rarefied birdhouse for some fine feathered friends

OPEN HOUSE!

one last thing my partner and i worked on was a pastillage birdhouse! we created a whimsical, fun, very dr. seussian birdhouse that looks cheerful and happy and very inviting. we used isomalt to glue the structure together - which works FABULOUSLY should you once again work quickly, and neatly!

we cut out our pieces a few days prior to assembly using the patterns and templates we created. we allowed them to dry on a flat surface.

my favorite thing, by the way, was the little stick perch! super cute!

we airbrushed the pieces to accentuate their original colors, as well as to pick up some of the texture and design elements we included such as the "feathery" swirls on the sides of the house, and the woodgrain on the roof tiles. the color brought it all to life.

this project, again, just shows how exciting pastillage can be if you allow your imagination to run a bit wild. it's always best to color outside the lines.

more to come!

xo

m

the haunted castle

so fun with pastillage is next on the menu. if you haven't used it yet, may i suggest you do so immediately? besides being fun to play with, it lends itself to a variety of very valuable uses. i'm most eager to use it to create a cake stand as well as decor for a cake board or two. it's a sugar-based dough that dries very hard and will be quite sturdy and durable. it can even be sanded to remove sharp edges and uneven surfaces. traditionally, it is left white, and then airbrushed (should you so desire color). though you can work swiftly and add some gel color, knead it in and work with your pastillage that way as well. you can also paint it with color dust and some vodka or extract.

but making and cutting the pieces themselves? given the fact that it begins to dry VERY quickly, you MUST have your plan, your templates, your supplies, etc. completely set up and ready to use otherwise, you will struggle. it begins to form a dry "skin" on the surface within several minutes so i'm not kidding when i say you have to have a plan, you have to work efficiently and quickly in order to successfully work with pastillage.

my teammate and i had our plan and templates all set! we elected to do a haunted castle. it was a great working relationship because neither one of us was interested in make a pretty, princess-y type castle. we used the temperament of the pastillage to our advantage as well, knowing that a haunted castle is a bit run-down and old, so we allowed for cracks, rough surfaces and uneven windows, etc. for as difficult as it may be to make everything perfect and even and smooth, it is EQUALLY as challenging to make things cracked, uneven and ...haunted! but it was all intentional...and A LOT of fun!!

we textured some of the surfaces with a snake skin or houndstooth pattern.

we added vines, dusted gum paste jewels, crowns, and pieces of rock/brick wall.

my favorite thing was sewing the roof closed with some gum paste vine. possibilities are basically only limited by your own imagination.

we also got to play with some sugar in order to make a very cool base and extra decorations for our castle.

we added color, poured it on the silpat, swirled in some additional, contrasting color and allowed it to cool.

they looked like giant, evil lollipops. perfect base for the castle!

when all was said and done, it looked like a pretty cool, sugary-sweet haunted castle.

*Tip: use PVC pipe and large wooden dowels to form your cylinders of pastillage. once they dry for a day or two, you can slide them right off (remember, it's sturdy stuff!) and they stand straight, tall and evenly on your surface!

more to come!

xo

m

cake pilot travels the globe...

just a little aside for you this afternoon.

i was sort of amused by this.

when you grow up on and near farm land, and everywhere you look is filled with trees and woodland creatures... i mean, i had CHICKENS as a kid! [four to be exact: lucy, ricky, fred and ethel!... RIP guys] well, you don't realize how big the world is as a kid.

of course, i've grown up since then [still want chickens though]... and i've been to amazing places - all over the US, and most recently Iceland and Australia... i know how much the world has grown, how it's all expanded and it excites me to envision myself traveling to the many beautiful, wonderful places. (i have blogs on those too! haha)

i began to write when i was very small. i write my own greeting cards, i write journals, i even write on my sneakers. i have this quotation painted on my office wall [inspired by an old fortune cookie fortune]. it reads, "a writer writes not because [she] is educated but because [she] is driven by the need to communicate. behind the need to communicate is the need to share. behind the need to share is the need to be understood."... the writer writes because she must. thank goodness for blogs.

