Easy Candy Sugar Balloon Bowls
I love, love, love experimenting and developing something new that’s never been seen before on the internet or TV. As I write this there are no blog posts about this, no YouTube videos and no Pinterest pictures – it is just totally fresh and new. To be honest I didn’t think this idea would work, I expected that I’d get hot sugar splattered around the kitchen. But it really did work and they looked even more beautiful and amazing than I’d imagined they would. I’ll definitely be doing more of these.
Candy Splash Sugar Bowl Recipe
(Developed by Ann Reardon. IMPORTANT: if you use this blog post to film your own video or write a post PLEASE do the right thing – GIVE CREDIT AT THE START of the video/post and put a link above the fold to my original video. “I found these on the internet” is NOT giving credit, the internet is not a person, it does not create anything. I know that this sounds a bit like a rant but I’m really tired of getting blatantly copied without credit. C’mon, you can be better than that 🙂
300g (10.58 ounces) or 1 1/3 cups sugar
200g (7.05 ounces) or 1/2 cup glucose syrup
75mL (2.54 fluid ounces) water
flavouring and colouring (optional)
Candy Thermometer
Balloons (CAUTION make sure you have helium quality balloons and test with an un-inflated one first to check it does not melt).
Fill your balloon with water and remove all the air as shown in the video. Dry with paper towel and rub with a little oil.
Mix together sugar, water and glucose syrup and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Wash down the sides of the bowl using a wet pastry brush. Heat the syrup up to 150C (302 degrees Fahrenheit). Remove from the heat and stir in desired colours. Then pour over the balloon.
Leave to cool completely then make a small cut in the balloon and let it deflate.
Store in an airtight container until ready to use.
Sugar Bowl Part 2 and Danger WARNING
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I forgot vthe pic lol
beautiful, great job Gary ??
4th time lucky. Not as good as yours but with mini lights on the cake the birthday lady will love them. I used an older sugar recipe with no glucose. And boiled it for about 25 mins. I’ll try I lighter set early tomorrow.
No matter what I try I cannot get the syrup to harden using the exact quantities and temperature. I have now tried 3 times
Hi Gary, I saw your later picture with the one that worked for you ? how hard the sugar sets is related purely to the temperature it is heated to. To check your candy thermometer is correct try dropping a little bit of the hot syrup into a glass of cold water – it should set instantly. If it sinks to the bottom and is soft and can be rolled into a ball – it’s not hot enough yet.
I watched your you tube demo many times, got all the right measurements, followed all the instructions. HOORAY the balloons did not burst and the colour held. ooops I forgot to oils the balloons LOL. It will interesting when (if the toffee sets) trying to get them off the balloons. Thankfully I have a few more days before the cake is due so I can try again.
I am trying these today after finding them on you tube…nervous but will see how it all ends up. I love your videos.
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Wow these are awesome thank you Ann Reardon for the recipe and the videos explaining what to do and what not to do.. I just made them for the first time and they were surprisingly easy and look amazing now I just need to perfect them..
??awesome, I’m so glad you like them Suellen
I used your recipe at home and made these glasses for my class at school and i got full marks for decoration! Thanks <3
Awesome fifi well done ??
Briliant design. I’ve tried this out myself but when I added the food colouring it didn’t colour the sugar. It just evaporates and left dark spots on the set sugar. Is there a specific food colour I should be using
Hi Gregg, yes use normal food colour not gel, or dilute the gel colouring first so you can just drop some in.
Do you have a trick for measuring glucose? I find it so sticky it’s hard to measure accurately. Thank you!
Hi Linda, Yes I like to measure glucose syrup straight into the pan. If you have scales that can ‘zero’ the pan weight and then you can tip the glucose syrup straight in as you measure. If that’s not possible then giving it a very quick zap in the microwave makes it runnier and easier to pour. But be careful doing that because if you make it too hot it will melt the plastic container you bought it in. ?
I’ve tried and had many failures. They are sticky and gooey. I’m heating to 150 c which my thermometer shows (I’m more familiar with Fahrenheit. I’m thinking I’m not cooking long enough. It either doesn’t set up solid or it burns. Any tips?
Hi Debbi, if it is burning then it is too hot. If it’s not setting it wasn’t heated hot enough. Hard crack stage for candy is 146 to 154 °C (295 to 309 °F). You can also get by drizzling some into a tall glass of cold water and seeing if it sets hard.
As soon as they are cooled you need to store them in an airtight container until you are ready to use them. Because candy is high in sugar it will absorb moisture and go sticky if they are left exposed to the air.
