sugar cages

[rzn]

the "cages" I've seen made of sugar where the hard crack sugar is drizzled over the back of a ladle, then lifted off after a couple of minutes to leave a pretty umbrella of sugar lacework, How do they keep the remaining sugar liquid long enough to use? or do these guys have 20 ladles sitting around to dribble sugar over? I'd like to try it, but I don't want to buy a bunch of ladles or semi circle molds.

How long will the sugar stay workable & how do I keep it liquid so I can make a bunch of these things. Hate to stand over a boiling pot of this stuff just to end up throwing most of it out, also don't want to make a 1/2 cup at a time...

[foodpump]

You've got a window of maybe 10 minutes, but after that you can heat it back up and continue.

Don't need a zillion soup ladles. Gotta think a little, what do most cafe's have plenty of? Soup bowls? Coffee cups? Muffin tins? Spray ' em with Pam and go for it. Best thing to use is a wire whip with the ends snipped off. Dunk it in the hot sugar, and let it drizzle over your forms. Your biggest enemy will be humidity, so use the cages fast or store them in an airtight box with some silica gel.

[cakerookie]

Originally Posted by foodpump

You've got a window of maybe 10 minutes, but after that you can heat it back up and continue.

Don't need a zillion soup ladles. Gotta think a little, what do most cafe's have plenty of? Soup bowls? Coffee cups? Muffin tins? Spray ' em with Pam and go for it. Best thing to use is a wire whip with the ends snipped off. Dunk it in the hot sugar, and let it drizzle over your forms. Your biggest enemy will be humidity, so use the cages fast or store them in an airtight box with some silica gel.

Not much you can add to this he pretty much got you covered. You can if you like make your own shaker out of another material. A 3x3 piece of 1 inch plywood with 3 inch nails driven in it 1 inch apart thats another option. Or you can purchase one and they ain't cheap. Foodpumps idea with the whisk works great.

Rgds Rook

[momoreg]

I Usually use bowls, which I wrap with foil, smooth out, and rub lightly with oil. The foil is useful because you can slip it off the bowl whle the sugar is still slightly flexible, then peel the sugar off the foil. No breakage, no sticking. You will want to wait for the sugar to cool to the point where it's viscous enough to drizzle, and if it's becomes too thick, just heat it up again to thin it out, being sure not to caramelize it any further.

[cakerookie]

Like the foil idea momoreg neat trick I will have to remember that one.

Rgds Rook

[panini]

I too use a very thin foil sandwich wrap. I also use a portable burner on low to keep it warm. If I have a lot I use an ice carving tool which somehow over the years has become a chocolate chopper. go figure. If you have hundreds just mold the foil and line them on a sheet pan without the cups. Just need to make sure you stay on the dome while drizzeling. 3 circles around with the carving tool just about gets it.

[rzn]

thank you, I like the foil idea. I need to make a fair few (not hundreds, but I wasn't looking forward to doing it one at a time), & wasn't sure how to organize all this. (going to be cages fo chocolate butterflies I hope...)