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
- 1 – 2 tbsp food coloring use as much as you want to get the desired color
- 1 – 2 tsp flavored extracts
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
Nutrition
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.
I loved the cream of tartar suggestion. It worked very well. My only complaint is that it was just too much! I used the recipe to make serial killer cupcakes. The recipe made it very thick and most went to waste and cannot be used because it was so thick.
Hi there. You can always cut the recipe in half. Or use a larger pan so it spreads out thinner. Just like any recipe you can reduce it to not make as much. It was pretty clear in the pictures how much the recipe makes. 🙂
Hi Matt, can you cut this into shapes? I wanted to make panes of glass for a gingerbread house. Thanks!
It is very hard to cut it into a particular shape, you need to pour it into molds, instead. OR cook it right in your gingerbread walls with the window cutout. Kind of like what I show in this stained glass cookies recipe https://www.inthekitchenwithmatt.com/stained-glass-cookies if you want it to be easier, just use the crushed jolly ranchers as I use. Or you can certainly do the sugar glass way as well 🙂 Or you can make the sugar glass and then crush up the pieces like I do the jolly ranchers instead of trying to pour the hot sugar into a mold. You can also try pouring a little bit onto a silicone mat and once it cools to wear you can handle it, but it is still soft you can shape it quickly. But it hardens fairly fast so you need to work quickly. If it were me, I would go the stained glass cookies recipe route. 🙂
Can I smash the cooled glass to use in making stained glass cookies? Will it re-melt while baking the cookie and the harden again?
Hi Jan! Yes that should work just fine. Or you can use Jolly rancher candies like I show in this recipe: https://www.inthekitchenwithmatt.com/stained-glass-cookies
What is the cream of tartar for?
It helps stabilize the sugar glass but technically is not required.
Hi! What kind of food color works best with this recipe – liquid, gel or oil? Thank you!
I always use the liquid or gel kind. 🙂 You are welcome!! Have fun and let me know how it comes out. It is a blast to make haha.
Hi Matt,
I’m going to try this recipe next for a mr freeze/Batman themed cake I’m doing for my boyfriends birthday (last year was riddler themed). I’m trying to decide if I should flavor the sugar glass or not since it will be place on top of the cake to almost resemble ice. Do you have any suggestions ? I don’t want the flavor to be too much or clash with the cake itself. I’m planning on making a chocolate cake. Thank you so much!
Great question! It depends on the flavoring I guess, if you have a really tasty cake, I wouldn’t worry about it. 🙂 Fun idea!! Let me know how it goes!
Can you also use this recipe for making sugar glass bowls for top of a cake?
Hello! You can use it for those as well. 🙂 But there is some technique needed for those. Three basic ways are with a balloon, a piece of plastic wrap stretched over a pot, or using a half ball silicone mold, that you pour over the top. They each take practice. The easiest method is using the half ball silicone molds and you pour the sugar syrup over the back of it. And you need to let the sugar glass cool to a certain temp if you use it on the balloon or plastic wrap. Although a balloon filled with water helps, haha. But yes, this same recipe can be used for those.
Best sugar glass recipe!!
I’ve tried many recipes for sugar glass, and this it the only one that comes out like perfect glass. It also lasts long and does not melt.
So glad you tried it and liked it!! 🙂 🙂
Hi, could u tell me how much water to use or why is there a range instead of exact amount?
Hi Laura, it doesn’t really matter as long as you measure within that range. The water boils off anyways. There just needs to be enough to dissolve the sugar. 🙂 The more water you have the longer it will take. In the recipe, I put 1/2 cup to 1 cup (125 to 250ish ml). Either amount will work great.
Would this work in a mold for crystals?
Yes you can pour it in a mold, but you need to work quickly once you take it off the heat it cools and sets quickly. And be careful the sugar glass is extremely hot!
This is such an awesome anti fail recipe, thanks Matt your recipe made our halloween series super awesome!!!
Thank you so much so glad you tried it 🙂 🙂 You are welcome!
hey Matt! you think this would work with honey?
