Sugar, Sugar, how'd you get so fly?

By going to culinary school. And working in the industry for over a decade before that. And by recognizing that I have a lot more to learn to get even flyer every day. Heh. :)

Bummed that my gig as a lab assistant at Joliet Junior College came to an end so abruptly due to indefinite school closures and with restaurants and events still on hold, I was desperate to keep doing what I love. Only problem is, well, I love a lot of different things and I only have so many tools at home!

With my sugar rig hooked up, every surface in my kitchen cleaned completely of grease so that all the sugar stays shiny, metallic, and beautiful, and all of my tools and ingredients mised, it was time to crank up the heat!

Here's some step by step sugar pulling, I am still amazed every time I do this at how metallic looking the sugar gets just by pulling it and incorporating air as it cools.

With sugar sculpting in general, there is a lot of prep and steps to create each piece. Then once all the pieces are made, the decorating and assembling come together pretty quickly (as long as nothing breaks!). In the pictures below I've got everything ready (mised, shortened past tense version of mise en place, which is a whole blog post on its own but that's for another day!), because as soon as the sugar is cooked you only have a certain amount of time before it cools too much and is no longer ideal for pouring into molds/pulling and manipulating.

Without access to all the tools that I would normally have in a commercial kitchen, I scavenged through my cabinets to find enough to make it happen. If you've got ice, some silpats, glass pitchers, spatulas, a torch, scale, distilled water, a sugar rig with an under warming plate, an airbrush gun, metallic paints and airbrush colors, detailing paint brushes, parchment paper, dome molds, circle cutters, and a big container of sugar... you can do this project at home too! ;) Or you could order a sugar showpiece from the contact tab at the top of this page. Either way, it's still pretty cool to see the process!

After making the separate pieces using these methods above, it was time to add the color and excitement to the piece. Sugar loses clarity the longer it sits around. Torching this solid sphere helped reduce bubbles and cloudiness, although it had been sitting around for a few weeks so it was a little challenging. Then the airbrushing was the fun part, especially since I haven't gotten my compressor out in quite some time!

After a massive assembly session without a sterno (I would not recommend this, using an oversized torch like I did for the smaller pieces can lead to burns... ;) ) I was able to get a pretty nice looking under the sea themed 18" tall show piece completed.

The more impressive thing, and I think my Chef mentors would say as well, is that this piece actually stood up for a few weeks, even through multiple temperature changes and being moved a couple times. I take apart and recook my completed showpieces to turn it into new pieces, but this easily could have stayed on display in my house for several months or longer.

Sugar sculpting is something that has amazed me for many years. From the start of playing around with isomalt in the microwave with molds to put on cakes back in Effingham (shout out to my first mentor Pat Wendte, I am so grateful for you!) at my first bakery job to pushing the limits and building multi-medium pieces in school and beyond (shout out to Chef Andy Chlebana, you are one hell of a chef!), I see how little I actually know about the world of sugar and how much more I have a burning passion to continue to learn. With a 20 pound box of isomalt still burning a hole in my pantry, I'm looking forward to making future posts of my sugary adventures!

Peace, Love and Cupcakes: Ice Carving At Home

Ice carving at home?! That is something that I didn't think I would try to do until these times and turned out way more complicated than I thought it would. I mean, picking up and loading 400 pounds of ice into a freezer at home and then carving it in the garage would be easy, right? :)

What I learned, though, is there's always a new and unexpected challenge in life, and always a way to overcome it if you stay focused. The fruits of my labor? 4 Miniature (75-100ish pound) ice carvings, holding a chainsaw again for the first time in weeks, learning about working on a scale that is about 1/4 of what it usually is for carving, and so much more.

During the course of my day the new freezer I was using for my ice blocks stopped cooling properly, so I had to carve them all before they melted. I was at least able to display them on my lawn for my neighborhood to enjoy during these uncertain times. Many of my neighbors passed by to see and enjoyed them both during my carving and after they were finished and on display.

PEACE - The biggest thing I think everyone has been chasing during these uncertain times is peace. In some form. Peace with what is going on in general, peace with the loss of many forms that people are suffering from, and peace with the fallout that continues to unfold daily.

