Instructions

1. Pour the sugar into a bowl and color it with the food coloring until it takes on the desired tint. Don't use liquid food coloring, which will add too much moisture to the sugar and cause it to clump.

2. Begin adding the water. Add the water to the sugar about 1/2 tsp. at a time; depending on the moisture content of the sugar, it may not take the full 4 tsp. to get the sugar to the right consistency. The sugar needs to be just moist enough to pack, but not wet to the point of being a paste. The wetter the sugar is, the longer the decorations will take to dry in the molds.

3. Pack the moist sugar into the molds 1/4- to 1/2-inch thick---the molds probably won't be filled all the way to the top. The thicker the layer of sugar, the longer it will take the decorations to set.

4. Allow the molds to sit out for 10 to 12 hours. To test the decorations, press gently on the exposed bottom with the tip of your finger. If the sugar feels hard and doesn't give, the decorations are probably set. Invert the molds on a flat surface to release the decorations. The decorations should pop right out after they've dried.

5. Decorate the molded sugar decorations with icing. Fill piping bags with the icing and put a fine-pointed tip on the end of the bag. Allow the icing to dry until hard.