It seems as though the past two weeks have been a whirlwind. After finishing chocolate showpieces, my classmates and I jumped right into learning the techniques of sugar decoration and by the end of the week, built something that was altogether different from the chocolate version.

The elements and techniques we tackled in this particular showpiece included: pulling sugar into a “pearl” colored consistency then using it for petals and assembling flowers, making pastillage decorations and a pressed sugar dome for the base, making bubble sugar, and finally learning how to blow sugar into fruit and birds. The blowing of sugar was a lot like the techniques you would use to blow glass objects. To make a blown object you first take a small piece of the hot sugar mixture, mold it into a balloon shape then place it onto a copper tube attached to a hand pump. As you add in air you need to make sure to continuously shape and rotate the sugar to turn it into the form you want, then you finish the piece by cooling the object over a fan and then knocking the piece off with scissors. For my showpiece I made an apple, orange, and a bird.

The one thing I can tell you about sugar in comparison to chocolate is that it is A LOT cleaner, but also A LOT hotter! To construct these pieces we used a cooked sugar mixture that is cooked to 165C and worked with it under heat lamps. To protect our hands we wore duct tape on our fingertips and also covered our hands in two pairs of gloves.

This week has been exam week, the culmination of all three units: chocolate candy, chocolate showpiece, & sugar showpiece. The exams were an individual effort of everything we have learned in class so far. It started with a short written exam then proceeded with three days of practical evaluations. Wednesday was full of mostly making chocolate candies (Earl Grey Tea Ganache & Grand Marnier Caramels), casting all of the elements for our chocolate showpiece, and completing some items that we would need later for the sugar showpiece. On Thursday I completely assembled my chocolate showpiece and candies and then handed them in to be graded and today I pulled and blew sugar to assemble my sugar showpiece.

Let me tell you, by the end of today’s class and with exams finally over I have never been more emotionally and physically exhausted. There was a lot of organization and time management to plan out, moving around on my feet and setbacks that I had to get through (not to mention being the mopper at the end of the day), but I have never worked harder at anything before in my life and I’m really proud of myself. I feel happy with the work I put in and I’m excited to start our new unit on Monday, ice cream.

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Sugar Showpiece & Exams

Yesterday I visited the Wicker Park Farmer’s Market and saw one stand selling “last of the season” rhubarb. With summer coming in full force and some of my favorite produce quickly leaving the market I decided to snatch up the last bit of rhubarb the man was selling. With that I also picked up a pint of strawberries and the first raspberries I’ve seen this summer.

My friend Katie and I decided to put this fruit to good in use in the form of a summer pie! We were both unfamiliar with lattice-topped pies and decided that it might be fun to take on the challenge and make our own dough.

The recipe we used for both the dough and the filling was from Bon Appetit for Lattice-Topped Strawberry- Ruhbarb Pie. We didn’t have a food processor so we made due by using the back of a fork to create a coarse meal with the dry ingredients and the butter and shortening. We also made a minor adjustment to the filling by adding equal parts strawberry and raspberries (about 8 oz. each). We took our time with the delicate strips of dough and worked as a team by lifting alternating strips of dough to create the lattice pattern. We enjoyed this pie after pizza from Piece and it was the perfect way to end a nice Sunday night.

Lattice-Topped Rhubarb-Berry Pie

from Bon Appétit | April 1997

For crust

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Summer Pie

Last weekend I drove out to Evanston with my boyfriend to attend their farmer’s market. Since it was my first trip of the year I was positively giddy to see such fresh produce and to see some familiar faces from last year. I took a lot of pictures so that I could share my excitement with you!

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One of My Favorite Parts of Summer

I apologize for the lack of posting these past couple weeks, I have been a very busy girl. After much anticipation I have finally moved out on my own into the Chicago neighborhood of East Village (West Town). Basically ever since I graduated in May of ’07 I have been dreaming and talking about about my very own place in the city. Along with my continuous planning, through these past two years I have been collecting things that I could one day finally use in my very own kitchen.

With each Christmas or birthday I asked for various cooking supplies like pots, measuring spoons, bowls, etc. With no kitchen of my own I started to collect my goods in what my mom fondly refers to as my “hope chests,” as in what girls in decades past would store their dowries in anticipation of married life. By the time I finally moved into this apartment I had amassed four large bins of every sort of cooking supply imaginable. Unpacking all of my treasures was pretty exciting and my new roommate Sarah got a kick out of seeing how many different sized bowls I had or why on earth I had silver serving utensils and a cake stand.

It will be a little sad to see the hope chests go, but I am really happy to see the place coming together and all of my kitchen utensils finding a new home. I am excited to spend my first summer in the city and having many dinner parties in the future!

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Moving and Hope Chests

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First Bite

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First Bite

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First Bite

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First Bite