I promise you will have so much fun with this edible sugar glass recipe. It looks like glass, behaves like glass, but it is candy!
Have you ever seen a movie where a piece of glass was broken over someone’s head? Or maybe it was a beer bottle or another kind of bottle that was broken? Or maybe you saw a person put glass in their mouth and they started chewing it? Chances are it was edible sugar glass. Are you a fan of the TV show Breaking Bad? Blue sugar glass or rock candy was used in that! It is so fun to make and the recipe is easy. You can make all kinds of things with it, movie props, bottles, a variety of candy shapes, or make an edible stained glass window held together with royal icing. You get the idea. If I can do it, you can do it. Let’s get started!
Step 1: Gather the ingredients and tools
In order to make edible sugar glass, you just need a few everyday household ingredients. No fancy ingredients are needed. You will need the following:
- White granulated sugar -- Sugar is the main ingredient in sugar glass? Imagine that.
- Corn syrup -- Liquid Glucose or corn syrup is used to help keep the sugar from becoming crystals again. It will help to make it more stable.
- Water
- Cream of tartar -- this is an optional ingredient. But helps turn the sugar into fructose and glucose.
- Food coloring -- You will need food coloring to get your desired color or colors
- Flavored Extracts -- There are all kinds of flavored extracts that you can use.
Tools
- bowl
- pot or deep skillet
- wooden or silicone spoon
- sheet pan
- kitchen spray or a silicone mat
- candy thermometer (optional)
Step 2: How to make edible sugar glass
To begin, place water, sugar, corn syrup (liquid glucose), and cream of tartar in your pot or deep skillet. While the sugar doesn’t bubble up too high it is always a good idea to have something deep enough. A medium-sized pot works fine for this amount. But I generally just used my dutch oven or my stainless steel skillet.
Step 3: Prepping the pan
Next prepare the pan that you are going to put the hot liquid sugar “syrup” in once it is ready. I use a sheet pan lined with a silicone mat. Or I just spray the pan lightly with kitchen spray. While I do love my silicone mat it will have a texture to that side of it. You can also use something like shortening on your pan.
Step 4: Stirring and heating the sugar
Now place the pot on the stovetop. With the heat set to medium-low gently stir the mixture until it starts to boil. It is important to not heat it up too quickly because the sugar is liable to caramelize. Which if you are making a dark glass it won’t matter. The goal is to heat the sugar mixture to the “hard crack” stage which is around 290 to 300 F (145 to 150 C). If you are using a candy thermometer make sure it still registers the correct heat. My thermometer is old and is several degrees off so I generally just eyeball it.
Once the sugar starts to boil you can stop stirring and just let it sit for 10 to 15 more minutes. Right, when the mixture starts to turn slightly yellow it is ready to go. Another way to tell is to drop a spoonful of it into a bowl with ice-cold water. It will instantly harden up and you can check out easily it breaks.
Don’t be alarmed if it takes awhile. This whole process takes somewhere between 30 and 45 minutes. Here is an example of what it will look like if you let it boil too long or too quickly. It will be a nice amber color. But you can still definitely use it at this phase.
Step 5: Remove the boiling sugar
Once you get the boiling sugar to the proper temperature, remove it from the heat. Then add in your food coloring and any flavored extracts that you want to use. Stir them in really well. The sugar cools quickly and thickens up quickly so you need to work fairly fast.
But BE CAREFUL this sugar syrup is extremely hot and will burn you if you touch it. If you are a young person please make sure you have adult supervision when making this.
Step 6: Pour and wait
Next, pour the hot sugar onto your prepared pan. If you want to make a pane of glass that will break when someone punches it or to hit someone over the head with it, make sure to pour it thin. Spread it out if necessary. Make sure the pan is level as well. Then wait until it hardens up. It usually takes an hour or two.
An optional step would be to pour the hot sugar into silicone molds. I have made some sugar glass lego men which were awesome! If you are going to go that route I recommend making a smaller batch and using a smaller pot, it will just make it easier to get into the mold.
Step 7: Check out your awesome edible sugar glass
Once your edible sugar glass has cooled it is ready to play with. It looks like glass, it behaves like glass, breaks like glass, but it is definitely candy! Oh and more thing it is sharp like glass! So be careful. Use a mallet or something to crack that glass.
Step 8: Breaking Bad blue edible sugar glass and others
Any Breaking Bad fans? Instead of using the candy thermometer I took this batch off the stove right when it barely started to turn color. The blue food coloring worked perfectly. Doesn’t this look awesome?
Or if you don’t want to color it at all you can leave it as is and get a nice clear glass.
What if I burn my sugar can I still use it?
Yes! If you happen to walk away and come back and find that your sugar has gone beyond that hard crack phase and it looks burnt and smells burnt. You can still use it!
How do I store sugar glass?
