Edible figurines on the cakes are a popular cake delicacy these days. Think about some a couple of feet long steam engine chocolate cake or pastry decorated with creatures from the elfin lands. The present day bakers, chocolatiers, patissiers are much into all these cake decors in present times. Some of the best craftsmen in France have to tell us that it is like the beginning of the bakery industry in India, while in the US, he goes about conducting his own patisserie and bakery classes.
The US is much more into such bakery and chocolate products. Of course in the present day, India is also specializing into the art of cake and pastry making. The good bakeries in Kuala Lampur have also made a lot of progress. India also has a similar future in bakery, as per sources.
The Academy of Pastry Arts in Gurgaon conducted demonstrations by famous bakers from France. Morel from France conducted the sculpting of a face of an elephant with mass of great chocolate. This was carved with such dexterity that the folds of the trunk of the animal along with the slender lines also showed up very prominently as the product were displayed. Eight kilos of super chocolate went into the carving and it was a prize elephant cake according to the artist.
The Director of the pastry studies at the academy said that the bakers would like to experiment with such stuff. The world is getting smaller and it is thus easier to have great bakers and chocolatiers from abroad to hold workshop in the various types of cakes and pastry baking. Morel from France added the Indian insignia to his products, by adding even betel leaves or the Indian ‘pan’ or ‘garam masala’ to his cake décor. Morel, in his lifestyle as a chocolatier has to say he starts off his day tasting chocolates. He is interested and keen on inventing flavors. The skill and art should be clear on every student’s mind, he opines. He stressed upon the basics being very right for the sculptures to stand out on the cakes.
Sources say, Cheong Jun Bu who had been the winner of the World Pastry Cup, 2015 for his best display of chocolates had also come in from Malaysia for his workshop and session on chocolate and sugar sculpting. He had sculpted figures, 3 -4 feet tall. He emphasized on structures that are sweet but not heavy enough. His creation of a fish with fins covered by tentacles similar to the glass blown figurines as made of sugar. The sugar he used was somewhat different to prevent rotting and stickiness. Nicholas Lodge, the chef who decorated the cakes for the royal family in Great Britain showed how to make realistic looking leaves and copy Nature through bakery. He also fashioned real looking flowers and leaves and had used dark colors to show withering of leaves very realistically. This was a matter of impeccable creation that marked him off a one of the present cake sculptors of today.