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
My Cookbook
Stores that sell my book listed by country:
http://bit.ly/ARcookbook
All recipe quantities in the book are in grams, ounces and cups.
we respect your email privacy
Hi Ann I love love all your videos and ideas , you always have such great desserts and I have tried many of them . My question is for the beautiful sugar bowls I want to do this for a small wedding to put on the table with candy for each guess are this bowls sticky and will they be ok for few hours on the table , I just don’t want guess to have sticky hands from touching them can I spray edible glaze on them.
Thank you
Sincerely
Claudia swain
About to try this recipe. Since I don’t have a candy thermometer should I use cold water or room temperature water to test the sugar?
Got bored during quarantine and tried this, I substituted glucose syrup for honey and it worked perfectly. Love your recipes, Ann!
I really loved this video and it was really cool because you eat the ice cream and then you can eat the bowl. would it ruin the recipe to add fruit juice for flavor?
I love making these sugar bowls and using it for other decorations on cake. My question is, if you have left over sugar candy mix, (that has set hard) can you re-melt/boil it and use it again or can it only be boiled once?
Hello,
I’m a recent fan of yours and decided to try this after binging your videos. Haha I failed the first time because I didn’t have the right temp. Got a candy thermometer and got better results, it held its shape for a while but it broke on me as I was taking the water out of the balloon. It also was still rather… tacky (is that the right word?). I also used corn syrup instead because I couldn’t find glucose syrup at the store. Should I do two layers? Should I wait longer? How long should you wait about? (I’ve be never really made candied stuffs before so I was kind of flying blind aside from the recipie. Haha)
Thought I’d clarify. By tacky I meant like a bit sticky. Sorry if I was confusing.
Can we use any type of balloon ?? Is there any substitute we can use for glucose syrup ? Or ca n we make sugar bowls without glucose syrup ?
Hi Eliza, helium quality balloons are generally thicker so a safer bet. I have used water balloons too though, so as long as they are filled with water they seem to be ok. To be sure though put some on a balloon that is not blown up and check that it doesn’t not melt. You can use corn syrup instead of glucose syrup. Without it the sugar is more prone to crystallising (going like fudge).
Can we make the sugar syrup without glucose syrup and a candy thermometer ?
Glucose syrup helps stop it crystallising and going thick like fudge, you can use corn syrup instead. Without a candy thermometer you need to have some glasses of room temperature water ready. When you hear the bubbling start to slow take a spoonful of hot syrup and pour it into one of the glasses. If it dissolves into he water keep heating and try again in a minute or two, next stage it will form a soft sticky mixture at the bottom of the glass that you can spoon out – a bit like thick clear honey. Keep heating and testing when it gets tot he stage that when it hits the water it sets hard – you can pull it out and break it – it’s ready remove from eh heat immediately. Let the bubbles subside before pouring onto your balloons.
hi, i tried to make this but failed as it turned out to be gooey and sticky and did not set. Could my glucose syrup be the issue as it was really thick and stiff and i had a lot of difficulty removing it from its jar. What to do in this situation? Also my mixtures starts bubbling really fast, are the bubbles normal or should i lower the heat to a medium?
Did you use a candy thermometer? Your sugar has to reach 302 F, or else it won’t set.
Hi Sarah, t sounds like ti was not heated for long enough to a high enough temp. It will bubble very quickly at first, keep heating over high heat and the bubbles slow down as the mixture starts to thicken and it gets closer to the right temperature. If you drizzle a spoon of mixture into room temperature water it should set immediately – if not then it needs to be heated up over high heat for longer.
Hi Ann! I’m wanting to do these for one of the events I’m helping. What is the best type of sugar for these bowls? I’m assuming granulated, but I want to make sure before I make it.
Hi Anni, I use caster sugar but granulated is fine too. ?
Hi lovely
Just tried making this as a cake topper. Measured ingredients exactly. However the mixture turns very dark brown at 120 degrees so I took it off. The blue turned green and of course the bowl didn’t work as it hadn’t reached temperature of 150. What am I doing wrong? Cheers Wayne.
Hi Wayne, Sugar goes crack hard at 146 to 154 °C (295 to 309 °F) and will golden in the middle of those temps. If it is going dark brown it must be above these temperatures. Check the accuracy of your candy thermometer by testing boiling water 100C or 212F. Unless you are at high altitude – as this effects the boiling temp fo liquids and you may need to use the testing in water method instead.
Hello, I love these sugar bowls. Would definitely try them out. But do I need to use hellium quality balloon?
Yes, or else the sugar will melt right through the balloon.
Wow!! Mine literally worked….thanks, your such an inspiration and your videos are so awesome!!!
awesome ?
I tried and I failed I used corn starch instead because I watched a similar video which used corn starch but I used the measurement u gave same measurements madam. Can teach or show me where I went wrong please.
It caramelized poured it on the balloon but it couldn’t take shape ,when it cooled down it was sticky and for that matter it couldn’t make the bowl.
You just didn’t use her recipe. That’s the problem.
Hi Baaba cornstarch is very different to corn syrup – you’ll need to try again with correct ingredients ?
So I made this and it turned out amazing! Only thing is it has a yellow tint to it. How do you get clear?
If you wanted it totally clear you could use isomalt instead of sugar but ti doesn’t taste as yummy
Hi. Can you give the measurements for this sugar syrup please….
Hi Samra, Are you asking for measurements for glucose syrup? Glucose syrup is a product you buy at the shop, it is glucose (a type of sugar).
I make my own glucose syrup. Quite easy.
2 c. sugar (blended somewhat in a food processor)
3/4 c. water
1 t. cream of tarter
Pinch of salt
Add all ingredients to pan and simmer until sugar is dissolved.
Turn heat to low, cover and let it simmer 5 min. until thickened. (No need to stir)
Pour in pint size mason jar and let cool. Then cover.
I make my own glucose syrup. Quite easy.
2 c. sugar (blended somewhat in a food processor)
3/4 c. water
1 t. cream of tarter
Pinch of salt
Add all ingredients to pan and simmer until sugar is dissolved.
Turn heat to low, cover and let it simmer 5 min. until thickened. (No need to stir)
Pour in pint size mason jar and let cool. Then cover.
Will it damage the pot?
Hi Isla to get set candy off your pot just fill with hot water and leave for about and hour. The hot water will dissolve the sugar.
If u dont have a candy thermometer keep a bowl of cold water next to your pot. Use a metal spoon and put a small amount of the mix into the cold water. If it sets hard its ready to use for sugar bowls
?
I was wondering how I can make the sugar paste thing white so that I can make a swan decoration out of it?
Are you wanting to make fondant? Here are two recipes
https://www.howtocookthat.net/public_html/marshmallow-fondant-recipe-for-cake-decorating/ OR https://www.howtocookthat.net/public_html/recipe-for-home-made-fondant-sugar-paste/
These are lovely…I would like to make a small hole in the bottom of the bowl to put a straw through to make a gravity defying cake…cake frosting inside to look like ice cream and candy being poured over with straw and paper sack above…Any ideas on how to make a small hole to insert a straw when the bowl is cooled…could I put the straw in the sugar mixture or a small piece of foil until the sugar cools and then remove it?
Hi Peggy, once the bowl is completely cooled, set and off the balloon heat up a metal skewer (over a gas burner if you have a gas stove top or using a blow torch if you don’t). and use the hot skewer to slowly and gently melt a hole where you want it. Note use an oven glove to hold the metal skewer so that it doesn’t get hot and burn your hand.