Hi there, you mean instead of the corn syrup? or made entirely with honey? I don’t think it will work entirely with honey, and that is a lot of honey. But I think you can get away with using honey instead of corn syrup. But I wouldn’t try this recipe as is, I would reduce it. Maybe do only 1 cup of sugar, 2 to 3 tablespoons of water, and maybe only 1/3 cup of honey. 🙂
If I took it off too soon can I put it in the oven
Hi Marie, no, don’t put it in the oven. If you took if off too soon, put it back in the pot and heat it up again. 🙂
Hi Matt
Do you know if glucose syrup can be used in place of corn syrup?
Yep that should work fine.
Very easy
Glad you like it!
Had dinner at a 3-star Michelin restaurant in London this week. Stunning dessert was topped with what looked like tinted glass – they wouldn’t give me their secret. Came home and found your recipe – now I’ve made blue 3-Michelin star sugar glass for myself and adorned a a ‘Frozen’-themed pavlova. Everyone stunned! Thank you, Matt!!! :))
Wow, Ysabel! Such a nice compliment. I am so happy to hear that. 🙂 🙂 You are so very welcome. 🙂
Hey I just made this and it worked perfectly! I’m planning on using it on a cake as decoration. I’m just curious as it’s the 25th of April and the party is in June, how long can I store it for? Not talking about melting wise and such, I mean will it go bad, mouldy, make you sick after a while, that kind of thing? Like can I store it in my fridge for months? Thank you 🙂
Hello, Madeline. Store the broken pieces or big pieces if you didn’t break them, in like a ziplock bag, but the pieces should be touching otherwise they will stick. They should last quite a while. They won’t go bad, it is just sugar/hard candy. 🙂 It can be stored the fridge and at room temp, provided your house isn’t super warm inside. 🙂
I used your recipe to pour over ice. I couldn’t get it to the hard crack so I thought, maybe my thermometer is off. So I poured it over the ice. It was sticky and started to melt. So my husband and I pulled all of it off the ice and stuck it back in the pan and did it again. Well I didn’t realize my candy thermometer had a slide where it would actually attach to the side. Duh. So my fault I wasn’t getting a good reading. 2nd time was able to get it to a hard crack and poured it over ice and it worked fabulous. I am wondering how to store it. I have my grandson’s birthday coming up on the 3rd and we are driving 4 hours with the cake. I figured it would be okay to since it is candy now. I did put peppermint in it but my husband couldn’t taste it.
Awesome, Toni glad you gave it a try and were able to troubleshoot it. Are you sticking it to the cake? It should be okay for 4 hours on the cake. If not, store it flat in large ziplock bags. I wouldn’t stack them, because they will probably stick to each other. 🙂 You can adjust, and add more of the extract next time, if that amount you used wasn’t strong enough. 🙂
Hi, I haven’t tried your recipe yet, but I was wondering if it would work to use glucose syrup instead of corn syrup. Cant wait to try this!
Hi Phoebe, we don’t have glucose syrup here in the States, or it isn’t common, since we have corn syrup, so it is hard to say. I haven’t tried it with glucose syrup, but that is very similar so I am guessing it will work just fine. Technically you can make it even without the corn syrup and just use sugar and water, but the resulting sugar glass won’t turn out as well. Good luck, let me know if you wind up trying it and how it turns out. 🙂
Hi Matt,
Thanks for the response! I tried the recipe with the glucose syrup and it worked out perfectly!
You are so very welcome, Phoebe!! Hurray, that is what I like to hear! 🙂 🙂 🙂
Hi Matt, can you tell me which food colouring you used and how much, I want the same shade as what you made.
I have made some and although I put plenty in, it’s a greenish colour.
Hi Lee! The brand I used was Wilton. https://amzn.to/3kb1iXx It is sold at my normal grocery store but can be found on Amazon as well. You may be able to find something similar where you live, especially if you have a cake/bakery decorating shop or something.
Thank you for this amazing step-by-step! Quick question: have you tried free-handing a design (rather than using a mold)? I’m needing to make a 3-dimensional tree…and thinking about ATTEMPTING to drizzle it freehand. Is this something you’ve tried? Thanks again! I can’t wait to try it!
Hi Maura! No, I have only ever used molds. I would allow it to cool until very thick and then try it though, otherwise, it may not keep its shape. Reminds me of making drip sand castles back in the day at the beach. Maybe keep it in the pot to cool, and then drizzle some down, onto parchment paper. Place it in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes to harden a bit. Then drizzle more, etc. That method may work. Good luck! let me know how it turns out.