Today we're making Sugar Quills ! First mentioned in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, this popular treat is very appreciated by little wizards because it allow them to secretly enjoy a sweet candy in class, while they pretend to think about what to write next.
For this recipe, we are simply going to make lollipops, and if you wish to give them the shape of a quill, you'll need to invest in a mold. We found ours on Etsy (we'll give the links below) and to be fair, we took one that was way too small for what we wanted to do. Regardless, we still made them, they're simply mini-treats rather than large realistic quill.
Here is the link to the mold we used in this recipe : our mold, but you may want to consider this one and this one too. We simply did not came across them before we ordered our first one :(
Unless you order several molds, you will have to do the quills one by one. The ingredients below allowed us to make approximately 8 of our little quills, but we divided the measures by 4 to do it in 4 times. Let us explain : with sugar work, temperature is key, if you don't heat it up enough, you'll end up with some stretchy caramel, too much, and the sugar will crystallize and be unusable. If you do them all at once, your sugar mix will begin to set while waiting for each quill to harden. Which means that you'll have to re-heat the sugar and risk crystallization of the whole thing. We noticed that, with the sugar mix, it was only possible to do 2 quills before the sugar mix begins to crystallize. So we advise you guys to divide the measures by 4, for 2 quills per batch. This method also allows you to get creative with flavouring and colouring by changing it each time.
In this recipe we use powdered glucose, which helps to prevent the crystallization of the sugar syrup ( it still does when overheated but allows us to make 2 quills at a time ). It's not the easiest thing to find in store, so if you're in Ireland, we found ours in Dunnes Stores.
This is a very generic recipe for lollipops and any other hard candies, so if you don't have a feather mold, don't worry, you can use any mold safe for sugar work you have at home!
Disclaimer:
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 10 minutes |
 15-20 minutes + until set |
 8 lollipops approximately |
Ingredients
450 grams of white granulated sugar
16 grams of powdered glucose
150 milliliters of water
4 drops of food colouring of your choice (optional)
4 drops of flavouring of your choice (optional)
- Why not try : peppermint oil, strawberry syrup, lemon oil, ect...-
20 grams of cornflour or cornstarch
Kitchenware :
Candy thermometer (recommended)
Quill/Feather mold (we used this one)
Before you start
>> Read the post above about dividing your ingredients to do 4 batches - or if you have 8 molds, do it all at once.
Making the Sugar Quills
>> In a saucepan, pour in your sugar, powdered glucose and water.
>> Over a low heat, stir until fully dissolved.
>> Add the food colouring and flavouring of your choice and mix well.
>> Cover your saucepan and heat over a high heat for 5 minutes.
>> Take off the lid, and boil until it reach 130ºC, the hard ball stage. If you have a candy thermometer handy, now is the time to use it.
If you don't have a candy thermometer, here is how you can guess the temperature :
>> Fill up a bowl with very cold water.
>> Once your syrup reaches boiling point, let it boil for 5 minutes.
>> With a spoon, grab a small bit of your syrup and drop it into the cold water. If you've reached the right temperature it should : solidify instantly and form a ribbon in the water. If you take it with your finger and try to break it, it should crack clean and instantly.
If : it doesn't solidify and feels like liquid caramel - It's not there yet.
If : it does solidify but bend and stretch before cracking - It's not quite there yet, but you're close.
>> Once happy with your syrup, and the right temperature reached, pour it in your mold, making sure to avoid bubbles (use your spoon to pop them). Place the mold in the fridge for approx. 5 mins or until it's solid. Cover the remaining syrup and remove from the heat.
>> When the lollies have set, pop them out of the molds carefully.
>> If you're doing 2 lollies per batch, start re-heating after you've taken the first lollipop out of the mold : try not to mix your syrup (which would have hardened a bit) because this will make it crystallize faster.
>> Repeat all the steps above to do the rest of your quills.
>> Once all your quills are ready, dust them with a bit of cornflour or cornstarch to avoid them from sticking too much.
Making the Sugar Quills
>> In a saucepan, pour in your sugar, powdered glucose and water.
>> Over a low heat, stir until fully dissolved.
>> Add the food colouring and flavouring of your choice and mix well.
>> Cover your saucepan and heat over a high heat for 5 minutes.
>> Take off the lid, and boil until it reach 130ºC, the hard ball stage. If you have a candy thermometer handy, now is the time to use it.
If you don't have a candy thermometer, here is how you can guess the temperature :
>> Fill up a bowl with very cold water.
>> Once your syrup reaches boiling point, let it boil for 5 minutes.
>> With a spoon, grab a small bit of your syrup and drop it into the cold water. If you've reached the right temperature it should : solidify instantly and form a ribbon in the water. If you take it with your finger and try to break it, it should crack clean and instantly.
If : it doesn't solidify and feels like liquid caramel - It's not there yet.
If : it does solidify but bend and stretch before cracking - It's not quite there yet, but you're close.
>> Once happy with your syrup, and the right temperature reached, pour it in your mold, making sure to avoid bubbles (use your spoon to pop them). Place the mold in the fridge for approx. 5 mins or until it's solid. Cover the remaining syrup and remove from the heat.
>> When the lollies have set, pop them out of the molds carefully.
>> If you're doing 2 lollies per batch, start re-heating after you've taken the first lollipop out of the mold : try not to mix your syrup (which would have hardened a bit) because this will make it crystallize faster.
>> Repeat all the steps above to do the rest of your quills.
>> Once all your quills are ready, dust them with a bit of cornflour or cornstarch to avoid them from sticking too much.
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