For a decorative marbled effect, add several drops of food colouring to the unset sugar syrup with a dropper. Using the tip of a knife or the handle of a small spoon, swirl the colouring into the sugar syrup to form the pattern.
Heating Sugar
Sugar reacts very specifically to temperature, so you must be precise when heating sugar to ensure that your end product works as you want it to.
Poured sugar is heated to 165°C, beyond the hard-crack stage hut before the stage for caramel, a difference of only a few seconds on a high heat.
At this precise temperature the structure of the sugar becomes very hard, but will soften again as it reaches caramel temperatures. This means that, although poured sugar has a beautifully smooth and shiny finish, a shape as large as the disc shown will be too hard and dense to be eaten and is for decoration only.
Caramel can be drizzled into some stunning shapes that bring emphasis to the presentation of your dessert.
