Crafting Ornate Dessert Garnishes Doesn’t Have To Be Hard, But You’ll Want To Use Hard Candy!

Have you ever seen a pastry chef blow sugar? In the hands of a skilled artisan, extremely hot temperatures and air pressure can be used to make sugar take on a wide variety of shapes.  Although professional sugar blowing can take years of culinary training, you may be wondering if you can create these gorgeous “stained glass like” designs in your own kitchen. At So Yummy, we believe anything is possible!

We came up with a few hard candy hacks that are easy to master. Follow these recipes for multi-colored sugar glass techniques that can be used to enrich your desserts through design and decoration!

Jolly Rancher Candy Flames

Easy • Yields 5 • Total Time: 15 minutes 

Ingredients: 

• 5 Red Jolly Ranchers
• 5 Yellow Jolly Ranchers
• 5 Orange Jolly Ranchers

Directions: 

1. Preheat the oven to 270 degrees and line a baking sheet tray with silpat.
2. Unwrap your Jolly Ranchers, and stack candies in threes red at the bottom, orange, then yellow. Bake for about 10 minutes in the oven.
3. Once it’s done melting immediately use chopsticks to create a flame shape. Once shaped, let cool for 5 minutes then slowly twist the bottom.
4. Place a Jolly Rancher flame on your favorite dessert and light a candle behind it. For an amazing flame cake!

Jolly Rancher Cupcake Topper

Easy • Yields 5 • Total Time: 20 minutes 

Ingredients:

• Silicone cupcake liner
• 10 Jolly Ranchers

Directions: 

1. Flip your silicone cupcake liner upside down then place 2 pieces of jolly ranchers on top.
2. Take a heat gun and hold directly above your candy and melt. Your candy should melt, forming spider-like legs. Let your candy harden and carefully place it on top of your cupcakes!

Isomalt Wave

Easy • Yields 1 • Total Time: 20 minutes 

Ingredients:

• 7 ounce isomalt pre cooked bag
• Blue food coloring
• Jar, for shaping

Directions: 

1. Place your silpat in the sheet pan, lay the jar flush to the end and roll up. Heat up your isomalt crystals for 30 seconds then 15 seconds intervals until melted. Add 2 drops of blue food coloring. Mix until everything is incorporated.
2. Once heated, pour isomalt over the silpat that’s on top of the jar, using a spatula to create a wave-like shape towards the bottom.
3. Let the isomalt harden then carefully remove it from the silpat, and place it onto your favorite cake.

Mosaic Stained Glass Candy 

Easy • Yields 19-inch cake • Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 3 cups assorted Jolly Ranchers

Directions: 

1. Preheat the oven to 270 degrees. Line a baking sheet with silpat and pour crushed jolly ranchers on top.
2. Bake for 8-10 minutes until melted. Remove from the oven and let candy harden and then break them into pieces.
3. Place pieces on a cake for a beautiful mosaic cake.

Candy Flower Coin

Easy • Yields 5 • Total Time: 10 minutes 

Ingredients

• Isomalt
• Dried edible flowers

Directions:

1. Melt ½ cup of clear isomalt.
2. Pour on silpat (a small amount).
3. Add dried edible flowers.
4. Let harden, use to garnish!

Honeycomb

Easy • Yields 5 • Total Time: 20 minutes 

Ingredients: 

• 7 ounces isomalt pre cooked bag
• Yellow Food coloring

Directions:

1. Heat up your isomalt crystals for 30 seconds then 15 seconds intervals until melted. Add 2 drops of yellow food coloring. Mix until everything is incorporated.
2. Pour into honeycomb mold, let candy harden and break apart.
3. Place the tiny hexagon shaped pieces onto a cake!

Isomalt Sugar Candy Bowl

Easy • Yields 5 • Total Time: 20 minutes 

Ingredients: 

• 7 oz bag pre-cooked isomalt
• 2 12” inch Latex balloons * Not water balloons
• Food coloring
• Vegetable oil
• Water

Directions: 

1. Fill your balloons up slowly with cool water. This prevents the balloon from popping when you pour the hot isomalt over it. Once your balloons are filled to your desired size make a knot. Dip your pastry brush in oil and brush the inside and rim of the small bowls, set on a baking sheet tray lined with silpat then rest a balloon on each bowl with the knot side inside the bowl.
2. Microwave your pre-cooked isomalt for 30 seconds and then 15 second intervals until it is melted. Add 2 drops of food coloring and mix well. Work quickly to pour isomalt on the balloons. Once Balloons are covered, let them sit until hardened.
3. This is the exciting part! Carefully remove the balloon from the bowl and over a sink cut a tiny hole releasing water. Tip: be very careful releasing the water, you want to make a very small incision.
4. You’ll have beautiful sugar bowls. Fill with whipped cream, macaroons and berries. Enjoy!

Geode Crystal Cake Topper

Medium • Yields 5 • Total Time:15 minutes 

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup dark purple candy, crushed
• ¼ cup light purple candy, crushed
• ¼ cup clear candy, crushed

Directions: 

1. Using half of each crushed candy mix, create an ombre ring shape.
2. Melt then add remaining crushed candy on top to stimulate crystals. 
3. Let cool, then use to garnish!