contemporary

Margeret Braun, Ursuline- (1 of 11,000 virgins), Pastillage, 2004
see more of Margaret Braun's work at www.margaretbraun.com

Colleen Apte, Biplanes, Pastillage, 2005
www.pastryarts.com

More from Colleen Apte:
"My sugar showpiece is constructed of pastillage. For my design, I created pattern pieces as well as a form for the fuselage of the plane from light cardboard. My showpiece is two open cockpit bi-planes (modeled after the WACO UPF-7). Since the exhibit was at the airport I immediately thought of doing an airplane as a showpiece. My grandfather - Wylie L. Apte Sr. - was a pioneer aviator who built a plane in the family barn as a young man, was a barnstormer, and flew at the front in France in World War I. My father is also an aviator and had several WACO UPF-7s for sightseeing flights in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. They were beautiful old planes and so much fun to ride in.

Pastillage is a dough made of confectionary sugar, corn starch, glucose, gelatin, and vinegar. Pastillage is rolled out like pie crust, cut, and shaped. Once dry it is fairly strong but brittle. You need to work very cleanly with pastillage to maintain its perfect whiteness. Traditional pastillage work is done in all white using form, shadow, and negative spaces to achieve exciting effects. Some modern pastillage work is marbled or airbrushed. Frequently pastillage is used as support in sugar showpieces. It can be used to create stands for petit fours, cakes, etc. Working with pasatillage can be tricky since pastillage quickly forms a skin after it is rolled out and this will wrinkle when it is cut. At the world pastry competition in 2004 teams were required to create a pastillage show piece. Visit http://www.pastrychampionship.com/photos/index.html for some photos.

Pastillage is in the same family as rolling fondant (normally used to cover wedding cakes it is does not include gelatine or vinegar, is tastier, softer and more elastic, and is not usually used for structural pieces). Gumpaste is another sugar paste in the same family (normally used for very delicate work such as making flowers, it includes gum tragacanth and is very elastic, can be rolled out very thin;y but does not have the same strength as pastillage). "

Colleen Apte