Pour Some Sugar On Me

Hey all! Well, I just got home from my last class of our first sugar unit, and boy was it a doozy! This unit involved two projects, one small and one large, which is why I waited until the end to post this entry.

I'll start with the larger of the two...the pastillage cake stand. Pastillage is a form of sugar "dough," exlusively used for decoration. It is completely edible, but I can't imagine it tastes very good. The specifications of the stand were to make a base, elevation, a cake covered in fondant, and three to four "favor" boxes, all with the theme of Spring. I decided to make mine "I Love Paris in the Springtime," and I made the Eiffel Tower. Yeah, I don't know what I was thinking, either.

Along with this project, we were lucky enough to have two classes with Chef Ron Ben-Israel, the wedding cake god. If you've never heard of him, Google him to see his amazing cakes. He's most well-known for his sugar paste flowers, and it was such an amazing experience to be able to learn his techniques.

That being said, I have to say that this whole project stressed me out. So, while I really appreciate the amazing opportunity, it really gave me PTSD flashbacks to first grade and my inability to color inside the lines. But I think my flowers came out great!

Long story short (too late), here's my stand! Voila!

The other, smaller project we completed was a nougatine candy bowl, filled with marzipan fruit. This was very fun, and I think everything came out really well!

Well, c'est tout for now...next up, Chocolate 2!