Sugar glass (also called candy glass, edible glass, and breakaway glass) is a brittle transparent form of
sugar that looks like
glass.[1] It can be formed into a sheet that looks like
flat glass or an object, such as a bottle or drinking glass.
Description
Sugar glass is made by dissolving sugar in water and heating it to at least the "
hard crack" stage (approx. 150 °C / 300 °F) in the
candy making process.
Glucose or
corn syrup is used to prevent the sugar from recrystallizing and becoming opaque, by disrupting the orderly arrangement of the molecules.
Cream of tartar is also used for this purpose, converting the sugar into
glucose and
fructose.[2]
Because sugar glass is
hygroscopic, it must be used soon after preparation, or it will soften and lose its brittle quality.
^César Vega; Erik Van Der Linden (30 December 2011).
"Sweet Physics". The Kitchen As Laboratory: Reflections on the Science of Food and Cooking. Columbia University Press. p. 186.
ISBN978-0-231-15344-7. Retrieved 1 November 2012.