anyway, i was reviewing some settings on my blog this morning, and i saw my viewership has grown EXCEEDINGLY quickly thanks to RBI Cakes and their posting of my blog links on their FB wall. [for which i am immensely and eternally grateful!!] what was so exciting to me... was seeing how FAR my little blog has reached!!

thank you all for your interest in my blog. for your interest in my experiences! i look forward to continuing to write not just for me...but for you as well.

more to come!

xo

m

overture de fleurs

i've been working endlessly for the past week. if i'm not running to or from school, i'm doing one of a thousand separate things lately. i actually scheduled a "date" with my blog. you guess it! it's right now! (we're getting along famously by the way!)

i wanted to take a moment, and rewind a tad...because i wanted to [once again] discuss the maestro of sugar flowers, and basically lavish some attention on the gorgeous arrangements that i witnessed unfold before me in class.

leading up to this discussion on flower arrangement, we had a practical exam. we were required to make a full rose, a half-rose, 2 buds and 6 leaves. we had to dust everything, arrange everything and compose it together in a pressed sugar vase that we created in the weeks prior.

one of the many disadvantages to missing a class with Chef Ron is that i missed some very important details about coloring flowers, dusting leaves and petals, even how to compose leaves together and learning (and practicing) how to arrange everything in a way that is beautiful and in a way that makes sense.

while i was basically satisfied with my roses, prior to dusting them, i fell seriously short when it came time to dusting my roses and leaves. i didn't have any notes on the process (thanks LIRR), i didn't have an photos (thanks again LIRR) and i didn't have any experience based on the teachings from that monday night (thanks LIRR)... [once again, never forgive the train or the clouds]... so i felt an immense pressure to perform.

having studied classical performance of flute for 20 years, i understand that sometimes, you must do what is called "sight reading." it involves looking at a piece you've never seen or read or heard before, often it's very technical and difficult, and you must take 1 - 3 minutes (depending on the test) before you are required to perform it for evaluation. it's intensely difficult, your mistakes are counted heavily, even for the most seasoned of musicians. it tests your technical ability and strength of your playing "chops." no one likes to sight-read.

well i felt the same pressure during the practical. probably even more so, because i hadn't been taught how to dust the way Chef Ron does it. i can't say i was pleased with the flowers i produced. and i CAN say i wasn't pleased with my final product - especially the way i misunderstood the objective of how to arrange the flowers in the vase. i left a lot of open space because i thought we would get to add some of my other sugar flowers to the vase. so...that meant where i should have simply arranged JUST the roses, i arranged them with the intention of filling in more with our other flowers. of course, this was incorrect and caused me to look a bit incompetent. never a good thing when you are being critiqued by the man who redefines sugar flowers on a daily basis. especially when you missed his class [even if it wasn't your fault, it doesn't matter. perhaps a more resourceful student would have just hitchhiked??]

BUT that being said, when i look at my few roses, i'm reminded of how far i've yet to go. which would explain why i've since made and plan to continue to make roses at my kitchen table, with my cats watching me late at night wondering what i'm doing. the ONLY way to improve is to practice. that's something i've known since my classical performance days - i've played for so many hours that my lips would go numb and the sun would be rising again. trust me, i know all about dedication and practice!

my favorite part of the evening was [no, not when the evaluation was over *smile*] when we got to watch Chef Ron demonstrate his talents. and all you have to do is sit there, really just as a witness, and watch him nimbly and confidently manipulate flowers, press and bend, pull and push, twist and hug all the flowers. they just dance for him. it's a lot like watching ballet. and i guess that makes sense, given his background. it's really no joke when i use words like symphony, maestro, grace and ease... it's all very fluid - not unlike a performance one might see on a stage somewhere with Sergei Prokofiev's or Peter Tchaikovsky's wonderful orchestrations shimmering across your ears and eyes. now that may sound over-the-top, but i assure you... i'm being nothing more than completely serious. having studied classical music [remember my carrot video??] i feel, see and hear the world in a very musical, synesthetic way. so watching Chef Ron build and create right in front of me...well it's been a gift. it's all just very Chopin and Bach!

