Sugarwork

Sugar is a truly amazing ingredient, and one that is indispensable to the baker. While sugar is the sweetener in almost every recipe in this book, this chapter deals with the artistic side of its use. Sugar can be boiled into a thick syrup and turned into a variety of shapes by casting, blowing, or pulling, or it can be spun into delicate threads to be used as decoration. With the addition of gum tragacanth or gelatin, sugar can be made into a paste to be rolled, formed, or molded in almost any way imaginable. Caramelized sugar is used to coat fruit and nuts for dessert garnishes; it can be made into fragile cages to showcase a simple dessert like ice cream and make it special; or it can be piped out to form ornaments, figurines, and even flexible spirals. Adding nuts to caramelized sugar yields nougatine, which has many decorative uses. Royal icing is made by mixing powdered sugar and egg whites; it too can be used to create decorative ornaments to garnish cakes and pastries, and it can be used for showpieces.