pulled sugar resources

[eeyore]

Anyone know of any good in depth instructional websites or books about sugar work?

I want to practice at home.

thanx
eeyore

 

[thebighat]

Do a web search for Ewald Notter. He's got everything. Meanwhile, this might help you get started......sugar stuff

 

[chrose]

As the big hat says, look for Ewald Notter. I've taken many classes from him and he is by far the most talented practitioner of the art. He has 2 books, I don't remember the name of the first one, I'm sure it's on his site, but the 2nd one Das Ist Zucker is worth whatever you pay for it.
His classes are very pricy, but you cannot put a price on training such as his. It's like questioning the cost of lessons from Leonardo DaVinci.
He is located in Gaithersburg, MD at Albert Uster Imports. Call up and get a brochure.
I might suggest that if at all possible take a course or watch someone in person. It's not as easy as it may look and it can burn you as well if you don't learn the little techniques that may or may not be shown. If you have any other questions I'd be happy to help.

If this works I'm attaching a picture of my wedding cake from many moons ago that I did with my sugar training from Ewald.file:///E:/weddingcake2.gif

 

[eeyore]

Thank you so much for the info guys.

Actually I have done a little sugar work it has just been quite a while.

I have some time off and want to try new and different things.

It is just hard to set up at home.

Chrose, I have family in Rochester. Nice city.

 

[panini]

Have you dabbled since the birth of isomalt? This has made the art of sugar easier by 50%.
panini

 

[chrose]

Panini,
Do you think so?
What do you like about it? Personally I found it good for casting pieces. It is also much less hydroscopic so it stood up well to humidity. Though to be fair to pure sugar and tartaric acid, I made my sister a unicorn roughly 7 years ago and shipped it to California. It still exists in her China Case. A true testimoney to the California air! It has since taken on a beautiful, old Ivory type patina to it. It's a very pretty piece now and has outlived my other work by about, well, 7 years!
However I found that Isomalt was very hard to work with for pulling and blowing pieces. The temperature needs to be much hotter to have the same elasticity, and it cools too quickly to have that advantage of workability. I found that I had to work faster, pull harder and burned my fingers more with the Isomalt.
Am I the only one? Has Isomalt improved since I tried it a long time ago? What do others think?

 

[eeyore]

No Ive never worked with isomalt, although I have spoken with others who use it regularly.

I have not been able to get a good impression as to which is better from talking them.

If what you say is true it looks as though sugar will be better for me....making do at home. I will need it to stay warm and be easy to work with.

thanx again.

 

[panini]

chrose,
You are quite right. We use this application for handy roses and things like that. You can crank them out, leave the sugar in the cage, in the pan ,turn the light off and walk away. It's also pretty strong when the unknowedgable chef desides to roll the wedding cake in the walk-in for a few minutes to keep the cooks from damaging it. haha
Good for croq's, caramels etc.
For the finer pieces, boiled sugar is best.
I had a sorce for great gloves and milk white, but lost it. If you have resorces please advise.
panini

 

[chrose]

I always got my milk white from Albert Uster Imports. Not cheap, but always top quality and reliable.
As far as gloves I don't use them. I don't have naturally dry hands so that's kind of tough. I just have to try and work quicker. I do use gloves though for blown pieces when there will be a lot of surface area that will be ripe for fingerprints.
I do however use gloves for my chocolate work as the chocolate is much more temperature sensitive to my hot little hands!
Latex gloves can be found at drug stores and some food and candy suppliers. Sometimes when my hands have softened or it's been awhile, I'll use photographers cotton gloves underneath the latex gloves. Not good for dexterity but good if you're pulling large, thick pieces.
I have to find my old sources as I lost the ones I had in my memory in my PC crash. But I think J.B.Prince and NY BAking Company (is that the name?) both have stuff as well.

 

[isa]

Sugar work is fascinating. I'm always amaze by it.

 

[momoreg]

JB Prince definitely has tons of equipment for sugar work. NY Cake and Baking, if that's what you're referring to, is more geared towards home cake decorators. But Bridge Kitchenware has some basic sugar tools.