Wednesday, March 21, 2007

The Next Big Cake Project - part four

The sugar glass onto which our image is being painted in edible paints is now complete. The idea of making individual pieces was impossible without custom-made moulds. The melted candy was just too quick to start solidifying as I tried to drizzle it into shape. After some gnashing of teeth and a quick phone call to Laura we decided to go with one solid piece of sugar glass. Here is the pile of Trebor's Glitter sweets still wrapped... half of them placed in the bottom of a aluminum foil-lined cake pan (12" x 12") ready to be melted in a hot oven... and the finished piece of sugar glass, which has a few bubbles but is otherwise in great shape and feels very sturdy (we have a backup sheet just in case!)

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Is is sugar glass that films use when they have scenes where people hit each other over the head with bottles and throw glasses against the wall?

I wonder.

Anonymous said...

I'd like to know how you got the sheet of sugar glass out of the pan. Did it stick to the bottom? Did you lift up the foil? Must have been a delicate operation to avoid breaking it.

Anonymous said...

Please continue to show the different phases of the cake preparations. Highly interesting.

Hope you can post a big photo of the finished product.

Anonymous said...

I think film "sugar glass" would have been too fragile. I'm not sure, but it's a great idea which I shall look into for a future project. The cake pan was lined with aluminum foil. When I began to lift out the cooled sugar, I thought it had stuck... but then realized it was just that the sheet was quite heavy. It lifted out very easily, no problems, as did the second "backup" sheet. Oh yes... there'll be lots of pictures of more of the process and the finished product!

Anonymous said...

A technical query. May I ask how the cake will be sliced without shattering the sugar glass into fragments? Or will the sugar glass be lifted prior to slicing? Or....?

Anonymous said...

They must use a very HOT knife. Actually the electric Ginzu from K-tel

Anonymous said...

Correction - I think it's made by Ronco

Anonymous said...

I fail to see how heat has anything to do with it, unless the knife is so scalding that it will melt the glass on contact. Otherwise, won't it just break it, necessitating a shattering of the vicinity ?

Anonymous said...

Furthermore I believe K-Tel has been defunct since the 1970's?

Frightening to think that culinary technology has not progressed since back then.

Anonymous said...

Indeed culinary technology has progressed tremendously since the nineteen seventies. However, perhaps not all people have.

Anonymous said...

With comments like yours, that validates that not all people have progressed since the 70's

Anonymous said...

The glass slab - which is coming along brilliantly thanks to Laura's deft brushwork - will be lifted off prior to cutting. Every aspect of our cakes is edible, but this minty glass window is the sort of candy that only 8-year-olds would want to consume!

As for K-Tel.... RIP.

Anonymous said...

Now now, (this means you, M.G. Guypan) let's stick to the topic at hand. In fact k-tel is still a going concern, their website: www.ktel.com. Selling the usual music, in addition, some household items, including culinary. As for progress, lets not take pot shots. (pun intended?). Everyone rest assured, with a talent like Ace Girl Spy, no matter how you slice it, the cake will be cut successfully.

Anonymous said...

No one calling themselves a serious cook would look to K-tel for kitchen implements.

Anonymous said...

Well thank you anonymous and Blog Princess. Yes K-Tel is alive as is Ronco. I did not feel that a response was warranted.

Anonymous said...

M.G. Guypan, who exactly are you to say who is or is not a serious cook, based on where you perceive that serious cooks should shop? I have been in the kitchen for decades and my most trusted potato peeler came from a dollar store!

Anonymous said...

Perhaps that is all there is in your neighborhood. Dollare store and flea market. I wish you could be introduced to utensils not made and imported enmasse from China.