Cake Challenges Part II

The saga continued after my last post. I continued to "adjust" the wings throughout the afternoon, pulling them back into place every hour or so. 15 minutes before the guests arrived, I was giving them a final adjustment and pulled off the ENTIRE WING!! There laying in my hand was what appeared to be a very sticky, crumpled bug wing... not pretty and definitely not salavagable. So onto....

Wings Version 4- I thought I could whip up another batch of the syrup quickly with no problem, but would also reduce the amount of liquid so it wouldn't take so long. I also turned up the heat to speed things up a bit. When you are running out of time and need things to work... DO NOT DEVIATE FROM THE RECIPE. I created a bubbling mass of crystallized sugar that burbled and oozed as if it was alive. And then it prompty fused itself to the pot and took the spoon with it. It was unusable. By this time all the guests had arrived, I was running out of sugar and patience. So onto....

Wings Version 5-
I got out my heavy Calphalon pot and followed the recipe using the correct proportions which used up all my sugar leaving me with no back up. By this time all the guests new I was making wings, so I had to produce something. Everything went well and the result was better than any previous attempt. The heavy pot was key as it prevented the sugar from caramelizing resulting in nearly clear wings. Since things were going to well, I made them extra big...



So what have we learned from this extensive experience...
1. Follow the recipe, NO EXCEPTIONS
2. Use a heavy pot
3. Use a candy thermometer
4. If you have to touch it and adjust it, you are doing it wrong

I am going to spend the rest of the day recovering and trying to remove the sugar from my floor and table.