Generally, it is best to use it within a few hours if it is in sheets. Because it can tend to warp as time goes on. I normally will just put the pieces in a ziplock bag and put them in my pantry. They can stick to each other though.
How does sugar glass taste?
Sugar glass tastes very similar to a jolly rancher if you have ever tried one of those, depending on the flavor used. It melts very easily in your mouth. Homemade lollipops anyone?
Edible Sugar Glass
Equipment
- Bowl
- Pot or deep skillet
- Wooden or Silicone spoon
- sheet pan
- kitchen spray or a silicone mat
- Candy Thermometer
Ingredients
- 2 cups white granulated sugar 450g
- 1 cup of corn syrup Karo syrup (300g)
- 1/2 to 1 cup water 125 to 250ml
- pinch of cream of tartar optional
Instructions
- Prepare a sheet pan with a silicone mat or spray it lightly with cooking spray.
- Add the water, sugar, corn syrup, and cream of tartar into your pot or skillet
- Add the pot to the stovetop. Set the heat to medium-low and heat up the mixture. Gently stir until the sugar mixture starts to boil. After it boils you can stop stirring.
- Allow the sugar syrup to reach 290 to 300 F (hard crack stage) (145 to 150 C). If you aren't using a candy thermometer right when it starts to turn yellow it is ready to go. You can also check it by dropping a spoonful into a bowl with ice-cold water. It will harder up instantly and then you can check out brittle it is. If it breaks easy it is ready to go.
- Pour the hot sugar syrup onto your prepared pan or use a spoon and spoon it into your silicone molds. You will need to work fairly quickly because it thickens and hardens up fairly quickly.
- Allow it to cool for an hour or two. Then you can smash it! Have fun! 🙂
- ***Be careful when preparing the recipe the sugar gets extremely hot and will burn you. If you are a young person please have adult supervision.
Video
Notes
Do you like the recipe? Please give it a rating and comment down below, I really appreciate it. If you make it tag me on Instagram @inthekitchenwithmatt. Also, sign up for the newsletter so you won’t miss out on any of my new posts and recipes.
Hey, I was wondering if you can melt the glass back down and cast it again and it still be the same?
Hi Austin! While I haven’t experimented with that myself, I don’t see why not. Other hard candies can be melted down and recasted, so it seems like this would work too.
Thanks, I’ll try it soon!
You are welcome! Let me know how it goes. 🙂
This was amazing!!! Followed your directions to the T. I am soooo excited over my Frozen Cake. Perfect Ice shards!! Wish I could post a picture in here to show you!!!❤❤❤
So awesome, Susan!! I am so happy you made it and liked it! 🙂 🙂 You can share the photos on my facebook page if you like https://www.facebook.com/inthekitchenwithmatt/ or tag me on Instagram @inthekitchenwithmatt
Hi Matt,
I was wondering if I can use sugar at this stage to “stretch” it it to a very thin bubble-like appearance. I’ve seen a recent video where a chef (Mathew Griffiths) puts some around the base of a cheesecake dessert and, with a small cake ring, he lifts the molten sugar very carefully straight up and creates a bubble around the dessert. Not sure if he is using isomalt for this. I would like to know how to re-create this. I appreciate any input you might have. Thanks!
Hello, Michael! Yes it is very possible that he is using isomalt. But I can’t seem to find the video you are talking about. Can you send me the link? But yes when you pour the molten sugar onto the tray to cool, there are all things you can do with it and designs. Just by dropping drips of it in cold ice water creates some interesting textures and designs. 🙂 I love sugar glass! lol
I’ve never left a review on a recipe before, but I made this today for a Frozen themed cake and it turned out amazingly. It looks and breaks like real glass. So cool and actually really easy to make once you get over the scariness of boiling sugar.
So awesome, Kat! I am so glad you tried it out for your Frozen cake. 🙂 Yeah the boiling sugar can be a little scary at first. 🙂
Very easy to make and it tastes amazing thanks for this epic recipe!
You are so very welcome, Gunnar!! 🙂 🙂
Our sugar glas is still sticky. We didn’t have a thermometer but we let is boil and did our best to discern when to take it off the stove. We put it in the freezer overnight after 2 hours of sitting out. It kind of hardened but was still sticky. After all night in the freezer its hard from being frozen but still sticky. There is no way its going to crack. I just want to know what we did wrong so it doesn’t happen next time.
Hi Susie! It sounds like you didn’t let it boil long enough. It really needs to get as close to that hard crack phase as possible 290 – 300F. (145 to 150C) Otherwise it won’t crack when it hardens. If you don’t have a thermometer you can try the cold water trick. Take some really cold water in a blow. Take a carefully take a spoonful of the boiling sugar and drop it into the bowl. IT should harden up and be like glass when it is ready. 🙂
Worked perfectly!! Was able to make this for a Stargate Cake! Thank you! From one Pastry Chef 👩🏽🍳
So awesome, Patsy!! Glad you made it and liked it! Stargate cake?? So cool! Do you have a picture of it?