anyway, here are a few of his arrangements...

the beginning:

as well as one of my favorite photos!

when he posed for it, he said "hello blog readers!!!" love him!

more to come!

xo

m

silicone valley

truth be told, i don't know what the actual silicone valley is or was, or where said valley is located...or why it was called that...nor do i care. i do know it makes for an [somewhat] apropos title for this next blog post. why you ask? well, because we made silicone molds!

this is one of those skills that i've never actual sat down to teach myself, or learn. i've watched youtube videos, read articles, even talked to people in the field...but i've never actually made one. i've bought them. but MAN they can be expensive, and sometimes sort of ugly or old-looking...nothing contemporary that say, a mandy, would use.

well we delved deep into the valley with Chef Ron as our spirited, knowledgeable guide. on the agenda? gems! think facets, think shiny, think luxurious, think unique...

we were given a handful of glass and plastic jewels and a piece of plexi-glass. we first had to attached them to the board and then built clay walls around them. all in preparation for the silicone.

now, i'm nothing if not fastidious when it comes to working with messy materials. there is a time and place for meticulousness, and i do believe that working with silicone is one of those times.

you must be methodical, you must be prepared, you must have a vision from beginning to end (since you only have a limited timeframe with which to work before your silicone begins to set) and you must, must, must remember to follow the techniques and rules in order to eliminate unnecessary flaws, air bubbles and blemishes on your finished product - or alas, all of your hard work, time [and product] will end up a waste.

making molds is one of those things that should be done with attention to detail. and of course, it would make sense to make a bunch of molds in one day, given the amount of time they take. you could spend an entire day making a bunch of molds. but boy would they be worth it!

you can make a mold of almost ANYTHING! and that excites me. [here, i'm already eyeing my collection of antique buttons my grandmother, and great-grandmother gave to me when i was little]. oh the fun i'm going to have!!

what i love about Chef Ron is that he is a pioneer of all that is cutting edge in this field that i love so very much. i like his clever nature, his creative mind and the fact he CREATES. it's something i SO enjoy seeing in someone else! no, i'm not even trying to compare us, because he wins. BUT, i respect the notion that...hey, there is no mold of this exact shape, article, thing?? well, i'm making one then! that just makes me swoon! and continues to inspire me along my path!! it's all very "if there's a mountain, move it."

so i will admit, originally, i struggled with [don't laugh] making the clay walls. *rolls eyes* i over thought it, made them ridiculously tall and TOO thick... Chef Ron basically came over and said, "that makes no sense. fix it." and so i did. thank goodness he's so straight-forward. i LOVE straight-forward! if there's one thing that bothers me when learning something, is if someone is too sweet and too careful with their feedback. granted, no one wants to hear that they do something imperfect, BUT if you're like me, you're just grateful to have someone like that say "you want to be better? then do it better!" god, i'm so sad RBI classes are over already! [i will never forgive the LIRR by the way.]

anyway, i took some photos of the process from start to finish.

from preparing the jewels on the plexi-glass...

to coating the jewels to prevent air bubbles...

to pouring to break those small, blemish-causing bubbles that could ruin your mold...

to a particularly cool photo of all the molds poured and ready to set...

to the finished product two days later (word of caution, let your molds air-dry after you wash them, so as to eliminate debris in your molds!)

and of course, i took a few shots of the molds at work ... after Chef Ron spoke to us about the various ways that we could use our new molds! from sugar to sugar paste to chocolate to candy... it's just really exciting!

sugar paste goes in, sugar paste jewels come out.

just imagine this painted with a disco dust or shimmery gold. talk about adding some edible luxury to your cake! [lub dub]

well, there are about 1,000,000 more things i have yet to post, BUT alas, i've got a train to catch! i'm planning on talking about flowers, pastillage, and SO MUCH MORE!

as always...

more to come!

xo

m