Comprehensive Guide to Sugar Work: Techniques, Equipment, and Recipes

This assignment provides a comprehensive overview of sugar work techniques, including casting, pulling, and blowing. It details the importance of calcium carbonate in sugar syrup purification and the advantages of using copper pans for even heat distribution during cooking. The assignment emphasizes the role of acid in preventing caramel crystallization and discusses various assembly styles, fillings, and color schemes for sugar work. It highlights the use of inverted sugar for syrups and the preparation of tartaric acid solutions. Furthermore, the assignment covers essential equipment like sugar pulling machines, micronizing mills, silica packets, pastry brushes, candy thermometers, and kitchen scales. It also describes common recipes for pulled, spun, and blown sugar, along with the importance of temperature control, clean equipment, and crystallization prevention. Finally, the assignment lists necessary tools like spatulas, icing screens, turntables, and sugar dredgers, while referencing sources like Tesco realfood and William Angliss Institute.

Descriptive Questions
1. Calcium carbonate is useful in removing organic impurities like gums, amino acids
and some colour components from sugar syrup. Through the carbonation process an
optimum sugar quality is derived. The calcium carbonate is also responsible for
giving an opaque look to boiled sugar pieces (Wojtowicz, 1998).
2. Copper pans are preferred for cooking sugar since copper conducts heat evenly. This
is crucial when sugar is boiling down. Should a pan have hot spots it will trigger
crystallization and ruin the batch. This way the use of copper is essential in especially
in gas sugar stoves where heating may be very uneven. In addition, copper responds
very fast to temperature fluctuations therefore give room for the cook to manage the
temperature efficiently throughout the cooking (Tibbetts, 1991).
Adding acid during the casting process prevents the caramel from crystallizing. The
acid hydrolyzes sucrose molecules to form glucose and fructose as the sugar heats.
This mixture of the monosaccharides with water is less crystalline. Acid is needed to
obtain a good conversion before vaporizing the sugar.
3. The major consideration is the assembly style, this could be either round, square and
other specialty shapes. In addition, it can entail several fillings.
Also, they should consider color schemes of cakes, fillings, decoration as well as icing
issues.
4. Inverted sugar is the most preferable to making syrup for sugar works. Products made
from it retain more moisture and are minimally affected by the crystallization issue
(Ryan, 2018).
The make the tartaric acid solution used in the sugar works. An equal weight of cream
of tartar and water I used. The water is boiled its afterward removed from the heat and
the cream of tartar added. It is then left to cool (Apovian, 2004).
5. The main equipment used for sugar pulling is the sugar pulling machine. The machine
is made from heavy-duty cast steel. It is composed of three arms one stationary and
the other two revolving around it.
The two dehumidifying agents useful in storing sugar chow pieces are micronizing
mills and silica packets.
6.
a. The sugar is stored in an airtight condition. It should not be refrigerated as this
might cause condensing issues.

Descriptive Questions
b. When storing pulled sugar use things like silica packets which can absorb
moisture, the packets come accompanied by leather purses and shoes. The cakes
are placed in an airtight container with the silica.
c. The pulled sugar should be stored in an ar5ea with a dehumidifying agent
enclosed with it. This keeps ways water vapor issues (William Angliss Institute,
2013).
7. Some of the common recipes applied in making sugar for pulling and blowing are
pulled sugar, span sugar as well as blown sugar.
8. Sugar is very delicate hence the preparation of the sugar syrup needs to consider some
key issues like; temperature, the tools used should be efficient thermal conductors as
any temperature variations during heating will cause crystallization. Another issue of
concern is impurities. The equipment used to be clean so that they don’t add
impurities as this may cause crystallization. Finally, the crystallization of sugar should
be considered. The individual should very knowledgeable about the causes and keenly
take measures to prevent it (Stradley, 2017).
9. The patterns which support sugar pulling are
Pulled sugar ribbons; this is made by pulling sugar into thin and long glossy-like
ribbon. These designs can further be worked to beautiful formats like curls and bows.
Spun sugar, through sugar spinning you can create thin but delicate strands of sugar
that are joined to form beautiful caramel netting.
Blown sugar, is like glass blowing but allows the creation of beautiful spheres and
globes which can further be shaped to form assorted designs (Hochman, 2009).
10. To do sugar casting the following are some of the equipment that you will need;
A natural bristle pastry brush contained in a glass of warm water. Pastry brushes make
the jib fast and easy. For quality work you need a pastry brush that can hold the
basting liquid and conduct the task with no hairs, strands of fibres falling out of it into
the sugar work. For this the natural fibre brand i.e., the recommended brand.
A candy thermometer in most cases its better to use digital but you can also use the
glass one provided accuracy is guaranteed. The thermometer is useful in measuring
the temperature and so gauge the sugar solution cooking stage. They are also

Descriptive Questions
applicable in measuring the temperature of deep frying oil. The thermometer
preferability is attached to the fact that it can read very high temperatures.
A kitchen scale, is a tool that make sure the measurements of ingredients are
accurate. This way a greater result if achieved.
A heavy-Medium to large saucepan, for quality sugar works the sauce pan should be
made of copper. This way the sugar syrup is heated uniformly thereby minimising the
crystallisation effect ( Tesco realfood, 2018).
11. The first equipment will be
A steel a spatula. This is a form of a spatula which consists of a flexible blade used
for spreading and smoothing of icings as well as fillings.
Another tool is the icing screens, these are open-mesh screens usable for holding
cakes being iced using flow-type icing like a fondant.
Also, we have the Turntable, is a pedestal with a flat but rotating top. It simplifies the
process of cake icing.
Finally, there is the sugar dredger. It a toll which looks like a metal salt shaker, its
used to dust cakes with sugar confectioners (Sullivan, 2013).
References
Tesco realfood, 2018. How to blind bake. [Online]
Available at: https://realfood.tesco.com/videos-and-tips/baking-blind.html
[Accessed 2 February 2018].
Apovian, C. M., 2004. Sugar-Sweetened Soft Drinks, Obesity, and Type 2 Diabetes. the Journal of the
American Medical Association, 292(8), p. 978.
Hochman, D., 2009. The New York Times; When the Icing on the Cake Spells Disaster. [Online]
Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/14/dining/14cake.html
[Accessed 2 February 2018].
Ryan, S. D. a. J., 2018. Sugar and sugar syrup. [Online]
Available at: https://www.diffordsguide.com/encyclopedia/486/cocktails/sugar-and-sugar-syrup
[Accessed 1 February 2018].
Stradley, L., 2017. What’s Cooking America ; Simple Syrup Recipe. [Online]
Available at: https://whatscookingamerica.net/Sauces_Condiments/SimpleSyrup.htm

Descriptive Questions
[Accessed 2 February 2018].
Sullivan, K., 2013. Step-by-Step Cake Decorating. s.l.: DK Publishing.
Tibbetts, F. B. a. J. F., 1991. The Well-Tooled Kitchen. William Morrow and Company. s.l.:s.n.
William Angliss Institute, 2013. Trainee Manual; Prepare and display sugar work. [Online]
Available at: http://www.waseantourism.com/ft/Toolbox%20Development%20II:
%2098%20toolboxes%20for%20Front%20Office,%20F&%20B%20Services%20and%20Food
%20Production/Submission%20to%20ASEC/2nd%20submission%20of%2024%20draft
%20TBs_210113/Prepare%20and%20display%20sugar%20wor
[Accessed 2 February 2018].
Wojtowicz, J. A., 1998. Factors affecting precipitation of calcium carbonate. Journal of the Swimming
Pool and Spa Industry, 3(1), p. 18–23.