Hey all!
I have a question about sugar ice. I want to make some ice for a barrel cake with beer in it. However, I read that using ordinary white sugar will turn out amber ice cubes. I guess the alternative to white sugar was something called isomalt to make the cubes clear and white. My question is.....if you can't find isomalt is there an other alternative to achieving the same clear white ice?
You can make sugar ice using sugar, but you have to cut the microwave cooking time. After experimenting I was able to it clear by microwaving 1/2 cup sugar with 1/2 cup corn syrup for 5 minutes at half power and then 50 seconds at full power.
On your other post about Diabeti Sweet, one site states that "Measure for Measure" Sugar Substitute for Baking and Cooking.
Another site says "the sweetener that looks, tastes, and even bakes just like sugar".
It sounds like it's worth a try.
Thanks so much! That really helps me out a lot. I am going to go try some trials right now!!!! I will let everyone know what turned out clear!!!! 
Jaimelt76,
approximately how long did you cook the mixture on the stove for and did you blend the ingredients right away? At about what temp? I dont have a tool for measuring how hot the corn syrup mixture is. And after it is cooled what did you placeit in to make it look like ice? And how long does it take to cool?
I cooked it on high for about 5 minutes. I did not pay close attention to time as I have a candy thermometer. I stirred it until the mixture disolved and then let it boil. I crumpled up some non stick foil and poured the sugar on that. Make sure it is non stick or it wont come off very well. Hope that helps, Jaime
ok, so I did both methods and both turned out pretty sticky and on the softer side....BUT I am sure it is my fault for not heating it long enough! Well I had an idea and popped it in the fridege for 1/2 hour and took it out and it broke up no problem....hard as rock and clear as a bell!! Thank you so much girls!!!!! WHAT would I do without CC??!!?!!?!?!?! 
I use this browny tray that I picked up at Michaels arts and crafts. I don't know if you have Michaels in Canada. They're like ice trays except they are silicon so you can just pop the ice squares out when they harden.
that sounds awesome! I will have to check that out tomorrow!!! Thanks!!!
I just googled Ice tray molds as I was looking for one to make a clear jewel shaped diamond. I'm going to be making a wedding shower cake and wanted a ring on it. There are lots of sites that sell silicone ice cube trays in all sort of shapes! You can make pretty much anything with poured sugar!
ok, so I did both methods and both turned out pretty sticky and on the softer side....BUT I am sure it is my fault for not heating it long enough! Well I had an idea and popped it in the fridege for 1/2 hour and took it out and it broke up no problem....hard as rock and clear as a bell!! Thank you so much girls!!!!! WHAT would I do without CC??!!?!!?!?!?!
I think you answered my questions.- Mines are kind of soft. If there anything I can do to fixed them? I didn't have a take the temp is that why?
In the fridge they are going....
Thanks
For the record, if you don't need your translucent thing to be hard like sugar or isomalt, you can use gummy, which is cheap, easy, and safe. That's what I use my huge pile of silicon ice trays for.
Free instructions here: http://www.eat-the-evidence.com/gummy/basic-gummy-recipe-and-tutorial/
Seriously, it's so easy, that's my kid at age 5 showing the technique in the pictures.
I've recently developed a super-clear recipe as well, but I haven't had a chance to post it yet. Soon, soon, I hope! 
But yeah, I started doing this gummy stuff precisely because I was sick of the expense and issues with sugar/isomalt.
Does the Splenda recipe harden well? Or sticky? I am trying to make beer mugs and ran out of isomalt and even that is sticky ugh... Heated it up to 300 not sure what the problem is. Any insight? Thanks
Does the Splenda recipe harden well? Or sticky? I am trying to make beer mugs and ran out of and even that is sticky ugh... Heated it up to 300 not sure what the problem is. Any insight? Thanks
Well, besides the immense expense of making things out of Splenda, I can't see any benefit from it.
If you're only heating isomalt up to 300F, you're about 40F shy of where you should be for the right temp............You may also have too much water in the recipe. When you begin to boil it, you only need the isomalt to be the consistency of wet sand--that's about 10% water.
Rae
I didn't add any water, just a bit of corn syrup to make the wet sand consistency
It start not being as clear when it goes over 300 degrees is that normal? I ran out of isomalt and the cake is due tomorrow eve. Any sugar recipes and instructions that I should use? The only other thing I can think of is it has been 80 % + humidity lately. Thanks
I didn't add any water, just a bit of corn syrup to make the wet sand consistency
It start not being as clear when it goes over 300 degrees is that normal? I ran out of and the cake is due tomorrow eve. Any sugar recipes and instructions that I should use? The only other thing I can think of is it has been 80 % + humidity lately. Thanks
I have never in my life added corn syrup to isomalt. It's sometimes done with boiled sugar, but not isomalt. It's clouding over so early because of the sugar in the corn syrup.
You should only add WATER to isomalt to boil it.
Yes, the ambient humidity will definitely make it harder to get a dry product, but with just water and isomalt boiled to 340F, it will be better.
I guess you could try regular sugar, but it's not crystal clear--ever. It's also much more finicky and time consuming. You may not have the ingredients that you need at hand. I found a recipe here that looks OK:
http://www.cheftalk.com/t/3434/pulled-sugar-for-dummies
Rae
Lol the origional mug has melted atleast anothernhalfminch lol, ineven tried putting them in my bedroom theba dehumidifier on. The otherntwo inmademlook ok ish, but are very sticky. I will try that today, thank you so much for your time , I will cross my fingers it works. it's a shame becausetheynalmost look like the real thing until you touch them lol
How to do it ice cube .. please can someone help i will like the steps and where you place it .thanks
What an interesting thread. I have never tried making sugar items. I am going to have to try this. I live at 4500 ft altitude. Will this affect the sugar melting in any way?
For every 500ft above sea level, the temperature of the syrup needs to be decreased by 1ºF.
Hi,
On your other post about Diabeti Sweet, one site states that "Measure for Measure" Sugar Substitute for Baking and Cooking.
Thanks for sharing...!
I know this is an old thread..but Jaime..your recipe worked! Thanks!
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