Spun Sugar

I enjoy finding new ways to decorate cupcakes. The best is to find ways that are not your typical cupcakes decorations. The other day I decided to decorate a batch of almond cupcakes with spun sugar art! Such a fun experiment and will definitely do this again!

Here’s how:

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar

1/4 cup light corn syrup

1/4 cup water

Directions:

Secure a wooden spoon on the edge of the counter, with the handle facing out and extending over the edge.

Place newspapers/trash bag/anything that will catch the overflow, on the floor, directly under the wooden handle.

Prepare an ice-water bath.

Bring sugar, corn syrup, and the water to a boil in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved.

*At this stage add any food color for desired look. If no food color is added, sugar mixture will appear a caramelized color.

Stop stirring.

Clip a candy thermometer to the side of the pan. (make sure not to let the thermometer touch the bottom or sides of the pan)

Cook until the mixture turns pale amber and registers 300 degrees (hard-crack stage) on the candy thermometer.

Plunge pan into ice bath to stop the cooking; let cool, stirring occasionally, until caramel registers 250 degrees.

Dip a fork into the sugar mixture.

Holding the fork about 2 feet above the spoon handle, swing caramel back and forth like a pendulum in long arcs, allowing strands to fall in threads over the handles. (this is the part where the newspaper comes in handy. A lot will fall to the floor)