For the longest time, we have been eyeing candy thermometers. I don't know what took us so long before deciding to do so~ they're great for a multitude of things but best of all, you don't have to second guess the temperature of whatever it is you're doing.
Two recent cakes were made out of boiled icing and to make that icing, you'd need to boil sugar and water up to a certain degree 260degrees to be exact-- and since we didn't have this nifty gadget yet, we were eyeballing the temperature of the mixture.
Based on a chef (from cravings), you can test sugar temperature by using your fingers and some cold cold water.
Here is something I found on the internet:
Tests for Sugar Temperature
To water test, fill a small bowl with cold water, remove ½ teaspoon of sugar mixture from the saucepan and drop into water.
Leave for one minute, then test using thumb and forefinger.
Thread 110 - 114°C (230 - 238°F)
The sugar mixture will form a fine thread if pressed together then pulled apart.
Soft Ball 114 - 118°C (238 - 245°F)
The sugar mixture will form a soft ball which can be squashed flat.
Hard Ball 118 - 138°C (245 - 280°F)
The sugar mixture will form a ball which will hold its shape when pressed.
Small Crack 138 - 152°C (280 - 305°F)
The sugar mixture will separate into threads that will snap cleanly.
Hard Crack 152 - 163°C (305 - 325°F)
The sugar mixture will separate into threads which are brittle and hard.
Caramel 174°C (345°F)
The sugar mixture becomes golden in colour.
The problem with this is that it's not accurate. By the time you figured out which stage it is, it might already be too late. Hence, our two not quite perfect attempts on boiled icing. We dont have pictures to show though but trust me, it wasn't pretty!
Our third attempt though was perfect! It was the right consistency, it was easy to spread and was easy to decorate with. Now we just have to figure out how to make it smooth! Any tips?
