Sugar Molding Recipe Copyright Laurie Clarke, 2010 www.sweetcelebrations.us

Ingredients:

For each cup of sugar you need (to find out fill your molds with granulated sugar, pour into a bowl and measure – by weight is easiest. Increase this amount by about 30% to be sure you have plenty when the sugar is wet)

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• ½ Tablespoon (1 ½ teaspoons) Meringue Powder (for strength – optional)
• ½ tsp citric acid powder (if keeping on display – deters ants)
• A pinch to ¼ tsp luster dust or disco dust (optional – for sparkle) – this can also be dusted on afterward.
• 1 spray bottle filled with
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup warm water
• 1 tsp clear vanilla extract, lavender oil (or flavor of your choice) (optional)
• Food color (paste) if coloring entire batch

Directions:

In a large, clean bowl stir together sugar, meringue powder, dust (opt) and citric acid (opt) until well combined. Meringue powder may be omitted if sugar cubes are being made rather than 3D objects that need to hold together firmly. Spray just enough water to dampen sugar so that it sticks together when squeezed in your hand. This should be roughly 1 ½ teaspoons per cup. If you’re making several colors I recommend using several small bowls of dry sugar and dissolving paste color in 1 ½ tsp water before adding. If necessary, after the water is worked in and sugar is correct consistency, paste color can be blended into the sugar for a deeper color, but without dissolving in water you may have dark “flecks” of color. Consider using gloved hands for this step – it’s easier to mix in the color this way. Keep bowls covered with a damp cloth to prevent drying as you work.

Leftovers with meringue powder:

After molds are used, if you have any excess sugar you can let it dry completely then store in a Ziploc bag. Process in blender for a couple of seconds to restore original texture. This can be added to cakes or cooked icings, such as Swiss Meringue.

Leftovers without meringue powder:

Dry completely then store in a Ziploc bag. Process in blender for a couple of seconds to restore original texture and use in recipes as you would regular sugar – or keep vanilla flavored sugar around for tea, etc. This sugar can also be re-used for different molds later on or added to cake icing for sparkle (like sanding sugar). If you process longer you’ll have colored powdered sugar – especially fun to use with stencils (as long as icing isn’t too wet, or powdered sugar will simply dissolve).