The trials and tribulations of a Patisserie and Baking student. What I make, what I eat, and generally what I'm spending my time doing. Enjoy.
The final for the Candies and Confectioneries class was to make a wedding cake topper out of blown and pulled sugar. The requirements were to blow a piece that we hadn’t done before and to make some flowers that we hadn’t yet made. Somehow I decided that I wanted to make daffodils and from that sprouted a garden themed wedding topper. It’s pretty cute and intricate. Here’s a bunny detail:
And a snail in the back:
And a butterfly and a bee hanging out:
Roses. Kinda purty.
Doves. Kissing. With a heart. Wedding cake topper, anyone?
Broken neck swan! (The sugar was made improperly, so it never set, making my beautiful swan look a little head heavy after an hour or so. Boo.)
Fruit anyone?
Blown Sugar: not nearly as scary as one would imagine. Yes, the sugar is hot. Yes, if you pump too much air into it it can/will shatter like glass. Yes, it’s temperamental. But, once you get over those factors, it’s kind of a cake walk. The pieces are light because they are filled with air, and they stick to one another with great ease (making sculpture assembly a cinch). Also, the results are really cool looking. I made a duckling for my first project. Cute, no?
Oh sugar. My demise. Other than ice cream, hard sugar candies (candy canes, jolly ranchers, etc.) are my favorite. And now, I’m learning, that they are fun to make too! Especially when they are PRETTY! First assignment in the pulled sugar class: flowers. Always the best go-to in the decoration category.
I made some Calla (spelling?) Lilies too, but they just weren’t cute enough to put onto my little showpiece.
The chocolates class finished with a big ol’ chocolate showpiece. My class partner, Krishneil, and I decided to make a spaceship/science fiction themed piece (sound familiar? I love sci fi). Everything in the picture is chocolate, from our little alien buddy to the rocks and planets on the bottom. The big white chocolate thing is a crashed spaceship. This project was STRESS CITY, but I think the final product came out really nicely, so we wound up really happy with the results. But, man, getting there was a pain!
Our alien, Godfrey, is fancy so I gave him a tie. And a piggy nose!
One of the final competencies of the Chocolates class is a chocolate box, ribbons, sides and bottom. They could be made out of dark or white chocolate and could be decorated in any way we felt looked good. For the traditional ribbon box, I made it silver, lavender, and sky blue with a Pollock inspired top and bottom. And, keeping with the Pollock theme, I made my other box gold, green, red, and yellow and cut dinosaur shapes to decorate out the top. As you can imagine, the dinosaur box is my favorite. I am a sucker for T-Rexes.
Strawberry/Passion Fruit flavored Fruit Jellies. Soft and gooey, but I can imagine that these aren’t for everyone. I like them though, they remind me of things I ate as a child.
