So You want to blow Sugar Bubbles

Heres what you will need:

A large cookie sheet, or marble slab or silpat. A wooden straw or metal tube for blowing and lung power.

3 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 Teaspoon Cream of Tartar

Bring water and sugar to a boil. Add cream of Tartar. Stir to incorporate.
(DO NOT STIR ANYMORE AFTER THIS STEP.) Wash down the sides of the pan at least three times during cooking with warm water and a pastry brush.
When the sugar mixture reaches 297 F pour it out onto your cookie sheet, marble slab or silpat. If you use a marble slab or cookie sheet you must lightly grease these with vegetable oil :silpats you do not have to grease.
When the mixture is cool enough to handle tear off a piece about the size of a golf ball and put it on your tube and blow. Twist the bubble and melt the end shut with a culinary torch, propane torch or bunsen burner. Cut away with scissors.

If you plan on storing your bubbles use silica gel, lime rocks or Sodium Chloride (Ice melt.) If you use ice melt you can only use it one time and you have to trash it! DO NOT PLACE SUGAR PIECES DIRECTLY ON ANY OF THESE. USE WAX PAPER OR FOIL, put your pieces on this with the foil or paper between your pieces and the drying agent. Store in an airtight container.MOISTURE IS THE WORST ENEMY OF SUGAR SHOW PIECES! Sugar is hygroscopic which means it loves moisture.

Have any questions feel free to PM me I'll be glad to help if I can.

You both are quite welcome. I plan on doing a small piece this weekend. Hopefully I will have pics Sunday night.

Unless you are planning on getting serious about this I would not spend the money for an air pump or rubber bulb pump. And be careful about working this stuff to much. Overwork it and it will recrystallize on you. Remember you need that clear look in order for the bubbles to look realistic. The instructions I left are very simple for someone that is just starting out. You do not want too pull this stuff. If you do the effect will be lost. Pulled and blown sugar are two different animals altogeher. If you are serious about it then by all means purchase the equipment. But most of it can be made right in your own home with items you purchase at the local hardware store. I have made all of my equipment for way less than what you can buy it for. A professional sugar kit is about $700.00. A warming box is around $300 to $350. I have about $100 in my station. I do not want to discourage anyone from doing this. I am glad you are interested in it enough to want to do it. But be realistic about what you want too accomplish with this art. I will go ahead and get this out of the way now because I know it is going to come up. Splenda and Isomalt are not the same! Splenda is a sucrulose a non-nutritive high potency sweetner use it for your coffee not sugar work! Isomalt on the other hand is pure sugar dervived from maltose therefore the name. Isomalt is expensive a small batch is around $55 starting price, the more you buy the higher the price. Most perfer Dominos or Dixie Crystal sugar because it is said they have less impurities that other forms of granulated sugar. Use whatever granulated sugar you can get any will work if cooked right. And last but not least have fun!

Yep. Thats the reason for adding cream of tarter, tartaric acid to your mixture. The pieces will be a little sticky but that can be removed by scraping it off carefully with a small knife. Lemon juice is sometimes used as an acid in sugar, but it is weaker and may cloud your showpiece. As far as the cool air blower. Go to Wal-Mart and spend about $18 and get yourself a hair dryer with a cool air setting works great and cheap too! You can use a rubber bulb pump that they use for gasoline tanks on boat motors, MAKE SURE IT IS NEW! But I have one and do not particularly like it because the bulb is stiff and hard to squeeze.

PastryDiva is correct. Professional Pastry Chefs that do this sort of work get upwards of $85.00 an hour for their showpieces. Yes you can eat it, or should I say you can make it edible. But for all the trouble its not worth it.

If you can get them it will be a lot cheaper. Professional bulb pumps costs upwards of around $55. This does not include the tube which can be metal or wood. The wood tubes are made out of fruit wood and starting costs is around $12. Find a small metal tube that will fit in your pump. I use a copper tube in mine.