EEEEC: Isabel Maria’s Sugarpaste Carnations & Pomegranate Box
Isabel Maria shares her entry for the categories of luxuriation, degustation, and exploration. As she says:
“There was an upcoming event called An Evening in Granada, and the promotional material read “It is 1526 and we invite you to join us in Granada, to celebrate the glad tidings of the nuptials of Carlos of Spain and Isabella of Portugal in an evening of fine food, fine company, and fine entertainment. Rumour has it that this is where the happy couple will be spending their honeymoon!”. As I had offered to make some sotelties to complement the feast and theme, it became obvious that I needed to learn some new skills in order to make the envisaged items; red sugarpaste carnations and a pomegranate decorated with gold leaf.
“Having never gilded anything, nor created anything so fine as carnation petals in the medium of sugarpaste before, I embarked on a journey of research, shopping, bodging equipment to approximate the ‘proper’ tools, and a testing amount of testing to see what worked for me. This was the exploration part of the project.
“Somewhere along this process, the pomegranate became a box to hold actual pomegranate arils and I decided to gild the carnation calyxes. (I’m not entirely sure how that happened.)
The pomegranate was made by forming the shapes over a suitable shape and allowing them to dry for several days before being removed and allowed to dry further. Once I was comfortable with their structural stability, I added the red ‘skin’ layer, and added the sculpted flower to the top. The gilding was added after further drying, and the application of a little sugar glue.
In contrast, the carnations were much more intensive in their construction and were completed over many evenings. Each layer of petals had to be cut out of the paste, then thinned and the edges thinned further until they ruffled. This delicate layer was then added to the wire and allowed to dry overnight before another layer was created and added. The calyx was cut from paste and moulded around the base of the petals when the petals looked sufficiently full and carnation like.
As these sotelties were edible they meet the definition of degustation even though they didn’t really feed anyone (Her Excellency excepted), and were created simply to add glamour and luxury to the event, it is clear they fall into the luxuriation category for this challenge. Which is not to say they didn’t generate a lot of enjoyment in their creation and display.”