How to Make Fondant

Fondant is that sweet, shiny glaze which appears on many pastries and baked goods. Its creamy texture melts in your mouth and it also helps to keep baked goods moist. It's fairly easy to make and will store indefinitely at room temperature in a sealed container. You can also pour a thin layer of water on the surface to prevent it from drying out and forming a crust.

To make approximately 1.5 cups of fondant, you will need the following ingredients:

500 grams granulated sugar
250 ml water
50 grams glucose

To begin, use a very clean pot and bring the water and sugar to a boil until it reaches 113º C (235º F). Skim off any foam/impurities that may rise to the surface. This should take at least 10-15 minutes. Once the sugar reaches that temperature, add the glucose and continue to boil until the temperature reaches118º C (244º F). Immediately take the pot off of the heat and place into an ice bath to stop the cooking process.

Carefully pour the hot syrup onto a marble or granite counter top. Using a bench scraper, move the sugar around to bring down the temperature. 

As you continue to agitate it, it will go from a clear syrup to a milky-white consistency.

As you work the sugar, it will eventually become crumbly.

When you have reached this stage, begin to knead the sugar, as you would dough, until it is nice and smooth. You don't have to knead it this far, but you can see that it becomes soft again.

Once you're done, transfer the mixture to a container. The fondant can be stored indefinitely and can be used a bit at a time.

To use fondant:

To use the fondant, you'll need to warm it slightly. Place the amount you're going to use into a bain marie over low heat. Bring the temperature up until it's just above body temperature. Whisk in 1-2 teaspoons of egg white and a few drops of lemon juice.

For flavoring, I added a bit of lemon zest to match the flavors for my baked goods, but you can use any flavoring or extract, and even add food coloring. It's also nice to keep it plain.

Tagged as: [ fondant howto icing pastry recipes sugar ]

Sugar Work | How to Spin Sugar

When it comes to serving dessert, wow your guests with a little spun sugar. Here is another technique for decorating with caramelized sugar. It can get a little messy but it is worth it.

You will need the following equipment:

• small stainless steel pot suitable for the amount of sugar you are working with
• bowl of ice water that your stainless steel pot can easily fit into
• approximately 1 cup of sugar (or more, depending on how much you want to make)
  
• wooden spoon
• 2 chopsticks
• tape
  
• 2 forks or a cut wire whisk (see photo below)
  
• sheet pan
• 1 large piece of parchment

Set up:
1. Overhang each chopstick on the countertop, approximately 6" apart. Secure with tape.
2. Place the sheet pan on top of the chopsticks to weigh them down.
3. Place the large piece of parchment on the floor directly underneath the chopsticks. This catches excess sugar and helps with the clean up.


Prepare the caramelized sugar by following the same instructions posted here: How to Make Dry Caramel. Remember to use caution when working with molten caramel.

When the caramel is cool enough to form a fine thread, hold the forks (backs facing each other) and dip them into the caramel. Alternatively, you can use a cut wire whisk. Using a quick flicking motion with your wrist, drizzle the caramel so it drapes over the two chopsticks. Repeat this step over and over again until the desired amount of caramel has been spun.


Once the caramel is spun, it is cool enough to handle. You can pick it up and wrap it gently into a loose ball or shape it as you see fit. In humid conditions, spun sugar can melt easily so use it quickly or store in an airtight container. Once again, be careful and have fun.


For a few additional pictures, click here.

Tagged as: [ basics caramel decorations howto recipes spinning sugar techniques ]

Sugar Work | How to Make Decorative Caramel-Coated Nuts

This is a simple way to dress up your next plated dessert. Depending on how many nuts you want to coat will determine how much dry caramel to make. Keep in mind, however, the larger the quantity of caramel will result in a mixture that will hold its heat longer and be easier to work with.

You will need the following equipment:

• a small stainless steel pot suitable for the amount of sugar you are working with
• bowl of ice water that your stainless steel pot can easily fit into
• approximately 1.5 cups of sugar (or more, depending on how much you want to make)
  
• wooden spoon
• wooden skewers
  
• tape
• a large piece of parchment

Set Up For Nuts (if desired, nuts can be roasted in advance for added flavor):
1. Insert a skewer into each nut gently to avoid breaking it but far enough into the nut so it is held in place.
2. Without severing, bend the top 1-2" of the skewer to form a right angle.
3. Tear the pieces of tape for each skewer and have them ready to secure the skewers to your countertop after dipping.
4. To catch the dripping caramel, place the large piece of parchment on the floor directly underneath the countertop area where you will be taping the skewers.


Note: You must use caution whenever you attempt to make caramel. Caramel is extremely hot and can cause very serious burns. If you get any caramel on your skin, DO NOT, try to pry it off. You will injure yourself very badly. Run cold water over the caramel/burn and the sugar will gradually release. Seek medical attention if necessary. Always have a first aid kit handy.

How to Make Dry Caramel:

1. Place the stainless steel pot on the stove on medium-high heat. Put approximately 1/2 a cup of sugar into the pot. As the sugar begins to melt stir it gently with the wooden spoon. Gradually add the remaining sugar so that the entire mixture continues to melt.


