Candy Towers Built with a Molten-Sugar Hot-Glue Gun

 by ewilhelm
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While everyone else was making somewhat more traditional ginger bread houses, I used a molten-sugar hot-glue gun to make some impressively tall candy towers. The first tower was built from M&M's, and eventually the candy shell on the bottom piece fractured and dropped the whole tower. The second tower, built from strawberry and raspberry Pez, looked like something out of Dr. Seuss.

The trigger assembly on the cheap hot-glue guns was a little too small for the sugar glue sticks, so I ripped the assembly out and just fed the sugar with with my thumb.

If you have never used molten-sugar as a construction material, you really need to try. I honestly didn't expect to get much beyond 20 M&M's high, but as you can see I was approaching 3 feet.
porcupinemamma says: Aug 6, 2009. 10:02 AM
"The candy sticks were home-made"...yup-that doesn't surprise me. You are one amazing guy lol ;0) (neat ideas hope to try them out. Thanks)
cloot100 says: May 29, 2009. 10:42 PM
Wait how do they make the glue edible?
cloot100 says: May 29, 2009. 10:40 PM
I love candy!!!
cloot100 says: May 29, 2009. 10:40 PM
Hey aren't you gonna talk to me?
xtank5 says: Dec 20, 2007. 7:51 PM
How do you make those sugar sticks? If I knew then I could probably do this.
ewilhelm (author) in reply to xtank5Dec 21, 2007. 7:29 AM
Click on the molten-sugar link. There's an Instructable about how to do it!
xtank5 in reply to ewilhelmDec 21, 2007. 2:38 PM
Thanks. Somehow I managed not to noticed it...
zachninme says: Dec 20, 2007. 3:22 PM
What about just making things out of the "glue"? I dont know how fast it cools, but I bet it could work.
ewilhelm (author) in reply to zachninmeDec 20, 2007. 3:58 PM
It's most similar to molten wax, so I could clearly make drippy-looking stuff. A long while ago at the media lab, Saul and I used the laser cutter as a 3-d printer to make sugar objects. You just caramelize a 2-d pattern in sugar, add more sugar on top, and lower the bed.
zachninme in reply to ewilhelmDec 21, 2007. 11:15 AM
Sort of like EMS's Candyfab?
ewilhelm (author) in reply to ewilhelmDec 20, 2007. 3:59 PM
zjharva says: Dec 20, 2007. 1:58 PM
thats awesome. maybe use a diy cnc mach ine with that for a little bit of candyfab!
Patrik in reply to zjharvaDec 20, 2007. 2:43 PM
You could also rig a CNC machine with a fat syringe of Royal Icing, and do some 3D plotting with that.

The molten sugar might be a little too sticky/stringy, and with the icing you don't have to worry about high temperatures, burning sugar, or for that matter, anyone eating the result. ;-)
zjharva in reply to PatrikDec 21, 2007. 3:57 AM
yeah. i want to make a cnc with me and my dad so i could make it so its interchangable with a router and an icing extruder.
zjharva in reply to zjharvaDec 20, 2007. 1:58 PM
*machine
GorillazMiko says: Dec 20, 2007. 2:58 PM
thanks for posting great, delicious recipies!
Patrik says: Dec 20, 2007. 12:34 PM
Eric - stop goofing around!! And get back to the serious business of... um... building ginger bread houses! :-D Thanks for the reminder of the molten sugar glue gun. Were you able to find some candy sticks that fit into the glue gun? The ones you're using seem more candy-red than caramel colored.
ewilhelm (author) in reply to PatrikDec 20, 2007. 1:14 PM
The candy sticks were home-made, as described in the Instructable.
T3h_Muffinator says: Dec 20, 2007. 12:36 PM
Awesome! By the way, that molten-sugar hot-glue gun just helped me out a ton! Thanks!
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