LOVE - is something that we are all trying to find ways to show without being near each other in these times. Love through a phone call, love through a video call, or heck, love through an ice carving! ;)

CUPCAKES - Although I've never loved making actual cupcakes (that's right, I said it, and I stand by it! ;) ) It was super fun to make this one out of ice to represent the birthdays and celebrations that people are missing with one another for now. Anyone who sees this post and has missed a birthday celebration or another party for a memorable event recently, let this virtual ice cupcake be for you!

For those of you who have taken the time to view the carving videos on the video tab of my site in their entirety, you'll notice they're a little rough around the edges. But, truth be told, so is ice carving! :)

In the coming weeks, I will be continuing to ice carve at home to keep my skills sharp. If you sign up for my mailing list through the form at the bottom of this page you will receive future updates on new carving videos!

And now, a big THANK YOU is in order!

First, thank you to Nadeau's Ice Sculptures in Forest Park, Illinois, for donating this full block of ice for me to practice on. I am seriously grateful.

www.nadeauice.com

Also, thank you to my friend Renee for helping me load it all in the car from the shop and getting it all in the freezer at home. Seriously. Hard. Work. And thank you to my lovely husband for taking pictures, checking on me, helping move the carvings, and being my personal cheerleader. You are awesome.

All in all, I had an exhausting and wet day. Full of thrills, ups, downs, motor sounds and dubstep music. And I can't wait until I can do it again. Until then, I hope you are all able to find your own peace, love, and cupcakes (or order some custom cupcakes from the contact tab at the top of this page ;) ).

When life gives you lemons...

If life gives you lemons, you might as well make lemon Viennese and lemonade! During these times, I try to stick to stocking up on fruits that have a longer shelf life so I get a chance to use them before they go bad. Lemons, limes and oranges are perfect for summer, and also stay fresh in the fridge much longer than most other fruits! This recipe is super easy to make, it's my go-to when I have leftover egg whites on hand.

Although it's quite a classic, I've made a couple tinkers to the original recipe to make them a little extra special!

Depending on the size that you pipe these, this recipe will yield 2-3 dozen cookies.

Lemon Viennese Flowers:

130 g unsalted butter.

The better the butter quality, the better the cookie if you ask me. Just sayin'.

50g powdered sugar.

4 g salt.

a dash of vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste; lemon essential oil would be great here too.

This can certainly be omitted, but, why? ;)

zest of two lemons.

Make sure you wash and dry the lemons well before zesting. Did you know that lemons and many other fruits are covered with wax before you buy them? It's considered safe to eat, but I like to hold myself to a higher standard if I can. :)

20 g egg whites

My first choice is always to use organic eggs, but it will not really change the outcome of this recipe.

155 g unbleached all purpose flour.

Use unbleached flour if you can, it's as simple as that. Bleach isn't for food.

powdered sugar for dusting.

Bake these little lemony delights at 300-350 degrees Fahrenheit until light golden brown, about 12-15 minutes depending on your oven.

Yes, this recipe is in weight. Almost all of the recipes that I have refined over the years are in weight measurements, and work best when reproduced that way. If you are a firm believer in volume measurements, please send me a message in the contact tab and I will convert it and post an update.

The creaming method will yield the best results here (cream butter and sugar, add egg whites and extract/flavorings, then the dry ingredients, do not over mix). One tip when piping onto parchment to bake, the rosettes I did here are done from the inside out for the flower-like dimension. It's a simple switch from the typical piping motion for icing a cupcake from the outside in, but makes a big difference in the final appearance.

These are the perfect cookies for summer. Light, bright, and zesty. I did a couple the classic Viennese piping, but ended up liking the rosette ones the best. I seem to like flowers, go figure. ;)

Don't forget to make some lemonade or lemon simple syrup from your lemon juice once you're done zesting your lemons! Using every part of ingredients and not letting them go to waste is something that I feel very strongly about. And, well, I am in love with lemons. :) Not only are they tasty but they are a wonderful natural cleansing agent for your body!

Happy baking to you all! And of course if baking isn't your thing, these little gems can be shipped directly to your door! Just fill out the form under the contact tab!