On Wednesday, ICE Pastry & Baking Arts Chef Instructor Kathryn Gordon built an impressive sugar showpiece with a Halloween theme.
The showpiece incorporated cast, pulled and blown sugar in the shapes of ghosts, bats, corn, pumpkins and ribbons all in green, orange and purple to celebrate Halloween. The delicate showpiece required weeks of planning, practice and preparation. In the days before the demo, Chef Kathryn worked with a group of students to help build the requisites elements of the showpiece. During the demo she showed the audience all the techniques she had used to make the pieces, including piping molten, hot sugar to make eyes for the ghost and bat.
With the unseasonably warm and humid weather, the sugar was especially sticky and difficult to work with. Chef Kathryn had to improvise and make new wings for her bat when her original spun sugar design turned out to be too delicate and sticky to attach to the showpiece. With a few light touches of color from an airbrush, Chef Kathryn completed the colorful and festive showpiece. Though entirely edible, the showpiece will stay on display in ICE’s library. The showpiece was made entirely of sugar and isomalt, but is not nearly as tasty as the flavorful candy collected by trick-or-treaters. Happy Halloween, everyone!
