I saw this on TV the other day on Sugar Rush. The pastry chef poured some kind of sugar onto a silpat and stuck it in the oven. She didn't give the temperature or time........but after she took it out of the oven, the sugar had melted and she was able to form it. I think she used some kind of sugar substitute, like Splenda, becasue she mentioned that it would not taste very good and was only used for decoration.

I was wondering if this would work with regular sugar.

No it will burn. Most likely using isomalt for that.

Rgds

Yes it was Isomalt that she used.

And isomalt tastes fine. Just like sugar, but less sweet (about 50% less).

OK....thanks. I am going to try it. Is Isomalt something I can find very easy?

Yopu can Isosmalt at any specialty cake decorating store. You can order it at www.sweetc.com

It is not cheap-two pounds for about $15.00 and shipping.

Would regular sugar work like this? Also, how hot should the oven be?

I think granulated sugar would smoke, not melt evenly and burn in spots. Isomalt is the way to go. You can even add a few drops of liquid color to the dry Isomalt, toss it in a bowl to coat and then bake it on a Silpat mat inside a cookie sheet. For a really cool look you can have one Silpat mat on the bottom, add the Isomalt and cover with another Silpat mat. Let it bake till it melts, take the pan out of the oven to cool completely, then peel off the upper mat, you get all kinds of great shapes. I did the seagrass on my granddaughters wedding cake that way. You can see it sticking out on the sides of the top and second tiers. But be careful if anyone wants to eat it, it is sharp.
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