Sugarwork: Pastillage and Poured Sugar Techniques at ICE’s Center for Advanced Pastry Studies

The class worked with both poured sugar and pastillage to create bright, colorful pieces with intricate details. Treand’s specialty involves using an airbrush to create detailed faces on sugar and chocolate. His work with these sweet materials won him the gold medal at the National Pastry Team Championship in 2007 and the World Pastry Championship in 2008. He was awarded the Meilleur Ouvrier de France (M.O.F.) in 2004. He was also named one of the Top Ten Pastry Chefs in 2007 and 2008 by Pastry Art & Design. From Monday through Wednesday, ICE’s pastry kitchens were Treand’s workshop as he helped professional-level students in a Center for Advanced Pastry Studies (CAPS@ICE) class learn how to make and decorate elaborate chocolate showpieces.

CAPS is a unique program where qualified professionals working in pastry come to ICE to take specialty pastry classes with world-renowned experts. CAPS Director Michelle Tampakis (who is also an ICE Chef Instructor and Dessert ProfessionalTop Ten Pastry Chef) assisted Treand in the class. He demonstrated his airbrushing technique to make colorful, life-like images of faces and animals and a variety of techniques for pouring and molding sugar to build beautiful sculptures made entirely of sugar. In fact, he used many of the same shapes and molds from his chocolate class in 2010. The towering showpieces created by the students were truly works of art. The vibrant pieces demonstrated a whole range of ways to use sugar to create dramatic and stunning presentations. From butterfly wings to graceful cranes, the aesthetic quality of each piece was jaw-dropping. With Chef Treand’s guidance, the students were able to construct these masterpieces and learn the skills to take their decorative showpieces to the next level.

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