Thank you!! This was such a straight forward recipe and extremely helpful. My sugar glass turned out great and my sister loved it on her cake! The cold water test definitely helped as well as my thermometer can be a little iffy sometimes.
You are so very welcome!! Yeah, I love the cold water test, my thermometer can be iffy too, causing it to get to dark for my liking if I am not careful. haha. 🙂
I would reccomend fixing you’re ingredient list. If you only use a half a cup if water in your recipe in the video, why on earth would you say in the ingredients 1/2 C to 1 C? I used the full cup because I had not watched the video and my glass candy never hardened completely. It’s a taffy consistency and obviously not what I was hoping for.
Hello Trish! Sorry, that happened and for the confusion. It doesn’t really matter how much water you use, if you browse other recipes you will find them ranging from 1/2 cup to 1 cup of water for that same amount of sugar. If you use the 1 cup you just need to heat it longer for the water to evaporate. It sounds like you didn’t boil it to the right temperature. If the glass never hardened it never reached close to the hard crack stage. It doesn’t have to do with the recipe. Were you using a thermometer? Did the candy reach 290 to 300 F? And did you use corn syrup as well? Make any other substitutions?
Can I replace the corn syrup with regular syrup like brown rice syrup??
Hi Jess, I am not sure I have not tried it, so I don’t know the outcome. 🙂
Insert the candy thermometer and bring to a boil. Stir constantly until the thermometer reaches 300 degrees.
You can’t always go by the thermometer. If you want a nice clear glass that isn’t too colored, usually you can’t go that high. It is pretty finicky and can turn yellow/amber or even brown pretty easily.
I was wondering how long the glass would last on a cake?
As long as it isn’t touching other glass, like spread out on the cake it will do fine! It might warp a little bit at room temp but not bad. 🙂 🙂
You could definitely see your enthusiasm in the work you write. The world hopes for more passionate writers such as you who aren’t afraid to say how they believe. All the time go after your heart.
Thanks!
That looks quite interesting, I’ve only eaten them paired with something and not as only the sugar glass itself. Would love to try this one out.
Thank you! 🙂
I want my own Edible Sugar Glass! I want to play with colors so maybe I’ll do different versions. I hope to make it this weekend.
Awesome! Emman, let me know if you wind up making it and how it turned out. 🙂
i love this. i will have to show my kiddos as they will want to make with me. thanks for sharing.
That is awesome, Katrina! 🙂 You are welcome!
I like the concept of edible glass. I can see myself making a mock stain glass motif from these!
Thanks! Yeah, you could totally do that! 😉
wow, this looks so realistic!
Thank you, Emily!
so clever. it really does look like broken glass. i wonder how you use it to decorate. or is it just for eating?
joy at http://www.thejoyousliving.com
Yes, you can use it for decorating! Some people will stick it in cupcakes for Halloween with red syrup coming out of the top to represent the blood, haha. But you can use it for all kinds of designs. Stain glass windows in a gingerbread house!
My kids would love this sugar glass! Yummy and creative! Thanks for the inspiration!
You are welcome!
I’ve seen this on those baking shows, and I always wanted to learn how to make edible sugar glass. This should be fun to remake with my husband’s nieces.
Yeah, it would be totally fun to make with them!
Very interesting recipe I had no idea of. I am going to try it out this weekend. Quite excited really.
Thank you!
This is amazing! What a cool, fun and a great snack to make with the kids. So looking forward to making my version!
Thank you!
Sugar glass is so fun to decorate with. I use it during halloween for daggers and in the winter for ice shards. So pretty.
That is awesome! Agreed!
This is such a fun effect! I can see a few pranks using this! haha!
Thank you, Carrie! 🙂
Aaaayyyyiiiiiiii….the things one finds on the Internet! Now, we have this glass. It’s a totally new one to me. I would love to make one for my people.
lol thanks man!
Ooh. I am going to do some amazingly horrible things next Halloween. LOL I love it!
hahaha, nice! 🙂
This looks great to do with the kids or for a fun snacks at a Christmas dinner.
Thank you, Jessica!
How fun and cool is this? I look at this from a delicious standpoint, but also from a scientific standpoint as well. The kids will like this!
Thank you, Brianne! 🙂 Yeah I bet the kids will love it!
Unfortunately, I can only give this 5 stars. I’d love to give it more, as it’s such a cool and fun snack to make with the kids. I can’t wait to make this with them!
Thank you so much, Bill! 🙂 🙂
This is so cool and super fun to make.
Thank you, Becky! 🙂
My kids and I had a blast making this! They seriously thought it was the coolest.
Thank you, Jen! Glad you had a fun time making it!
This is so pretty! Love it!
Thank you, Rachael! 🙂