Sugar Glass

Sugar glass is, at its most basic, a molded lollipop. It is candy which has been molded to look like glass. It has been used in films, and theater for a very long time (in other words, I don't know exactly, but it's been a while). It is hard candy, but to get the right physical properties requires a little chemistry.

These days, fake break-away glass is now typically made from a clear resin, but for low-budget or home fun, you can make your own with just a few simple things.

Step 1 What you need

Ingredients
- 1 C Water
- 1.75 C Sugar
- .5 C Corn Syrup - the clearer the better
- .25 t Cream of Tartar

Tools
- Sauce Pot
- Spoon or spatula (I recommend high temp silicone)
- Stove
- Candy or Deep Fry thermometer (needs to go up to 300 degrees accurately)
- Corn Starch

Comments

[porcupinemamma]

Fantastic! Most excellent etc etc!! Your Instructable is amazing. Thanks for sharing.

[guy90]

How strong is the sugar glass? I've been thinking of loading my future bottle with a red liquid- for a gore bottle smashing effect!- just hope its strong enough to hold fluids

[ERNesbitt]

It will hold a liquid, but you have to keep in mind that adding liquid just adds weight to the final smash. Depending on the size of the bottle, it weighs 8 oz. already. Adding half a cup of water brings it up to a full pound. The heavier it is, the more it hurts.

[ariasullivan]

It seems to me that if the bottle is made out of sugar, then the liquid would gradually dissolve the bottle, just like a piece of hard candy in water. Granted, it may take a while, so it would depend on how long you want to keep the liquid in the bottle. If it's going to be in the bottle for an extended period of time, maybe try some kind of plastic coating on the inside of the bottle.

[guy90]

ok, thank you

[ritchie56]

is it possiblt to vacuum out the air bubbles prior to pouring into the mold to get more realistic looking glass?

[NaturalCrafter]

Very cool project. Thanks for sharing.

[Biggsy]

Do you reckon that abit of green food colouring would make it look like a real glass bottle?
hrrrrrm time to experiment!

[Turnip123]

Sugar? This is what I get when I instructable search for hard crack??!! BLAST!

[CoolKoon]

Why don't you search for it on erowid.org instead? :P

[Lance Mt.]

 HA HA dangly parts.

[mossDboss]

LOL , wheres the baby grand


nice instructable.

[arts.gotta.gun]

 jerk

[furegistration]

 Do you think this diamond ice mold would work?
www.surlatable.com/product/diamond+ice+mold.do

[SallyForth]

For the curious, here's another kind of a bottle mold:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/jacques-torres/gelatin-molded-champagne-bottle-recipe/index.html

It's by Jacques Torres.

[Clayton H.]

will the gelatin whitstand the heat of the liquid sugar?

[ERNesbitt]

No, gelatin melts at a relatively low temperature, but higher than the melting point of chocolate.  The molten sugar is around 300 degrees F.

[Griffle]

Where do you get food grade sillicon? I'v heard of sillicon for casting peuter which is for hight heat, but not for food. Please let me know.
=)

[ERNesbitt]

I used http://www.smooth-on.com

The Smooth-Sil 940 is food grade, and will handle temperatures up to 450 degrees Farenheit.

[ERCCRE123]

Did you use a 2 part mold? and if you use a 1 part mold is the sugar glass strong enough to withstand being pulled out?

[ERNesbitt]

It is a one-part mold. I had to be very careful when pulling the bottle out, but it was stable enough. I have some difficulty doing the same thing in chocolate.

[{tauney}]

Chef's trick--use a wet brush around the sides of the pot to keep sugar crystals from forming. Basically--melt the darned things before they have a chance to grow. A little more work, but it's worth it to keep from having to re-do the whole damned thing!

[ANTQNUT]

uhh what do you do if you just want to make a flat lolly pop? and do you think if yo added food coloring to the mix that it would still work, but change the color??? this is a really cool instructable!!

[jayeng123]

for the mold am I able to have a mold made of cast ?

[king_zilla]

is your cast wine bottle hollow? or is it solid?

[ERNesbitt]

It is hollow. I used a rotational molding technique. However, I have used the same recipe for solid castings. Your application determines the mold type.

[shortone]

I also want to know!!!!

[Izokay]

what exactly does the cream of tartar do? i homemade candy with everything here but cream of tartar and i've made sugar glass with no tartar before.

[ERNesbitt]

Check Step 3

[inquisitive]

Cool! I can see why it has a "therapeutic" quality in breaking over someone's head-I can think of at least 5 people I would love to crack in the skull...with sugar, I guess...if I have to...hehehe

[ppprfldr]

were can u get food grade silicone to make the mold?

[ERNesbitt]

I used http://www.smooth-on.com

The Smooth-Sil 940 is food grade, and will handle temperatures up to 450 degrees Farenheit.

[Papagiorgio]

Great instructable, but like solmstea I dont know how to make a hollow mold, and couldnt find it in your mold making instructable... can anyone explain this to me?

[ERNesbitt]

Making a hollow mold is the same as making any other mold. The difference is that once you pour the material to be cast into the mold, you need to spin the mold to coat the inside. That's the only difference between a solid mold and a hollow mold. (There's also blow-molding, but you won't be using silicone for that.) Look up "rotational molding".

[milo0is0hot0]

thats sooo cool i am going to make this but try to colour the mixture so that it looks more like a brown beer bottle....great instructable!

[ERNesbitt]

Thank you to everyone who voted for my 'ible. It looks like I am the highest vote-getter right now. We'll see how the judging turns out. There's some great 'ibles in the contest... tough competition. Great job, everyone!

[Plasmana]

Wow, that is really cool!

[=SMART=]

That candy slab looks tasty !!!

[Lego man]

Erik Beck from Indy Mogul said it tastes horrible.

[=SMART=]

awwww, you could put vanilla extract in it and coat it in sugar !