Tag Archives: confectionary

The World of Cupcakes

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Cupcakes stacked on a tier stand

Image by: Bren Alanis

Cupcakes. There is not much to say about cupcakes when defining them as their name gives away the true necessary reasoning of its existence. It is essentially a miniature version of a cake for an individualized portion that can be served without the hassle of slicing a cake. This ensures the same portion for each person as the sizing of the cupcakes is always the same instead of the varying comparison of cake slices. Hence the coined name of the cupcake…a cake that is shaped like a cup. While cupcakes are the kryptonite to pastry chefs like Duff Goldman of Charm City Cakes (you know, the star of Ace of Cakes and many other Food Network television programs), they are innovative creations.There are still varying sizes of cupcakes between the standard size, jumbo size, and miniature size…they all serve the same purpose. Somehow, the world has become so widely in love with all things in miniature versions which is why cupcakes became so trendy as they were viewed as miniature versions of cakes. It is amazing to see the many creations that can be made from such a small dessert of cupcakes.

Food hybrids are still taking both the culinary and confectionary worlds by storm as it allows for two individual foods to be paired together in order to create an entirely new food item. This is what occurred with the cronut which was the pairing of the croissant and the doughnut as well as the pizza cone which is the conjoined duo of the fixings in a pizza slice wrapped in a cone to have the appearance of an ice cream cone. Cupcakes have somehow become a part of this trend especially since it challenges chefs to not only create a food hybrid with a cupcake but to produce a hybrid on a smaller scale to fit the size of a cupcake as well.

There are amazing cupcake hybrids that the dessert world has to offer…one being the flan cupcake. Flan is a spongy caramelized custard that has a syrupy caramel. This is then made into a miniature version and topped onto a cupcake in lieu of frosting.

a small flan on top of a cupcake

Image by: Alma

Another being the crème brulee cupcake which consists of the cupcake center being hulled out to then be filled with a custard filling. Instead of being frosted with traditional frosting, it is topped with the custard before having sugar sprinkled over it then it is blowtorched to get the beautiful caramelized bruleed finish.

a cupcake with a caramelized topping

Image by: beantownbaker

Lastly, there is the croquembouche cupcake which is based off of the famous French dessert which consists of cream puffs that are precisely layered in order to compile into a cone shaped that is then bound together with threads of caramel. This is a dessert that is readily made for special events such as for weddings. This is a complex dessert to replicate onto a cupcake because it must be made on such a miniature scale in which there are miniature cream puffs that are stacked into a very small cone that can fit into the parameters of the cupcake itself before being decorated accordingly with the hot caramel.

a small tower of mini cream puffs on a cupcake

Image by: cupcakegalore

Comment below on dessert hybrids that you would like to be created on a cupcake.

The Beauty of Sugar Sculptures

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Sugar is a centrical ingredient in the confectionary world. Being that I aspire to be a pastry chef, I am used to working with different types of sugar all the time. Each sugar can serve its own purpose in how it is utilized to create a particular dessert. There’s granulated cane sugar, turbinado sugar, light brown sugar, dark brown sugar, 10x sugar, pearl sugar, raw sugar, artificial sweeteners, and the list goes on. All of these sugar options are widely used to not only sweeten a dessert item but for its other properties as well. For instance when making sugar cookies, it is sometimes topped with granulated sugar and this is used to add crunch as well as more flavor to the cookies. If 10x sugar (also known as confectioner’s sugar) was used, it would essentially melt into the cookie causing it crackle.

a red basket made out of sugar

Image by: Brianna Vasquez

Sugar is so valued and readily used in the confectionary world that it is almost always present as an ingredient in every dessert. One of the most amazing ways that sugar is utilized is to create sugar sculptures. The art of creating sugar sculptures consist of composing the most elaborate artistic masterpieces that are completely made from sugar and its fellow derivatives. In order to make these sculptures that sugar must be broken down and heated to a high temperature to allow it to be molded or shaped into the desired appearance. The recipe for making pulled sugar is granulated cane sugar which is cooked with water and glucose which can also be substituted for high fructose corn syrup. Then, an acidic agent is added to prevent crystallization from occurring when it reaches the hard crack stage which occurs at 300 degrees which is when coloring can be added right before it comes off the heat to allow the water from the coloring to reduce.

a red basket filled with fruits made entirely out of sugar

Image by: Brianna Vasquez

Hot sugar is divided into three separate categories which are pulled sugar, blown sugar, and cast sugar. Pulled sugar is when the sugar has been cooked into a liquid and poured usually over a Silpat which is a silicone rubber mat. The sugar is then pulled and folded repeatedly to incorporate air into the sugar which helps it to have a shine instead of being opaque. The sugar can then be molded into a variety of designs or shapes. Blown sugar is essentially pulled sugar that is blown into a shape with the help of a rubber pump. A portion of the pulled sugar is wrapped around the end of a rubber pump which is usually made out of wood or metal. Then, air is slowly pumped into the sugar to avoid it from cracking. Then, when the desired shape is achieved, the blown sugar is placed under a cool fan to allow it to harden to the shape. Finally, cast sugar is still a form of pulled sugar in which the hot sugar liquid is poured into molds this allows the pieces to harden into a desired shape that will be used as a base platform to hold you showpieces that have been blown or pulled.