Hi Ann,
Thanks for sharing your recipe. I have made a 2 tier cake with the sugar bowl on it. I have put it up on my Facebook and given credits to you.
I made these! They came out lively but I had a failure rate of about 30% – at least one broke immediately as the balloon emptied in each batch I made. I also found it hard to create swirls of color, as the time between putting in the food coloring and pouring needed to be short or the color turned brownish — would gel color be better for this? (I used liquid). Just a great idea, thanks for creating these!
lovely, not lively. Also I used light corn syrup as glucose syrup isn’t easily available to me. Not sure if that made the difference in consistency between mine and the ones in the video.
Hi Yes gel food colouring is , much better for making swirls, just put a little or each colour in and don’t mix, it kind of swirls as you pour. If they are breaking as you let the balloon down try either – oiling the balloon slightly before pouring it on, or making it a thicker coating by letting it cool a bit before pouring or giving a second coat. They ones int eh picture look good ?
I was tired of looking for this recipe and many recipes
But I found it in how to cook that
so thank you very much
I tried this. I had glucose powder instead so I think I will have to adjust the measurements or increase temp. It made the bowl beautifully but it was not hard crack enough so it held it’s shape for a little while but then slowly started bending. I know we can do this again and it will be lovely. Thank you for the recipe and instructions. I posted mine on Facebook and thanked you attaching your link. Anna
Thanks so much for sharing the link on fb Anna ?
Hello, thanks for the lovely video! i wanted to ask if its possible after bowl is dry ( I haven’t arrived to this point anyway because i left balloons all day out, and maybe also because i didnt use thermometer maybe desired temperature wasn’t reached, so in the end i see bowls are sticking and not dry enough and all ten were ruined and got stuck together and it was a mess) if its possible to pour a jello/ gelatin mix inside of it after its dry. Will this dissolve/bend the bowl after some point? How long do these things last? Im still unsure if fridge helps or not. Thank you very much, excuse me for the many questions!
pavel
Hi Stef, sugar bowls are essentially hard candies – they will absorb moisture from the air. Keeping them in an airtight container as soon as they have cooled down is the best option. If you put them in the fridge it is more moist and they will go sticky faster. Adding a jello will also add moisture and make them dissolve, you need to amen the jello in a normal bowl and then serve it in the sugar bowl at the last minute.
Hi! I love your videos & I’m just a home Baker & love coming up with ideas & recipes of my own. I was making small sugar balloons awhile back & having an issue with them popping so I started doing something that worked out pretty well for me & maybe it would work with your giant sugar Bowl! I took a ball tool from my cake decorating set & slid it into one balloon then holding onto it tightly around the handle I’d slide it into another balloon to double layer my balloons. I would fill the balloon inside with tap water It would just be pulling a 2 layer balloon over the tap. It seemed to work pretty well for me & if I had one pop it seemed to just break & fall in on the balloon inside but still hold its shape & not release the water. I would also have a cardboard box ready that was large enough I could set upside down over my balloon just in case it did pop so it didn’t go all over my kitchen & I had it all sitting inside a big deep roasting pan so the water wouldn’t go everywhere. I double covered my balloons too to make them thicker if I was going to put anything in them so I would wait 15 minutes & pour another layer over. After it cooled a few minutes and I figured it was safe I’d remove the box to let it air dry & cool. I hope this helped a little it’s really fun playing with your food sometimes! I often make roses out of tootsies rolls just for fun! I have a muscular degenerative disease & I’m losing abilities in my hands & like right now I need a double knee replacement but I will keep up baking as long as possible. Thanks for inspiring me! I’m going to try to make a mushroom gnome house for my husbands birthday in 2 weeks!
I was wondering if a meat thermometer would work in place of a candy thermometer???
Hey, i tried it. And i want them thinner, is it posible to use more water? Or wont it get stable than?
Can you put this bowl on a cake and add a fruit?
Hi Angel, You could put this bowl on top of a cake. Whatever you put init needs to be of a weight that can be supported by the cake, so it doesn’t collapse undernesth. If you put fruit in it, just remember that the sugar bowl will be impacted by any moisture, so if adding fresh chopped fruit it would be best to add it just prior to service.
How do I make this not turn Amber but still get solid?
When I cooked the sugar to hard crack stage according to my thermometer, it wasn’t golden brown. A few more seconds and it would have been. You just have to monitor it very closely and remove from heat as soon as it hits that temp.
Hi Beth, You need to watch it carefully and when it hits the right temperature, immediately putll it off the heat so it doesn’t continue to get hotter.