More Pastillage

Sorry but have to post these for my own sake. These are the works of the team over the past few days and some are truly amazing  especially the planes. I love working with creative people.

Ode to a Holiday

I recently ventured to a resort town in the Philippines, 8 hours north of Manilla for an extremely restful and relaxing vacation, yet even on holidays I found myself musing over local goods and produce.
I guess you can take the chef out of the kitchen but you can never take the kitchen out of the chef.
Having worked on cruise ships for years also i found it nice to visit the land where so many of the chefs I have worked with are from.
The following uses UBE (which is a sweet potato) in Ube Palvaron ( a kind of unbaked cookie and when crushed very tasty and similar to streusel but extremely soft and buttery.
The dessert is Ube Palvaron, chocolate fondante, chocolate mousse flavored with lemon grass and a chocolate ganache with a hint of kalamansi lime, chocolate microwave sponge, served with fresh berries and 70% dark chocolate sugar sticks.
This offers and amazing cross section of flavors and textures and makes me so glad that I travelled that far north of Manilla to experience Ube in all its forms.

And they think we do nothing on our vacations !!! huh !

MOVING PAST PASTILLAGE....I promise !!

 You'd really think that all I had done in the past 3 months is make pastillage...... But the truth is....I've been very busy doing many other things.

Pastillage has become my stress reliever !

When quiet I make the dough and as soon as possible thereafter I cut the pieces.
Colouring, painting, spray painting and putting everything together can occur at any point in time past this when i get the chance and when I need the stress relief.

Some days you just want to paint. ! and be left alone with your own thoughts. (a little difficult when in charge of 16 other chefs in the section, but possible)

This past three weeks have seen the airbrush on the link and so I had to resort to the old style paintbrush and chocolate piping bag for colouring and markings.
Still, I have no complaints for I believe the pieces still worked out wuite nicely and proves that not all modern techniques are required to achieve the age old art of pastillage.

I found the stencils for music notes in an art shop in LA, I love the way they look

And to those wondering, yes this is the last I'll post on pastillage.
Enough has been said and done in this art form for a life time.
Next posting will be a return to other sweet arts.
Happy ending to the year 2011 and may 2012 bring amazing new opportunites to us all.

Pastillage Playtime

In the space of a month I have played with more pastillage than I think I have in the past ten years. Its one of those things where you always wanted to do it, had the ideas, but never the time.
Well now I have succeeded and fullfilled a recent desire, to play in Pastillage.
Ever since a friend of mine who owns a publishing company, Beverley Dutton, of B.Dutton Publishing. Squires and Squires Kitchens fame told me of a book she had published called "THE MASKS OF PROFESSOR AGOSTINNO DESSI", I had always thought that masks and pastillage would go hand in hand.
Art is a form, paper mache and pastillage are our mediums and so I got creating. And just as Beverley had fallen in love with the masks of the famed Professor, I too have fallen in love with the form of the mask in the artisitic sense of Pastillage.
I hope some of you agree and like the efforts of the past month .
If you like the original masks of Profoessor Agostinno Dessi then you can go to http://www.squires-shop.com/ and buy the book, you can travel to Italy and see the real things or you can simply enjoy the sweeter versions in photo form that I have added here.
 Enjoy my friends and Sweet dreams !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Je T'Aime

HAPPY NEW YEAR...a little early

THE RED BARON IN A DOG FIGHT

THE JESTER

MORE MASKS

Simplisity always wins the day and I love this piece for its simple form. Coloured rock sugar forms the coral at the base.

THE ZULU WARRIOR

PRODUCTION IN THE KITCHEN OF PASILLAGE PIECES

NOTHING LIKE MAKING 20 CENTREPIECES INA DAY

Creative Juices Are Flowing Again... A Week With Pastillage

Pastillage for those who do not know, is basically, modelling clay for adults, while for the modern pastrychef it is simply one of the sturdiest and greatest mediums we can make for ourselves that will dry and set up beautifully and hold together for display pieces. The following is what you can do in the space of 8 days, and you can achieve much more than this if you have greater capacity for drying than I had over the past week. 8 days is about the minimum amount of time one needs as it does take a few days for the Pastillage to dry, before colouring, painting or air brushing and before sticking everything together.

