If you’re the sort of person who enjoys getting creative in the kitchen, you’ll want to try these beautiful sugar tricks ASAP.
First thing’s first, you’ll need to make the caramel syrup base.
This is the “sugar” to the 5 tricks we’re about to introduce, so it’s a pretty essential ingredient!
It’s simple enough to make – you just need a few basic ingredients that you probably already have in your kitchen.
Caramel Syrup Base Recipe:
- 1¼ cups sugar
- ⅓ cup water
- 1 tbsp honey
Tip the sugar and water into a heavy-bottomed saucepan on a medium heat. Bring to a boil, then stir in the honey and cook on this heat until the syrup turns light brown in color.
Take the pot off the heat, then let the caramel syrup cool until no more bubbles are visible. And that’s it – time to move onto the 5 sugar tricks!
1. Sugar Nest
This recipe is the star of the show, and it’s the simplest, too! You’ll just need:
- New wide-tooth comb
Dip the comb into the caramel sauce and zigzag it across a clean surface. You can be pretty messy, here – you’re aiming for a nest, after all.
Wait for the sauce to cool and harden, then scrunch it up into one long rectangular line. Wrap the rectangle in on itself to form a circle shape (see video for guidance).
Finish by sprinkling cake crumbs onto a plate and three scoops of vanilla ice cream on top. Place the nest around the ice cream and top with a little more caramel sauce. Looks just like an edible birds’ nest with eggs!
2. Hazelnut Spikes
For this one, you’ll need:
- Roasted hazelnuts
- Toothpicks
Place the hazelnuts in a cloth and bring the sides together to enclose them. Then rub the cloth to remove their shells.
Poke toothpicks through the hazelnuts, then dip each one in the caramel sauce, leaving them upside down until the sugar mixture hardens and forms a golden icicle (this will take seconds). Remove the toothpick and use your hazelnuts to decorate sweet recipes.
3. Golden Clam
For this recipe, you’ll need:
- Ladle
- Vegetable oil
- Spoon
Pour a little vegetable oil onto a ladle and use a cloth to rub it across the whole surface. Then take a spoonful of caramel syrup and zigzag it back and forth over the underside of the ladle.
You’ll be left with fancy caramel nests that you can serve with ice cream in the middle and a caramel nest on top and below, like a golden clam.
4. Caramel Butterfly
For this one, you’ll need:
- Spoon
- Parchment paper
- Caramel candy
Place parchment paper on a baking tray Then take a spoonful of caramel syrup and loop it around in oval shapes, returning to the bottom after every loop (see video for guidance).
Next, take a caramel candy and press it into a long, rectangular shape. Place this on the parchment paper, then poke your dried caramel oval shapes into each side of the caramel candy to make a butterfly. Use to decorate cakes.
5. Sweet Spiral
This recipe requires:
- Rolling pin
- Spoon
Grab your rolling pin and scoop up a spoonful of caramel syrup. Drizzle the syrup evenly onto the rolling pin, turning it slowly as you go.Once your spoon has run out of caramel mixture, leave the syrup to cool, then carefully remove it from the rolling pin (it should look a bit like a spring). Place it on top of a rectangular brownie and add some fruit and chocolate sprinkles to serve.
There we have it: 5 professional-looking caramel sauce creations that take just seconds to make! You can watch the full video, showcasing each recipe, just below.
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