Sugar Cubes Recipes

HOMEMADE ESPRESSO SUGAR CUBES

Steps:

• Stir sugar, espresso, water, and espresso powder together in a bowl with a fork until all the liquid is incorporated and the mixture has the consistency of wet sand. Pour mixture onto a baking sheet.
• Press sugar mixture by hand into a firmly-packed rectangle. Straighten the sides of the rectangle with a dough cutter or metal spatula. Cut mixture into small cubes and spread cubes slightly apart on the baking sheet. Dry cubes at room temperature until set, about 24 hours.

SUGAR CUBES

Steps:

• It's really easy, just mix the sugar, water, and coloring!
• Make sure the sugar is not sopping wet so that it's dissolving, just wet enough to hold its shape.
• Use any mold you like (I use the teaspoon). Press the sugar into the mold, turn it over, and tap it out.
• Let the cubes (or in my case, domes) dry on pretty much any surface until hard (about 30 minutes to an hour, depending on humidity).
• Voila! Your own unique sugar cubes that cost you practically nothing!

SUGAR CUBE HOUSE (TABLESCAPE CENTERPIECE)

Steps:

• Draw a 7 by 7-inch square in the center of 1 piece of the foam core board as a guide for the foundation of the house. Start gluing the sugar cubes around the outline with either the hot glue or royal icing. Make sure to leave a space for the door and once you get to the third level of cubes, leave space for 2 windows on each side. Once the sides are 5 to 6 inches high, arrange the sugar cubes in a pyramid pattern on 2 ends of the house to form the pitched support walls for the roof.
• Cut the second piece of foam core to form a 10 by 10-inch square and score it down the middle. Bend it in half to form a peaked roof and glue it to the top of the house. Decorate the roof with the marshmallows or round white candies.
• Fill the pastry bag or resealable bag with some of the frosting and use it to fill in any gaps in the house or on or around the roof.
• Use any remaining sugar cubes, round white candies, white chewy candies, or marshmallows to adorn the house or make decorations (trees, bushes, fences, or snowmen) around the house on the foam core board. Use extra icing to create snowdrifts around the house. Place the battery operated votive light inside the house to illuminate it.

VANILLA BEAN SUGAR CUBES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F.
• Cut the 4 vanilla beans into 1/2-inch pieces and grind to a coarse powder in a coffee grinder.
• In a large bowl, mix the sugar, vanilla bean powder and extract until thoroughly combined (when the extract is completely incorporated the mixture will look a bit like dough). Pour the sugar mixture into an 8 by 8-inch pan and spread out evenly to a 1/2-inch thickness. Next, use a knife to score out 1/2-inch by 1/2-inch cubes by running the knife the length of the pan every 1/2-inch and the width of the pan every 1/2-inch. Bake for 1 1/2 hours. Remove the pan from oven and let cool. Once cooled, carefully flip the pan over onto a large cookie sheet to remove the sugar. Allow to cool completely, and then gently break into cubes along the scored lines.
• To "round" the edges of the cubes gently pour them into a big pot with a cover and lightly shake. Check and repeat if necessary. Pour the cubes from the pot into a small holed colander or sifter and sift off any sugar particles that can be reserved as granulated vanilla bean sugar!

CANDY CANE SUGAR CUBES

Steps:

• Arrange cubes in a single layer in a 15x10x1-in. baking pan. Push cubes to one side; pack into pan with rolled-up foil to stabilize cubes for decorating., In a small bowl, combine the confectioners' sugar, water, meringue powder and cream of tartar; beat on low speed just until combined. Beat on high for 4-5 minutes or until stiff peaks form. Keep unused icing covered at all times with a damp cloth., For decorating, remove 2/3 cup icing to a small bowl; add 2 teaspoons water. Add a very small amount of yellow food coloring to tint icing pale ivory so it will show on white cubes. (Leave icing white if using brown cubes.) , Cut a very small hole in the corner of a resealable plastic bag or insert tip #2 into a pastry bag. Fill bag with icing; pipe each sugar cube with a candy cane shape., Let dry at room temperature for at least 2 hours or overnight before painting stripes on canes. (For faster drying, heat oven to 150°, turn oven off and place tray of cubes in oven for 1 hour.), For stripes, add 1/8 teaspoon water to 1 teaspoon icing. Add enough red food coloring to make a dark red. With paintbrush, add stripes to canes. Let stand until dry.

ELEGANT SUGAR CUBES FOR TEA-TIME

Steps:

• Mix the confectioners sugar and water.
• Add 1 or 2 drops of food coloring to tint the frosting the color you desire. You can use red for roses, blue for forget-me-nots, green for leaves - or whatever colors or designs you want!).
• Scoop some of the icing into a decorating bag, fitted with the tip of your choice.
• Make tiny flowers and leaves on your sugar cubes, or create your own designs.