Let the following work be the guide to your own creativity...Pastry is such a fun trade...Don't you agree !!

The recipe used for the pastillage is one that was given to me back in the early 90's by EWALD NOTTER when i was doing Sugar Work classes with him in Josefstrasse, in Zurich, Swizerland and some of the designs are from his templates also. The Masks are based on Venetian character masks from the theatre and are formed over a plastic mask which was bought in a craft store in LA, while I was there recently. Pretty much everything else you see from the roses to the discs is free formed. The peacock is based upon one of those snappped together plywood sets...but its a work in development...not happy with the outcome and so will make it again probably next week. I'll post pics when its perfected.



Birthday Cakes, Birthday Cakes, Birthday Cakes !!!!

I have fun making birthday cakes, for a singular reason!!  I love to see the faces of the children when they receive them and see their cake for the first time. It truly makes their day, and truly makes my heart leap with thanks for being in this industry.
Although we are paid to make them, it feels great to create something based upon a request and to meet the expectations of the client.

One thing though that has long rubbed me a little the wrong way is the expectations other people have of Western - non-European Pastrychefs.
You see, as a pastrychef from Australia and working internationally, (there are quite the number of us out there now in major positions around the world these days), everyone expects us, to not only know International modern patisserie on just about every level, as well as chocolate tempering, sugar work, pastillage, ice-creams, breads and plated desserts, but they also expect us to knock out a birthday cake within a few hours notice (or less!)

 So ! You might say..... You are a Pastrychef after all !! Right!!
Yeh, but does anyone ask Pierre Herme to knock out a celebration cake of novelty proportions for 100 kids on a Friday afternoon??
Does Christophe Michalak get asked to stay late and make a cake for 20 adults ??
 I think not.!!
Seriously it does not bother me, as much as this blog may seem to state, but it is the in-equality of the country of origin that still bugs me a little all these years later.

 If I were French, few would ask me to make a Novelty cake!! They would suffice with the words Happy Birthday draped over one of my more alluring Entrements.

Luckily, although not anywhere near perfect, I have been blessed with the opportunities to practice my Birthday cake skills over the past few years, making up to 50 cakes a year. Small numbers perhaps , had I had my own patisserie, but big numbers for our little operation.
Of course , If i had a Patisserie, I would never say no to any one of these cakes if I was asked to prepare them. For just like Wedding cakes, cakes of these styles can fetch top dollar.
Last minute orders with just hours notice, costing even more.
Thanks for stopping by and hope the cakes that I have produced this past year are of some interest to you all.

 I watch the challengers on Food Networks, Cake Challenge programmes and believe easily, that our team would stand an amazing chance at winning the big bucks.
Pity someone won't cough up the airfare for me and my guys to head to Vegas, and where does the invitation come from anyway??
Or are they just a little scared of the Antipodean pastrychefs and the skilled Pastry guys here in the Middle East, proving how masterly we have
become over the years !!!
Mmmmmmmmhhhhh !!!

 This car, is modelled out of chocolate fudge cake and sprayed with chocolate. Seats are white chocolate modelling chocolate.

 Anyone need advertising cakes !!!
Pastrychef avaiable to fly anywhere !!! ha ha ha, for the cost of a ticket of course. !!! and a few days off at the other end of the production schedule. !

 Birthdays, anniversaries, whatever the reason, its really nice to have some fun with whatever the occassion. I love this Wedding Anniversary cake. Simple, Sexy and of course chocolate mousse cake ! YUMMMMM

Thanks as always for stopping by and sorry for the delay in posting new pics of food lately.
Hope to have more to share with everyone soon.
Regards always