DIY Sugar Shapes

Just in time for National Hot Tea Month, sugar shapes! These fun little guys are a cinch to make and are great fun for a party or as a special treat for yourself.

Here’s a few extra tips to get you started:

• If you want to add coloring to your sugar shapes, add a few drops of food color in your teaspoon, then fill the rest of the spoon with plain water and mix with the sugar.
• When selecting a mold, be sure to select one that will make shapes that aren’t too large so you don’t end up with shapes that are three tablespoons of sugar each! Also be careful to select a mold that isn’t too shallow or your shapes may break easily.
• It is a small amount of liquid and doesn’t seem like enough to wet all of the sugar but just keep working at it and it will all come together. In the end you’ll have a relatively dry mixture that presses into the mold really well.
• After pressing the sugar into the mold, use the back of a knife to flatten the shapes.
• The consistency of the mixture is the right combination of dry and wet that you only need to leave the sugar in the mold for a few minutes. If you have really shallow molds (not recommended but it certainly can’t hurt to try) I’d leave them in there for about 10-15 minutes before removing from the mold.
• To get the shapes out, place a flat, rigid surface (like a small cookie sheet or I used a book with foil wrapped around it) on the top of the mold and flip the whole thing over. That way you’re not try to do the quick-flip-slam onto a counter top.

Have a good time making these and stop by for more tea bits all month long!

P.S. This is also a great way to make snow for a gingerbread house!