Sugar Work

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I have been dying to try this for ages now and decided 2017 is going to be the year of experimenting. I have to say it looks easy but it wasn’t, a few more practises I think before I master it….lol! But I have to say not bad for a first time.

To make the candy:-

1. Put about 3 cups of sugar with 1 tbsp of water in a flat based pan (depending on how much you want to make)

2. Gently heat the sugar until it starts to bubble  20170107_153941

3. It will start to go brown in colour and may lump, please do not be worried at this point this is normal. Using a wooden spoon move it around a little just to combine. You do not want to stir constantly and this will ruin it, try to leave it as much as you can.  20170107_154759

4. If you want you can at this stage add food colouring, I added red to mine. 20170107_155235

5. Keep moving it around until it goes quick thick but not too thick, you want to be able to lift it up and for it to drop slowly back to the pan but still thin not thick, almost just coating the back of the spoon.

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6. Using anything you have in your kitchen drawers that are metal like a ladle, pizza cutter, spoon etc, it is best if you chill the metal in the fridge first. Do not use wood, I tried my wooden spoon and it stuck, it has to be metal and cold.    You can then drape, twist or simply squiggle onto greaseproof paper to make your designs. ( This is the fun bit but also the frustrating bit..lol) It should harden within seconds.

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Here are some of my best and worst ones……lol!

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Then imply decorate your cakes. Enjoy!

Chocolate Devil Delights

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Oh well, what can I say, these are simply delicious! Initially I was just going to make some cupcakes but decided to try the gooey centre and also tackle my first time at sugar work, which is something I’ve always wanted to try. The sugar work is definitely work in progress…lol!

For the Cupcakes:- Makes 8-10

1 Cup all purpose flour (about 100g)

1 cup caster sugar

1/2 cup good cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup vegetable oil or rapseed oil

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla essence

 

  1. Pre-heat oven 180 deg C
  2. Place cake liners in a muffin tin.
  3. Add flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt to a large bowl and whisk through to combine.
  4. Add milk, oil, egg, and vanilla to flour mixture and mix together on medium speed until well combined.                                                                 20170107_145204
  5. Evenly distribute cake batter. Each cupcake liner should be about 3/4 full.
  6. Bake for about 12-15 mins or until a knife comes clean from centre.
  7. Remove and allow to cool completely.

For the Gooey Centre:- I decided to go with caramel but you can choose anything you like, I also cheated and just melted some caramel instead of making the real thing.

  1. I used some caramel curls and just added 1 tsp milk and melted in microwave. I also wanted to use my food colouring and decided to give it a nice pink colour….lol!

    2. Once melted, I wanted it a bit thicker so whisked it up a bit until thick and creamy.

    3. Once the cupcakes are cool, using a spoon, spoon out some of the centre of the cupcake.                                                                                            20170107_164805

    4. Then using a tsp, spoon some of the caramel mixture into the holes.  20170107_165348

Finishing off:-

Again I cheated slightly and used shop bought frosting but you can of course make your own if you have more time.

  1. Put frosting into a piping bag and then pipe on top to cover up the centre.
  2. And then simply serve and devour or if you like try my sugar work and make fancy toppings! see my post on Sugar work.   sugar wor

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