I made spun sugar for the first time today. No problem with everything up to
the final step: taking the strands of spun sugar hanging down and "molding
them into an interesting shape." The recipes talk about making a net, or a
halo, or all kinds of other cool things.

Except when I gather up the strands, I tend to end up with a big mess.

It occurs to me that some of you might have developed some skill with this
and might have a few tips up your sleeve on how to gather up the strands
skillfully and make the shapes. Anybody have any ideas or recommendations on
this?

Thanks,

John

NOTE: My Correct Address is in my signature (just remove the spaces).
On Mon, 01 Nov 2004 20:52:39 GMT, "JMF" > wrote:

>I made spun sugar for the first time today. No problem with everything up to
>the final step: taking the strands of spun sugar hanging down and "molding
>them into an interesting shape." The recipes talk about making a net, or a
>halo, or all kinds of other cool things.
>
>Except when I gather up the strands, I tend to end up with a big mess.
>
>It occurs to me that some of you might have developed some skill with this
>and might have a few tips up your sleeve on how to gather up the strands
>skillfully and make the shapes. Anybody have any ideas or recommendations on
>this?
>
Never done it myself, but there's a British cook that appears on TV
from time to time (on BBC Prime - Ready, Steady, Cook) who is
particularly good at doing this. One thing I saw him do is drizzle
(very, very quickly) it over a bowl or other object to get a
particular shape. The idea isn't to _gather_ them into the shapes,
but rather to try to drizzle them into the shape you want to begin
with.


--
Davida Chazan (The Chocolate Lady)
<davidac AT jdc DOT org DOT il>
~*~*~*~*~*~
"What you see before you, my friend, is the result of a lifetime of
chocolate."
--Katharine Hepburn (May 12, 1907 - June 29, 2003)
~*~*~*~*~*~

"JMF" > wrote in message >...
> I made spun sugar for the first time today. No problem with everything up to
> the final step: taking the strands of spun sugar hanging down and "molding
> them into an interesting shape." The recipes talk about making a net, or a
> halo, or all kinds of other cool things.
>
> Except when I gather up the strands, I tend to end up with a big mess.
>
> It occurs to me that some of you might have developed some skill with this
> and might have a few tips up your sleeve on how to gather up the strands
> skillfully and make the shapes. Anybody have any ideas or recommendations on
> this?
>

In my experience in patisserrie while working in a hotel several
years back..... Whenever I make a plated dessert I use spun sugar with
dark chocolate curls as decorative agent. I just collect a enough
fibers of the spun sugar and form it into a nest ( or just a halo)
where I will place a sorbet, a panna cotta, or any variety of
unmolded fruit mousse in the center and drip some suitable sauce
around the plate to complement i the dessert and add color. I also
draw a pattern on the sauce with piped chocolate and create a spider
web , leaf ,fern ,shrub or any ornate pattern to enhance the dessert.
I also create a spiral of sugar with a cylinder or wafer type cookie.
and let it set. which I also use as decoration. There are many types
of decors that you can make with spun sugar.
.. I never had this problem with the mess,
I also give a space when I spun the thick syrup with the standard
spun sugar spinner which is purchased from the cake shop.
It was like a comb contraption ( with wire nails evenly spaced which
when I dip into the syrup I raise it high and colllect the sugar
strands by coiling it in my hands. in small loops , which I place in
sllicone paper. I repeat the procedure until all the s syrup is being
used.

I suggest you buy that device suited for spun sugar spinning. and you
will end up with an evenly spaced strands. which are easier to collect
and form to shapes.
And please do not spin all the sugar at once but in small portion so
that you can form the desired coil or halo thickness.
Keep the syrup in fluid condtions( or hot) while you continue to form
strands.
Roy

Great information! Thanks, Roy.

John

"Roy Basan" > wrote in message
om...
> "JMF" > wrote in message
>...
> > I made spun sugar for the first time today. No problem with everything
up to
> > the final step: taking the strands of spun sugar hanging down and
"molding
> > them into an interesting shape." The recipes talk about making a net, or
a
> > halo, or all kinds of other cool things.
> >
> > Except when I gather up the strands, I tend to end up with a big mess.
> >
> > It occurs to me that some of you might have developed some skill with
this
> > and might have a few tips up your sleeve on how to gather up the strands
> > skillfully and make the shapes. Anybody have any ideas or
recommendations on
> > this?
> >
>
> In my experience in patisserrie while working in a hotel several
> years back..... Whenever I make a plated dessert I use spun sugar with
> dark chocolate curls as decorative agent. I just collect a enough
> fibers of the spun sugar and form it into a nest ( or just a halo)
> where I will place a sorbet, a panna cotta, or any variety of
> unmolded fruit mousse in the center and drip some suitable sauce
> around the plate to complement i the dessert and add color. I also
> draw a pattern on the sauce with piped chocolate and create a spider
> web , leaf ,fern ,shrub or any ornate pattern to enhance the dessert.
> I also create a spiral of sugar with a cylinder or wafer type cookie.
> and let it set. which I also use as decoration. There are many types
> of decors that you can make with spun sugar.
> . I never had this problem with the mess,
> I also give a space when I spun the thick syrup with the standard
> spun sugar spinner which is purchased from the cake shop.
> It was like a comb contraption ( with wire nails evenly spaced which
> when I dip into the syrup I raise it high and colllect the sugar
> strands by coiling it in my hands. in small loops , which I place in
> sllicone paper. I repeat the procedure until all the s syrup is being
> used.
>
> I suggest you buy that device suited for spun sugar spinning. and you
> will end up with an evenly spaced strands. which are easier to collect
> and form to shapes.
> And please do not spin all the sugar at once but in small portion so
> that you can form the desired coil or halo thickness.
> Keep the syrup in fluid condtions( or hot) while you continue to form
> strands.
> Roy

"Davida Chazan - The Chocolate Lady" > wrote in
message ...
> NOTE: My Correct Address is in my signature (just remove the spaces).
> On Mon, 01 Nov 2004 20:52:39 GMT, "JMF" > wrote:
>
> >I made spun sugar for the first time today. No problem with everything up
to
> >the final step: taking the strands of spun sugar hanging down and
"molding
> >them into an interesting shape." The recipes talk about making a net, or
a
> >halo, or all kinds of other cool things.
> >
> >Except when I gather up the strands, I tend to end up with a big mess.
> >
> >It occurs to me that some of you might have developed some skill with
this
> >and might have a few tips up your sleeve on how to gather up the strands
> >skillfully and make the shapes. Anybody have any ideas or recommendations
on
> >this?
> >
> Never done it myself, but there's a British cook that appears on TV
> from time to time (on BBC Prime - Ready, Steady, Cook) who is
> particularly good at doing this. One thing I saw him do is drizzle
> (very, very quickly) it over a bowl or other object to get a
> particular shape. The idea isn't to _gather_ them into the shapes,
> but rather to try to drizzle them into the shape you want to begin
> with.

That makes perfect sense to me - it's so hard to handle that it makes sense
to try to guide it directly into the shape. I'll give it a try!

John