The history of sugar paste
Sugar paste
Brief story, types of sugar paste
The recipe to be able to make sugar paste even at home
Sugar paste is a food preparation for pastry very used in the world of cake design.
In Italy the fashion of the use of sugar paste to prepare and decorate cakes and desserts has only exploded in recent years thanks to television programs, magazines and the search for increasingly spectacular cakes.
The use of sugar paste extended from the world of professional pastry even for domestic use very quickly and today also fans can prepare a cake covered with sugar paste at home. But the use of sugar paste does not stop only in covering cakes, but it is also used for decorations, flowers, puppets and in general all pastry decorations. Thanks to the special sugar pastes it is possible to prepare realistic characters, real sculptures, realistic flowers and any desire you want.
It takes manual sugar in using sugar paste. Not everyone is brought to succeed in complex sugar sculptures, but everyone can decorate cakes in a simple and fun way with sugar paste.
Only cakes are not decorated, but also biscuits, cake pops, cupcake.
There is really to vent your own or artistic sense in so many ways.
Working sugar paste you come back a little back in time and a bit of children come back.
Brief history of sugar paste
Sugar paste (fondant) was born in the 16th century.
In Europe and England it is called "sugar paste" in America instead of "fondant". The Fondant name derives from the French word "Fonder", which means "melting". This name was born perhaps because fondant melt in the mouth in 1800 the sugar paste (fondant) was practically a kind of candy cut into pieces, made with rose water, egg whites, sugar, lemon juice and adragant rubber.
In America and in Europe these sugar paste candies were served with The.
Only later starts to be used to cover and decorate the cakes.
Types of sugar paste
There are 3 main types of sugar paste divided according to use.
- 1 sugar paste for cover
- 2 sugar paste for modeling
- 3 sugar paste for flowers (also called rubber paste or gum paste)
- Sugar paste for cover
This sugar paste remains soft and silky to the touch, simple to spread with a rolling pin and so elastic, which can be spread up to 1 mm thick.
The composition of this sugar paste depends a lot depends on the manufacturer, because each company has its secret recipe and differs with some ingredients or proportion of the ingredients.
Basic ingredients, which change from recipe for recipe are: icing sugar, water, glucose syrup, reversed sugar syrup, vegetable fats, aromas, corn starch, glycerol
The coverage sugar paste exists both white and colored. - Sugar paste for modeling
Sugar paste for modeling also called Model or Modeling is a more consistent paste than the coverage, because it is used to create even very complicated three-dimensional decorations.
To hold the form over time it needs to be more sustained and that dry quite quickly to the air. This effect is obtained thanks to the addition of the ingredients to the basic recipe. They make it more malleable and more sustained and in this way the cake designers can prepare very complex decorations.
What are ingredients added to the sugar paste base recipe?
In most cases, cocoa butter is added, which makes the paste of sugar very malleable or even adragant rubber (natural) or CMC (synthetic). These two ingredients serve as a sugar paste hardener. - Sugar paste for flowers (gum paste or rubber paste)
Rubber paste is a special sugar paste used to create even realistic flowers, in fact unlike sugar paste for cover and sugar paste for modeling you can spread much thinner, almost transparent.
To allow, that the flowers dry quickly to keep the shape well in rubber paste additional ingredients with respect to the base recipe of the cover sugar paste or change a bit proportion of the ingredients to make the pasta more consistent or added adragant rubber or CMC.
Can sugar paste be prepared even at home?
Yes, you can prepare the sugar paste even at home with ingredients that can also be easily available at the supermarket.
It is also possible to prepare rubber paste for flowers.
Here are the basic recipes to be replicated to your home.
Recipe to make sugar paste at home
Ingredients:
- 450 sugar sugar sieved well
- 2 sheets of fish glue
- 30 gr. of water
- 50 gr. honey
- 15 gr. of butter
Procedure:
- put the jelly into the water
- When it's ready to add the rest of the ingredients except sugar
- to melt everything well on the fire paying attention not to boil it
- Put the sugar sustained in a bowl and make a dimple in the center
- Pour the mixture dissolved on the fire, stirring first with a spoon, after a while, when it is well absorbed paired quickly with your hands.
- Wrap the sugar paste with food for foods immediately to prevent dried.
Notes:
- The compound is sticky after adding the loose mixture, this is normal, never add more icing sugar as you could compromise the elasticity of the dough.
- Before using it let it rest one day
Recipe to make rubber paste for flowers
Ingredients:
- 900 g of icing sugar
- 4 egg whites
- 36 grams of CMC
- 20 ml of Crisco (about 2 teaspoons)
Procedure:
- Sift the icing sugar and put from part 115 grams
- Put whites in the mixer and mount for 20 seconds at maximum speed
- Lower the speed and slowly add the sugar
- increase speed 3.4 for about 2.3 minutes
- The consistency must be like that of the ice, a peak and shiny
- Turn on the mixer at speed 1 and add CMC
- increase at top speed for a few seconds
- His hands are unayed with 2 teaspoons of Crisco, putting a mixture on a plane plan and continue kneading by hand
- Add 115 grams of icing sugar set aside and add more sugar
- Arrange in panels and storage in hermetic plastic bags
- let about resting 24 hours in the fridge
This paste is kept in the fridge, if it is not used immediately it is possible to freeze it
Homemade sugar paste can be easily colored with dust-powdered food, gel or pasta.
Just add little dye at a time, until you are satisfied with the color obtained.
Now, with our directions, you can choose or prepare sugar paste to give vent to your imagination.