On a recent weekend helping a friend in his restaurant we decided to put caramel sugar cages over desserts. Seemed like a simple enough task, heat sugar with a little water to over 300F, pour it over a greased dome shape, take off, and we would have a cage of sugar surrounding the dessert. Unfortunately, as easy it sounds it didn't work as well as we hoped.

What are some reasons things may of went wrong?
1. Using an aluminum kitchen pot. Many candy making cookbooks suggest using a copper pot when caramelizing sugar due to its even heat distribution. Unfortunately, with copper pots there are also drawbacks, cost (cheapest one I found on a quick search was $350), copper leaking into food (many pots are now lines with stainless steel to prevent this), and safety in the kitchen since the pot can get so hot it may set oven mitts on fire if you pick it up.

2. Too hot or too cold. Temperatures for sugar cages should be between 320F-356F depending on how dark you want the cage to become. Around 320F the mixture is still clear, but quickly begins to brown as it gets warmer. To hot and the kitchen smells like burnt marshmallows and a burnt black bubble rises out of the pan. The stages mentioned on candy thermometers mention softball at 235F, hardball at 260F, soft crack at 275F, and hard crack at 300F. Non of these temperatures will be effective in trying to form sugar cages.

Sugar heated to a light amber color will be harder due to more sucrose in it to harden, while a darker caramel will cook out most of the sucrose creating a softer caramel.

3. The water from the tap. Slight impurities in the water can also cause caramelized sugar to fail. Instead of using Baltimore City tap water, try using distilled or purified water.

4. Doing to much at a time. If you are going to caramelize more then 2 lbs of sugar at one time add it in smaller batches. This way you are not trying to dissolve the sugar all at once.

5. Wet vs. dry method. The dry method of making caramel involves heating granulated sugar without water, while this method is quicker it requires the chef to constantly stir the sugar to prevent it from burning. With the wet method a 1/2 c of water is added for every pound of sugar. This method will take long but requires less active time for the chef to be stirring watching the pot.

6. Lower the heat when adding corn syrup, this will ensure that the mixture does not boil too much at the beginning stages, and add the corn syrup to sugar water that is boiling.

7. Not washing the pan down. As the mixture evaporates, sugar crystals will build up along the sides of the pan, use a clean, wet pastry brush to wash the sides of the pan.

8. Improper cooling. When the sugar reaches the desired color, cool it by putting the bottom of the pot in cold water to stop the cooking process, keep the pot in the water until the sugar has stopped bubbling.

Note: Hot sugar burns, and is likely to leave scars if you get it on you. Be careful trying this at home.