Colorful Heart-Shaped Sugar Cubes for Parties: A Tutorial

Recently while reading a magazine (I think it was Country Living) I came across the cutest heart-shaped sugar cubes.  The magazine shared where they could be ordered but I decided to try making my own.  I thought they would be fun for parties, especially tea parties or to offer guests with coffee after dinner.

Instead of white cubes as shown in the article, I decided to color mine.  Since it's so close to Easter, I settled on pink and lavender.

You are not going to believe how easy it is to make your own little sugar cubes.  You'll need 1/4 cup sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of water and any shade of food coloring you wish to use.  Or, you can skip the food coloring and just let them be white.

I had just added the water and a touch of violet food coloring in the photo below.  These Wilton food dyes are super concentrated so the tiniest bit will do.

Just stir up the sugar, water and food coloring with a spoon.  Scrape the bottom and corners of your bowl/cup to get all the sugar.  I added a touch more food coloring during the process.  I always start with less than I think I'll need and add a teensy bit as I go along.  That way I don't add too much at the start and end up with a darker color than I really want.

Don't add any more water than just the 1/2 teaspoon or you'll end up disolving your sugar.  The sugar should feel and look a bit like wet sand.

Press your damp sugar into little silicon ice cube molds.  Be sure to press really firmly so your sugar will hold tight together.  I always buy these molds at Dollar Tree or Michaels.  They usually have them in fun shapes depending on the season and time of year.  1/4 cup of sugar makes about 8 sugar hearts.  If you wish to make more, just double or triple the recipe.

Once you've pressed the sugar firmly down into the mold, turn the mold over and the hearts will fall right out onto a plate.  They turn out of the molds very easily.

If one breaks when you turn it out, just press it back into the mold and then turn it back out again.

I placed the plate directly into the freezer, uncovered. I left it there for 2-3 hours and the cubes hardened up nicely.  Once they hardened up and were no longer so fragile, I tucked them into a baggies and returned them to the refrigerator.  You can store them in either the refrigerator or the freezer.  They hold together well once they harden up in the freezer.

Right after you take them out of the freezer, that's a good time to clean up the edges of the heart.  The little sugar crumbs around the edges break off and will leave a nicer looking edge.

Of course, I had to set up a little tea tray to see how they looked in action. ;)

The silicone ice trays come in every imaginable shape, so make your sugar cubes in whatever shape or motif you wish.

These are so easy to make.  Imagine making them in Orange for Halloween, Red for Valentine's Day.  White would be beautiful for a bridal shower.  Pink and lavender is pretty for Easter and Mother's Day.

Love tea parties?  Here are a few you may enjoy:

Fireside Tea
Alice in Wonderland Tea Party
St. Patrick's Day Tea

Here's a tutorial for making "flower ice cubes" with square heart ice cube trays.  Sorry about my early photography in that post.  It's pretty rough.  Yay, for learning and improving. :)


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