Martha Stewart's Broken Whisk Hack For Whimsical Sugar Floss
Martha Stewart is forever showing us new and innovative tricks and tips to make cooking and baking easier and more enjoyable. Stewart seemingly knows everything, including how to create whimsical threads of spun sugar with a broken, or rather modified, whisk. That's right, the cookbook author is part Macgyver, part wizard with this genius kitchen utensil transformation.
If you are unfamiliar with spun sugar, it is best described as a thick, sugary syrup that hardens as it drips and forms gossamer-like threads. It has a consistency thicker than cotton candy which requires a machine to create those puffs of colorful cloud-like sugar. To fashion those delicate, caramel threads, you would generally use a sugar whisk specifically designed to dip into hot syrupy, sugar that is then drizzled to form thin angel hair-like strands and arranged into ethereal-looking creations that often adorn delicious desserts. But Stewart's homemade sugar whisk allows you to forgo buying a sugar whisk and instead involves using a pair of wire cutters to "snip" off the looped ends.
Martha Stewart's Harry Potter technique
In a throwback video from one of her holiday specials posted on Facebook, Martha Stewart demonstrates her wizard-like technique for Julia Child using this altered whisk as the two chefs cobble together the French dessert known as croquembouche. Stewart explains to Child that the secret to getting these perfect threads is using this new and improved whisk. It actually looks very similar to a scalp massager but with greater superpowers. Stewart reminds us of Hermione Granger as she shows Child how it works. The cookbook author dips the cut ends of her whisk into the caramelized sugar and flicks it over a wooden dryer rack, producing a "golden waterfall" of sugary threads. Stewart then gathers the tinsel-looking strands and envelops her dessert with them — her mesmerizing spell complete.
Spun sugar is quite beautiful to look at, but if you make it, take care not to burn any exposed skin as you fling the sticky, scorching hot melted sugar to create those threads. The process can also be messy, so cover your floors with newspaper or you may be spending a little more time scrubbing them than you care to. The wider and faster you wave your magic whisk, the more strands you will produce. Additionally, take stock of the humidity in your kitchen. Too much of this element can really wreak havoc on your spun sugar.