Equipment

• Making sugar bubbles requires a couple of key candy-making instruments. A hollow blowing stick attached to a hand-held pump helps inflate the bubbles. A silicone mat can help make work with the molten sugar easier. Many confectioners use a heat lamp, which helps keep the sugar soft while it is being molded. Other common instruments include a candy thermometer, pair of latex gloves, spirit burner and a hair dryer.

Isomalt

• Instead of traditional sugars, isomalt is often the sugar of choice for sculpting bubbles. Granulated and superfine sugars have impurities that can turn the bubbles yellow, whereas isomalt is an odorless, white crystallized substance made from glucose and mannitol. To create the syrup needed to make the bubbles, combine isomalt and distilled water at a ratio of 4 to 1. Heat the syrup in a small sauce pan until the sugar thermometer reads 340 degrees F.

Coloring Agents

• The color and saturation of the candy can range from light and transparent to deep and opaque. The food coloring used for sugar bubbles differs from the regular variety. An oil-based candy dye can be incorporate into the molted sugar without separating the ingredients or thickening the syrup. Candy food coloring is often introduced once the syrup has been removed from the heat. Add a couple of drops, combining the color into the syrup.

Formation

• Pour the molten sugar on to the silicone mat so that it can cool. After the syrup starts to solidify, divide it into small orbs, about 1/2 inch thick. Cup the ball around the blow stick and pump air into it with the hand-held pump. Pull the bubble gently with latex gloved hands to help it expand. Once it is at the desired size, cool the bubble with a hair dryer, on a cool setting. To remove the bubble from the pump apparatus, place the blow stick over a candle and cut it with a pair of scissors, when the sugar is soft. This process is repeated until there are enough bubbles for the cake decoration.