There are different ways sugar can be used to build decorative pieces for a display or used as a garnish. Every type of sugar can be used at the same time. Understanding how each type of sugar is prepared will determine the outcome of a final product and if it can be used. Listed below are six types I was taught and used when I was in culinary school.
- Blown Sugar: Blown sugar is made from sugar, glucose, and tartaric acid. Blown sugar is cooked until it reaches a temperature of 130°C (265°F) for the color to be added. Continue cooking the sugar until it reaches its working temperature, 138°C (280°F) before adding the tartaric acid. Blown sugar requires using an air pump to blow air into the cooked sugar while shaping it by hand.
- Bubble Sugar: Bubble sugar is made from corn syrup, sugar, and glucose. Bubble sugar is cooked until it reaches 120°C (248°F), for the color to be added, and is cooked until it reaches 160°C (248°F). On a sheet of parchment paper that was lined with foil, pour two ounces of denatured alcohol between two steel rods. Pour the cooked sugar evenly between the rods and the chemical reaction between the sugar and alcohol will cause the sugar to bubble. Allow it to sit and cool at room temperature before use.
- Casting Sugar: Casting sugar is shaped by using silicone molds. The sugar is cooked to 130°C (265°F), for the color to be added. The sugar cooks until it reaches 152°C (305°F) before it is used. It’s important to cool the sugar slightly before it is poured into the mold(s). This is done to reduce any air bubbles before the sugar is poured into the molds and is left undisturbed until it sets. Casting sugar is used to create a base for a sculpture. The cooked sugar is poured into a cake ring that was placed on top of a silpat. Allow the sugar to set before removing the ring. There are different designs of silicone molds that can be used for casting sugar.
- Pastillage: Pastillage is a sugar dough made of powdered sugar, water, glucose, corn starch, and gelatin. Pastillage can be shaped by hand and has a dull white surface. An airbrush is used to add color if desired.
- Pulled Sugar: Pulled sugar is the most common type of sugar used for sugar works. Pulled sugar is the fundamental of sugar works and is excellent for putting together a sugar rose, ribbons, and other shapes and pieces. The sugar is cooked to 120°C (248°F) before color is added, and finishes cooking until it reaches 160°C (320°F), before being pulled. The melted sugar is poured onto a silpat and is folded, bringing one side of it to the other. This is done continuously under a heat lamp until it becomes firm enough to be worked with by hand.
- Spun Sugar: Spun sugar is cooked to a caramelized stage. Spun sugar is created by using a fork, or whisk, to create threads of sugar that are shaped by hand. Spun sugar is excellent for making nests in sugar works, or caramel cages as decoration for a dessert.
The three images above have five of the six elements describe above. All three have a sugar base that was Casted into a smaller cake ring for a smaller sugar base. The image on the right has two doves that were Blown and a sugar rose that was Pulled. In the image on the left, you'll see a clear piece of Bubble sugar, and a Pulled ribbon, including two pieces of ribbon on the top of the heart that was Molded using a cookie cutter.
The image in the middle shows two dolphins that were Blown and shaped, jumping over a stem of green sugar that was Pulled. Also, notice how one of the dolphins are jumping through a heart that was Molded by using a cookie cutter. The image on the right has two doves that were Blown and placed onto sugar that was Pulled shaped like a rose and a piece of sugar resembling a spring. Two star-shaped cutouts of Pastillage were placed in-between two layers of Casted sugar.
The image in the middle shows two dolphins that were Blown and shaped, jumping over a stem of green sugar that was Pulled. Also, notice how one of the dolphins are jumping through a heart that was Molded by using a cookie cutter. The image on the right has two doves that were Blown and placed onto sugar that was Pulled shaped like a rose and a piece of sugar resembling a spring. Two star-shaped cutouts of Pastillage were placed in-between two layers of Casted sugar.
The images above use all six elements as described above. The addition of Spun Sugar used to create a nest for the sugar dove to sit in is the one element that was not used in any of the three pictures above. If you look closely at the image in the middle, you'll notice that the base the rose sits on is not sugar that was casted but made of Rock Sugar instead. The image on the right also uses two different color pieces of Bubble Sugar in the background.
