Fondant Demo by Chef Nicholas Ang of The White Ombré

Things required for crafting: rolling pin, piler, floral tape, mould cutter, floral wire, ball tool ,spoons and non-stick board with 4 grooves for making leaves .

Chef Nicholas And demonstrating the making of roses

The 2 types of roses which he had demos - one of which is a David Austin Rose (pretty real looking)

We attending the fondant cake design by Chef Nicholas Ang of The White Ombré at the National Design Centre. He made altogether 3 roses and some leaves. Fondant  is a thick paste made of sugar and water and often flavoured or coloured. Hence, it is very sweet edible but some people may not like it due to the extreme sweetness.

The chef demonstrated on how to shape fondant into flowers and leaves. Flowers were made by sticking petals pieces by pieces to the floral wire using water. Chopstick was used in this case for the David Austin Rose because it was heavy. Participants were encouraged to try out to make the leaves and petals. Several ladies tried out. Little One participated too although she does not have the strength to roll the fondant thinly. She cut the leaf out and tried to put in the wire through the main vein. Then, using a leaf mould to leave impressions of tinier veins.

Leaves seemed easy enough. But the same cannot be said for flowers. A few other ladies tried making the petals. Rolling the fondant thinly and cut out circles were easy enough. However, making the petal from the cicular fondant was not that easy. We used the ball tool to shape the petal. The ball tool was to be rolled on the top edge of the petals with some force so that it forms the natural frays. The force cannot be too hard or the petal may break. That was the problem we faced when we tried making the petals. The bottom of the petal have to be rolled by the tool to form some what like a v shape. Then to apply the petal to a spoon to make it look more naturally curved. The top edge of the petal was to be bent lightly over the top of the spoon.This again required some skills. The petal was then left to dry. Then paste one by one to a tear drop fondant. The trick is to overlap each petal by covering 1/3 of the previous petal and to tuck the last petal under the first one when the layer is about to be completed.

Below is a video I found in the youtube. It demostrates how to make a rose. I prefer how Chef Nicholas made it as no cutting in the end was required.

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1st Exposure to Amezaiku

In the midst of Chinese New Year, which is celebrated on the first 15 days of the 1st Lunar month of the Chinese Calendar, I attended and exposed myself to Japanese Candy Art Sculpturing (Amazaiku). On the 3rd March, it is Hina Matsuri Festival (Doll Festival or Girl's Festival) which is celebrated in Japan. I am very interested in cultures and hence went ahead to the Lecture & Demonstration on Amazaiku conducted in Japan Creative Centre (JCC).

I brought Little One along too as there was no one who could take care of her that day. There were also a few parents who brought their children along.

The whole session was conducted by Ms Minori Baba, a Japanese born in Kobe. Before the session start, she prepared her ingredients required for amazaiku in front of us using a portable induction cooker.

A sticky glob of hot candy. 

Ms Baba speaks Japanese and fortunately, there was a translator to help translate to English. She introduced herself as a passionate candy sculptor artist. She loves to cosplay and she works at a Japanese Radio Station as a DJ. As that day was Hina Matsuri, she introduces to us why Japanese celebrates this special day. At the same time, she introduced various types of Japanese sweets which are enjoyed during the celebration , before proceeding to introduce the traditional Japanese Art Candy Sculpturing "Amezaiku".

Introducing the Hinamatsuri Sweets

What is Amekaiku?
It is a traditional Japanese art of sculpturing candy into various.animals, things and characters. Today only about 40 people are practicing the art in Japan. Ms Baba started her candy art skills in 2006 and she mastered her amezaiku skills by herself. Since then Ms Minori has been doing candy art shows everywhere, she is able to handle hot candies which are of 80-90 degree celsius without gloves in order to sculpture a candy into different forms. Her amezaiku equipment includes a special scissors called "Nigiribasami", brushes and food colouring. Sculpting candy had to be done fast before it hardens.

The artists start with balls of soft candy,dyed with food colouring, attached to the end of wooden sticks. The candy is pinched, pulled and cut into the desired shape. Finishing touches, like eyes, the whiskers are painted on with food dyes.

In the past, amezaiku artist blew into the balls of candies to help enlarge them but nowadays, for hygiene purpose, they use pump instead.

After the lecture, Ms Baba demonstrated amezaiku in front of us. According to JCC, she is the only candy sculpting artist who can make candies while singing a song. Ms Baba made 3 candies, (a dragon, Ponyo in a shape of a goldfish, and Totoro) in front of us. It was such an eye-opener! The candies were given to 3 lucky children. The candies can be stored for a few months if not eaten. I was glad Little One enjoyed watching the making of candy art!

Ms Baba singing to the tune of Totoro while making one. She used a pump to pump the body of Totoro.

Look at these cute candies! Too lovely to be consumed in my opinion.

I believe Amezaiku is a dying art in Japan because it is not easy handling hot candies at 80 degree Celcius. Many beginners burn their hand. Candy Sculpturing Artist such as Ms Baba had trained herself to get used to the heat. She had trained herself to make these amazing and beautiful candies. The reason she likes doing amezaiku is because of passion. She loves to put a smile on everyone's face when they see her candy art.

I could not upload any of the video I have taken at JCC. But here is a video of Ms Baba sculpting Hello Kitty. Hope you enjoy watching too!





Ps: The video of Ms Baba in action is on  my facebook page

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