On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 1300

out into countless shapes. “Sugar work,” as
such preparations are called, goes back at
least 500 years. A “nest of silken threads,”
probablysimilartoourspunsugar,wasmade
from malt syrup for the Chinese Imperial
household before 1600; and in 17th-century
Italy, various banquet decorations, including
dishes,weremadefromsugar.InJapan,there
is a traditional street entertainment called
“sweet candy craft,”amezaiku, in which the
performerssculptflowers,animals,andother
shapeswhilepeoplewatch.
Thebasicmaterialforsugarworkis
moltensucrosemixedwithalargeportionof
glucoseandfructosetohelpprevent
crystallization.Theglucoseandfructosemay
beaddedintheformofcornsyrup,orthepure
sugars,ortheymaybeformedfromthe
sucroseitselfduringthecookingofthesyrup
withaddedacid(creamoftartar).Thesugar
mixtureisheateduntilitreaches315–
330ºF/157–166ºC,atwhichpointthereis


practicallynowaterleft.Anyresidualwater
cancausecrystallizationandmilkinessby
makingiteasierforthesucrosemoleculesto
movearoundandnesttogether.Atsomewhat
highertemperatures,thesugarbeginsto
caramelizeandturnyellow-brown,whichis
undesirableformuchsugarworkbut

encouragedforspunsugarandsugarcages,
whicharemadebydrizzlingthehotsyrupin
threadsoverasolidformorawoodenrack,
wheretheyhardenalmostinstantly.Formore
elaboratesugarwork,theentiresugarmassis
cooledtoaround130–120ºF/55–50ºC,arange
inwhichithasapliable,doughyconsistency.
Nowitcanbehandledandformed,blownlike
glassintohollowspheresandothershapes,
andkeptworkablewithaheatlamp.Though
pastrychefswithseasonedfingertipscan
sculptsugarbarehanded,manyusethinlatex
glovesinordertoavoidtransferringmoisture
andskinoilsfromtheirfingers.
Oneofthemorestrikingformsofsugar