Make me some mignardises, &*%$@!" -Mateo

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When you say strong alcohol, are you suggesting only non-potable? Like Rubbing alcohol, or can you use liquor?

It has to be pure alcohol - if it has any water in it the set bubble sugar will be sticky, and liquors like vodka do contain a percentage of water. Rubbing alcohol works fine.

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Thanks you guys! I was hoping I could achieve the bubble sugar effect without having to use Isomalt......yay! Here in Tinytown, all that stuff is hard to get. You rock! :rolleyes:

As I just now posted on another thread: Regular granulated sugar sandwiched between two sheets of parchment paper, then weighted with a second baking sheet. 350 degrees for 45-50 min.

I experimented with it this morning... bubbled just fine; looked just like the picture.

Di

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When you say strong alcohol, are you suggesting only non-potable? Like Rubbing alcohol, or can you use liquor?

We used the stuff out of our alcohol burners. Don't remember what it was.

Doesn't matter about it being potable, since it's only going to evaporate.

“Who loves a garden, loves a greenhouse too.” - William Cowper, The Task, Book Three

 

"Not knowing the scope of your own ignorance is part of the human condition...The first rule of the Dunning-Kruger club is you don’t know you’re a member of the Dunning-Kruger club.” - psychologist David Dunning

 

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Perfect! Thanks for the photos, Neil. I'm working on a cake design for an upcoming competition, and wanted to include bubble sugar. I thought I'd have to do a little playing with the various methods suggested to figure out which look I'd want to use, but you've already done the work for me. 'Preciate that. :smile:

B. Keith Ryder

BCakes by BKeith

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As I just now posted on another thread:  Regular granulated sugar sandwiched between two sheets of parchment paper, then weighted with a second baking sheet. 350 degrees for 45-50 min.

I experimented with it this morning... bubbled just fine; looked just like the picture.

Di

I tried this a couple of days ago - the sugar got all burnt and stuck to the parchment paper! Messy. I use a convection oven so should I reduce the temperature or baking time? I'd like to try this again.

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I tried this a couple of days ago - the sugar got all burnt and stuck to the parchment paper! Messy.  I use a convection oven so should I reduce the temperature or baking time? I'd like to try this again.

Euuwwww... don't know what happened there. I've done this twice now and didn't have a problem either time. There could be a difference between how thick and evenly each of us are applying the sugar.

About the sugar burning, maybe it baked just a little longer than it should've. As far as it sticking to the paper tho', once out of the oven the sugar will harden and the paper should peel right off.

Edited to say, "oops, I don't know a thing about convection ovens".

Di

Edited by DiH (log)
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I tried this a couple of days ago - the sugar got all burnt and stuck to the parchment paper! Messy. I use a convection oven so should I reduce the temperature or baking time? I'd like to try this again

If DiH was using a conventional oven at 350, and you tried it in a convection oven set at 350, the convection is actually baking about 50 degrees hotter, so you're really at about 400. Try your sugar experiment again and set the oven at about 300 and see how that works.

I'm going to try bubble sugar soon, but I think I'm going to do it by cooking it on the stovetop to the right temp, then pouring it onto the parchment after I've rubbed alcohol on it. Seems like one has more control over it that way.

We'll see, huh?

:smile:

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Thanks Di and Anne ... I'll try this again and report back.

I like the crinkled parchment paper method but alcohol is a no-no (I'm a Muslim).

Not even rubbing alcohol, like what is used for first aid purposes?

Wow, I didn't know Muslims couldn't drink! That's interesting! :cool:

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Hey Neil

It looks like the bubble sugar you made with the isomalt looks more opaque than the bubble sugar you made with regular sugar. Is that the case, or is it just the way the photos came out?

The isolmalt version is a little cloudy partly due to the fact it has lots of tiny bubbles surounding the larger ones - it's almost foamy. That's what also makes it very fragile. The other types are mostly larger bubbles.

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Ok.

So I did my bubble sugar trials on my days off this past weekend. Only partially successful.

I did the method where you cook your sugar on the stovetop, then pour it onto the parchment or silpat.

On my first try, I used rubbing alcohol, but after finding a very sticky piece of sugar on my silpat, I realized it was only 70 percent rubbing alcohol (the other 30 percent being water). Oooops.

So, off to the store to get the 100 percent stuff.

Second try, cooked my sugar to hard crack (about 302 degrees), then spritzed my silpat with alcohol out of a spray bottle. Poured a little sugar on one end, and lifted it up to let it run down.

The sugar ran down, and formed bubbles somewhat, but what I didn't like was the fact that

my sugar cooled so fast as it was running down the silpat, resulting in a fairly thick piece. It

wasn't nice and paper thin like in Neil's pics. I don't like pieces that look thick and clumsy....I

like the delicate lacy look, so I trashed them.

What are my errors in methodology? I shocked my pan of sugar once it hit temp....should I have not done that? Do I have to pour a lot of sugar on the silpat instead of the little half cup or so that I was pouring? Should I have wiped my alcohol on the silpat rather than spritzing?

Chromedome said:

Lift up the end of the parchment and let the sugar slide toward the bottom. Then pick up the other end and let the sugar slide back.

When I was doing it, the sugar had cooled too much for me to do the second slide back.

I really wanted to try the two silpat or two parchment method in the oven, but I don't have matching baking sheets to do the sandwiching. I also don't have two silpats. Just one. 'Cause

I'm cheap.

Anyone care to guess why I'm such a dork? :raz:

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What are my errors in methodology? I shocked my pan of sugar once it hit temp....should I have not done that? Do I have to pour a lot of sugar on the silpat instead of the little half cup or so that I was pouring? Should I have wiped my alcohol on the silpat rather than spritzing?

Do not shock the pan of sugar - that's cooling it down too much. You want it hot and very liquid. And if you're trying the alcohol method, it's better to use parchment rather than silpat. Spray the parchment generously and the alcohol will spread out on the paper - on a silpat it will bead up too much and run off when you lift up the edge. Half a cup of sugar is probably not enough for a half sheet pan.

I really wanted to try the two silpat or two parchment method in the oven, but I don't have matching baking sheets to do the sandwiching. I also don't have two silpats. Just one. 'Cause

I'm cheap.

You don't need two sheet pans, just two silpats. Put one silpat in a sheet pan smooth side up, sprinkle with isomalt, then cover with second silpat smooth side down. No need to weight with a second sheet pan.

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