2. Once all of the sugar has melted, it will start to take on an amber color. If you lift up some of the caramel with your wooden spoon and let it drizzle off of the spoon back into the pot, you will be able to gauge the color of the caramel better. The darker it gets, the more bitter the flavor - don't let it get too dark.

3. When the desired color of caramel has been achieved, place the pot gently into the cold ice water bath for a couple of seconds to stop the cooking process. Remove from pot the ice bath.


4. Wait a couple of minutes for the caramel to become a bit thicker as it cools. If it is too hot/runny, you will not be able to create a thread of sugar that extends from each nut. Lift some of the caramelized sugar up with a spoon to see what stage you are at.


5. Once the caramel is cool enough, gently immerse the nut into it. Pull out the skewer and let the caramelized sugar drizzle to form a thread. Tape the skewer to the countertop so that the nut is hanging directly over the parchment, allowing gravity to pull the excess of caramel down. If your caramel becomes too thick, you can thin it out by briefly returning the pot to the heat.



6. Once the caramel is completely cool and hard, you will be able to gently pull the nut from the skewer. The thread is extremely fragile. Store in a dry container. In humid conditions, the sugar will break down quickly, therefore, plate as soon as possible.


Tip: Trying to clean a pot full of hardened caramel is near to impossible. For easier clean up, immerse the pot in warm water until all of the sugar dissolves or fill the pot with water and bring it to a boil on the stove.

More decorative sugar work to come!

Tagged as: [ basics caramel decorations howto nuts sugar ]

Making Sugar Showpieces | Part of the Pastry Final at NWCAV

Because our pastry class ended so close to the holidays, I have barely had any time to post the things that we had worked on in the last few weeks of the program. As part of our final exam, we had to present either a sugar or chocolate showpiece. I chose sugar because it is fun to work with and I knew that I would be taking the Advanced Chocolate Class shortly thereafter, so, it was a good opportunity to work with sugar one last time at the school.

To prepare for the final, I had sketched out what I had in mind and discussed it with Chef Marco. Having only one day to work on the showpiece, he thought I was being a little too adventurous with the amount of things that I wanted to create in my "Christmas Living Room Set". I decided to go for it anyway, preparing in advance all of my stencils and cutouts that I would need and figured out the order in which to do things.


So there I was, trying to get back on schedule to complete my list of things to do. The day flew by and I had quite a few mishaps. I would have loved to complete what I had in my sketch, but Chef Marco was right...it was a little too adventurous for one day. The Rock Sugar, which is a recipe to create shapes like this:


would have been great for the smoke and a little hill for the snowman to stand beside in the snow globe. I wish I would have had the time to make the blown sugar snow globe. I had attempted this at home and thought it would have looked adorable:



Yes, the ball is broken in the picture above, but you get the idea of what it generally would have looked like. Blown Sugar is fascinating. A piece of Pulling Sugar is attached to the end of a pump and you gently pump air into the mass and it starts to grow like a chewing gum bubble. Too much air will burst the bubble. Once it cools, you heat up a knife and gently cut the ball off of the pump because it is extremely fragile.



For more pictures of my showpiece and other students' sugar and chocolate showpieces, click here.

Tagged as: [ blowing casting nwcav pastry pulling rock school showpiece sugar ]

Obscene Sugar Work

Last week we were introduced to sugar work. This is the first time that I have worked with sugar, pulling it, stretching it, blowing it, and trying to manipulate it into many shapes. Surprisingly, I found it to be a lot of fun. We are exposed to many things during this course and unfortunately there isn't a lot of time for repetition. Repetition is our homework. In class, we are absorbing as much as we can.

For our very first sugar "showpiece", my partner and I decided to do a tropical theme - a tiny island with a palm tree and some rocks. As the pieces are put together, you can sort of see the showpiece taking shape...although our showpiece was the center of attention for many giggles and jokes. The culinary students passing through the pastry kitchen were full of snickers and we ultimately had to put an unfinished sign on the piece. It really was meant to be a palm tree...it just needed its fronds which we weren't able to attach until the next day. Once they were attached, the piece got broken before a picture of the final product could be taken :(


We also were able to work on individual projects. I tried to create a honeycomb showpiece with bees and flowers. For Day 2 of sugar work, it looked alright. Burns are a big hazard when sugar is cooked to 154°C . One little droplet on your skin causes an immediate blister and tonnes of pain. I fortunately only got one blister and some of the molten sugar landed on one of my nails. Owwwwie!

Sugar is beautiful and very interesting. Once you start pulling it and stretching it, the color changes. It goes from a bolder color to a lighter, silkier color with a silvery and shiny sheen. When a ball of sugar is created, you need to work quickly under a heat lamp so that you can form it into various shapes before it hardens.
 

Here is a picture of my bee showpiece along with a ribbon and some sugar that I had blown into a hollow ball.

Tagged as: [ blowing nwcav pulling ribbon showpiece sugar ]