Baby Shower Bonanza, Part 3: Handmade Sugar cubes

Now things are getting really nutty.

Handmade Sugar Cubes...?

I know. But not only are they beautiful, I needed a little something to fill up my boxes, becauseof course I never find exactly what I want when I need it.

Who am I kidding. They had me at Beautiful.

Once again, I have Pinterest to blame. I don't have the original pin because this was a surprise for Sadie. The teabags were her idea, even though she thought they were too much trouble, so I wanted to have a little something as a surprise. I need sugar with my tea. So, when I came across this idea, I was sold.

There are a couple of different ways to do this, some people cut out shapes with cookie cutters, but to me, that seemed like too much faffing, with too much room for disaster. So, I used chocolate molds.

Of course, I was too silly to get pictures, even though I could only make 15 at a time, and of course, I made 120.

This is what 120 sugar cubes (o.k, hearts) look like...

In sectioned containers so I can count easily.

Pretty, right?

FIDDLY and TIME CONSUMING! Oh. My. Gods.

But worth it.

*sigh*

All you need to do is mix 1/4 cup sugar with one teaspoon of water and a tiny drop of food colouring.
This is what happens if you use too much food colouring.

The lighting makes them loo lighter than the fabulous, lurid teal they really are.

Now imagine that dissolved into your tea. Yuk!

Once you mix it up, it'll feel like damp sand. Spoon a teaspoon of the mix (so that each cube equals one teaspoon, of course!) into the mold and tamp down firmly. I used the fat end of a chopstick for this. Did I mention it was time consuming? Repeat, until all your spots are filled and pressed down. Pop them in the fridge, over night to be safe. Carefully push them out ( I used a silicon mold), they'll still need to dry out a bit, and, VOILA!

Repeat a million times. Chuck a tantrum when you accidentally get the mix wrong. Wonder why on earth you thought this would be a good idea. Congratulate yourself on such an awesome idea. Sigh a lot.

Then, behold the beauty.

Oh, and this is why you make a few extra...
  

Broken hearts

So, Teabags and Sugar Cubes done...

Now what to package them in?

Until next time,

MC