Pastillage

Today we learned how to work with pastillage.  (Pronounced pas-tea-yage, it also rhymes with collage)  It's basically a sugar play-dough that you roll out and cut into different shapes.  The problems is that it dries insanely fast, so once you start working with it you better pick up the pace or you're done for.  We are cutting out shapes for our showpieces we have to assemble on Friday.  Chef Scott put together this one for us as an example.  So when you see the wonky white mess I post on Friday... this is what's it's suppose to look like.

The base support structure is made out of pressed sugar.  Chef Scott demonstrated this before hand and he told us "do not spend ten years making this".  I think what he was really saying was "Emily... do not spend ten years making this".  I get in my zone when I'm making things, unfortunately my zone is at snail speed.  This is Chef Scott showing us how to make our base...

Story time.  I was spending my ten years on my base and I had just finished.  It looked just like I had hoped.  As I was staring at it, I tried to move the wooden board forward.  Unfortunately, I didn't look where my hand was reaching and I put my hand right into my partner's finished base!  Talk about awkward.  What was I suppose to say?! "Uhh.. my bad?"  "Maybe they won't notice the gaping hole?"  Well of all the things to ruin this was the best thing.  I compiled the classrooms left over pressed sugar and made her a new base.  I'm so lucky it was a simple fix.  If it had been anything else it would have been a long awkward week.  

Want an update on the fruit cake?  Here it is baking away.  They still need to be soaked several times till they are indestructible, and then frosted.  I promise to show you the finished product when it's ready.

These cakes are so heavy! I think they secretly gave us the recipe to make homemade bricks.  I want to give it to my neighbor's obnoxious dog.  A couple bites of this cake and he will bark his last bark.  I hadn't heard him in a couple nights so I figured he died of natural causes.  But then last night in the shower I could hear him barking away.  I was going to open the window and hurl my shampoo bottle at him, but lucky for him shampoo is expensive.  I'm rambling, it's time for bed.  Night y'all.