Isomalt is edible, but you don't want too eat too much. It has laxative properties.

I missed the show, trying to catch on what the conversation is about. I have the Wilton's brownie pan. Can I make sugar ( or isomalt ) ice cubes? Would be great for a Winter centerpiece I'm planning for a large event. Thanks foe any help.

You can also buy hard candy molds from Lorann's Oil. Here is one that might work.
https://www.lorannoils.com/p-8611-sheet-mold-rectangle-breakup.aspx

I've been dying to try this, so decided to do it for my cousin's wedding cake. His sister is paying me to do the cake and gave me carte blanche on the design. I went to golda's kitchen online and bought a bag of isomalt and the silicone ice cube trays. Just finished and only burned myself once with isomalt (can we say ouch!). I didn't get that many tiles with the bag of isomalt - a 2 cup bag gave me about 50 or 60 tiles. I'm gonna try more with just sugar and corn syrup too see if there is a big difference.

Please let us know how it goes Morselsbymark, it will be a great help

Will do miny - I have 3 cakes to deliver in the am, then it is more tiles!

I can hardly wait to see how this turns out Morselsbymark. I would love to try it myself.

Morselsbymark,

PLEASE, PLEASE write down for us, Exactly what you did to make your tiles with the isomalt.

I have Isomalt, silicone molds, etc.. all the parts, but I just don't know how to use it all. What temp. do you do what..... I know we would all REALLY appreciate your help when you get a chance. I know you have cakes to do!!

Thank you SOOO much!!,

Cables4fun!!

So here goes - Isomalt isn't really worth the investment for these tiles. I heated 1/2 cup isomalt with 2 tsp of water on high heat until 260, added my color and heated to 300. Imersed in cold water to halt cooking, poured in molds (and on my arm leaving a bad burn - so be careful). That was yesterday and today they were sticky like someone licked them - yuck! I have them now in a plastic container separated by parchment since I only need them for Saturday.

If I didn't work full time and didn't have another cake for mid week or not catering the wedding as well, I would make more like I did today with sugar. I used 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, 1/3 cup light corn syrup and 1/3 cup water. Heated on medium high to 300, removed from heat added color, let temp drop to about 260, then poured in molds. IMO, better results than Isomalt and less costly. This recipe yielded the same if not more amount of tiles than Isomalt did. I used an entire 2 cup bag of Isomalt and got about 60 tiles.

Since I will only be decorating the cake Friday night and will probably only get home late Saturday, I will try to post pics as soon as I get up Sunday - CC is better than a cup of coffee! PS - I am trying to get a cake chat started on MSN messenger, if anyone is interested, PM me with your email address so I can send the invite.

Thank you, thank you Morselsbymark!! I can hardly wait to try this. I will be waiting to see the pictures!

Morselsbymark just a quick question. I was looking for a recipe for molten sugar and all the ones I found used cream of tatar. Did you have to use any? And about how long did it take to get the temp to 300? I've seen where they said to do it very slowly and take an hour to raise the temp up that high and I've seen where they said to do it as quickly as possible. Which one worked best for you? I've done this once, yesterday, and really didn't get my temp up high enough I don't think. Although I did follow the recipe I had completely. It was like your sticky ones.

Casey - I didn't use any cream of tartar and they are as hard and glossy as jolly ranchers. I wasn't paying attention to the clock, but I'd guess it took about 10 minutes or so. My burner (glasstop stove) was set between 6 and 7. I had some melted sugar left after I filled my trays, so I just left it on the burner set to 1 until I could refill the molds. My tiles that were sticky are the result of it being humid - the weather here has been wonky cold then hot and cold again, and I had the oven on doing cakes last night. Good luck and let me know how the recipe works for you.

ok so excited! I was following the other tile thread which said not to use sugar but when I read this one I jumped for joy! So I just made some tiles!!!! in the brownie pan with the recipe above......did not take long at all. so i thought I'd let ya'll know how they turned out ( not trying to steal thread)

I waited til temp dropped to 260 and this first row came out great but then got too cool and the rest weren't quite as clear, so I think next time I will let it stay hotter before I pour.

I did not get the "swirled" color I was hoping to get like in the challenge, but there are subtle differences.

I poured the sugar straight out of the pot (my pot had a pour spout) and inbetween each square there was a "dribble" that can be broke off but left a mark. I figured would be ok when tile was flipped over but I took one out when it was cool and the side touching the silicone had kind of a matte finish, so the top is much better to use.

Mark when you filled your molds, did you use something (like a dipper) to pour the sugar? I was concerned about trying to get the same thickness but I was having to work so quickly b/c the sugar was hardening fast.

Here's a link to a pic of the Food network Challenge cake with the tiles:
http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site36/2009/0105/20090105__20090107_D01_FE07FDCONTEST~p2_200.JPG

The decorator was Jennifer Matsubara.

It's a small pic and she is not finished with the cake at the point the photo was taken, but you can get an idea of the blue tiles she uses. I wish you could see more detail...

Does anyone have a larger photo?

Oh thank you ! I did want to see that cake!

Okay, so I've read the thread and bought my Wilton silicone brownie pan.

Before I start, though, I have 3 questions:

1) Do I spray the pan with PAM before adding the melted sugar? (I'm thinking no.)

2) Can I flavor the sugar with Lorann lemon oil?

3) What can I color the melted sugar with -- Americolor gels, Wilton paste, McCormick food coloring, or do I have to have special candy colors?

Thanks! I'm so excited to try this!!

I love that cake challenge cake too. Now I'm hooked on sugar. I made this one with the sugar tiles. Working today on a queen cake with tiara, roses and jewels...I hope I can get them to stick to the tiara, wish me luck.


Here's the sugar tile cake I did.

http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1565615

JGMB: I have not made these before, but really want to. From research:

1) Do not spray the silicone pans (baking 9-1-1)
2) You can flavor with Lorann oils (baking 9-1-1)

Don't know the answer to #3, but I'm guessing candy colors. HTH.

Tinygoose: loved your tile cake Did you just pour your tiles in or use a dropper or some other method to guarantee the same thickness?

Morselsbymark: thanks for the info-didn't really want to invest in Isomalt.

Tiny Goose, I love your cake, too! In fact, I started to leave you a compliment beneath it, only to find that I already had.

AKS, thanks for answering 2/3 of my questions!

Julie

So glad you guys posted all of this useful info. I have been wanting to try some sugar work lately and tiles seem like a good place to start. Doesn't sound too difficult!
Morselsbymark: thanks for the step by step.

Does anyone know what to use to color the sugar?

Woo Hoo, I just delivered "The Queen's Cake" (40th bday party) Here is the link. It has a tiara and sugar jewels, these were made with isomalt. Yeah, it's done, can I have my life back now....lol.

http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1603002

So much information on this thread. Thanks, everyone, for your hints! I hope to learn more about isomalt in the near future.

If you will follow the link below....scroll down, and click on the picture of the cake, it will enlarge so you can see it better.

http://www.denverpost.com/lifestyles/ci_11380664

HTH

I have the wilton brownie silicone pan, but it's rounded. Do the tiles come out too round?

I would absolutely love to try these tiles for a cake I have at the end of July. Does anyone know how bad the heat will affect the sugar? Does isomalt hold up better in the heat?

I have to transport the cake about 1 1/2 hours, is there a way I can maybe store the tiles and then assemble at the venue? Just trying to keep them from melting and getting too sticky.

Any advice you experts can provide would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your help!