Massachusetts ICES Classes & Day of Sharing
I would post this on the ICES group page, but I wanted to share this experience with everyone so you can all see what ICES is about and why you should be a
part of it.
Mary Jo Dowling told me about this event on Tuesday, so I made last minute arrangements to attend. Mary Jo is the Massachusetts ICES state rep and on the
ICES Board of Directors and an absolute sweetheart. Thanks so much for inviting
me, Mary Jo! I also have to thank Michelle Bourbeau for patiently putting up
with my sending numerous emails asking all kinds of nutty questions.
Mary Jo Dowling & Michelle Bourbeau:
This event took place in Randolph, Massachusetts at Lombardo’s. On
Saturday, I took a class with MakeYourOwnMolds.com owner, Chef Dominic
Palazzolo. We learned 4 different methods for casting molds and the class was all
day long. This was his first ever master mold making class and he had to drive
16 hours to get there.
Chef Dominic Palazzolo (I was in the picture, but it was a bad hair day for me):
You can make a mold of just about anything. The exceptions are things made out of rubber and some types of vinyl. He did say that some vinyl items can be coated
with confectionary glaze to create a barrier between the vinyl and the
plastique.
All of the silicone molds can be used for gum paste, fondant, chocolate, or sugar. They can be thrown right in the dishwasher. Don’t try that with a regular chocolate
mold.
This blob here is actually a shot glass mold in progress. Believe me, mine was a lot messier than some others. This is a 2 part mold and had numerous steps involved,
but most of the molds are really easy to make.
This mold is an unidentified leaf from Lombardo’s property. It was so easy to make and it probably cost about $2 in materials to do it.
Same goes for this pearl mold.
This mold was cast with a mini-wedding bubble bath favor.
It’s the same technique used to make sugar beer bottles. (Sorry, I had a hard time holding the mold open and taking a picture with the other hand). It was a great class that taught everything you need to know to make any kind of mold imaginable.
These are my new friends Sandra Frezza and Van French who sat next to me during the mold making class.
On day 2, I took a morning class with Julie Bashore in advanced fondant techniques. Julie has thirty years of experience as a master confectioner with
a very impressive resume’.
Julie and me:
This is Julie’s winning cake on the Ultimate Cake Off:
These are just two more examples of her impeccable work:
Julie introduced fondant to the United States 22 years ago. The story, as she tells
it, is that in England,
fondant was pleasant for people accustomed to the hard texture of royal icing.
In the U.S.,
everyone was used to the creaminess of buttercream and people didn’t want to
have to chew their icing. She had the fondant manufacturer add flavorings to
the fondant, yet it still remained on the plate when people ate their cake.
Julie has found a way to resolve that problem. Using a sheeter, she is able to
get her fondant so thin that no one even realizes they are eating it. She
applies a generous layer of buttercream to her cakes and then fondant rolled to
1/32” thick, a thinness that is only possible with a sheeter.
Once I tried the sheeter, I was in love! Julie doesn’t use any powdered sugar or cornstarch when rolling out her fondant. She puts the fondant through the
sheeter on a silicone Ateco mat lightly greased with shortening. This allows
you to patch any area that doesn’t come out even. When you use cornstarch or
powdered sugar, you know how difficult it can be because the fondant won’t
stick to itself.
Here is just one of the really cool things she taught us.
This striped look is created by twisting together 1/3 chocolate fondant and 2/3 white fondant. Then it is rolled out in one direction to create the stripes. I enjoyed Julie’s
class so much, I’m going to take her more of her classes. She is an absolutely
amazing teacher and a truly gifted sugar artist. I just can’t say enough good
things about Julie. When I met her, I made a friend for life.
If you are interested in taking classes with Julie, she offers a wide variety of classes covering everything from blown sugar, wedding cakes, sugar veil and
more. Her website is sugarartschool.com and I will be posting her classes in
the events section. If you have an opportunity to take classes with Julie,
whether they are at her school or at an ICES event, don’t miss out!
During the day of sharing, Julie Bashore shared her tips for covering a cake perfectly with fondant, Dominic Palazzolo debuted his brand new line of lace molds with
exquisite detail and member Paula St. Pierre shared her technique for creating
a lace look on fondant by spreading royal icing over lace material.
The wedding cake competition was hysterical. 5 teams of 3 people had to just 1 hour to create a wedding cake with the cheesiest, outdated plastic columns and
toppers. Mary Jo was drafted and while I was taking a picture of her, she flung
a blob of pink icing my way that just missed my white pants.
Mary Jo in action:
All of the contestants and their cakes:
All I can say is if you’re not a part of ICES, you are missing out! You have the opportunity to participate in fun events like this in your state or be a guest,
as I was, in an event anywhere in the world. Membership entitles you to the
ICES newsletter, a discount at all ICES events, and ICES meetings. It gives you
the chance to network with the top confectioners in the business with over
4,000 members worldwide. Visit ices.org to become a member.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Sherry Qualls on
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Wowee Kazowee Terri.......looks like a terrific event and what bad hair day....wish all my hair days were that bad :D
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Permalink Reply by Theresa Happe on
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I cropped myself out. The humidity was bad and it was over 90 degrees that day. It looked like I put my finger in an electrical outlet. (The day I'm talking about was not the same day as the other picture).
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Permalink Reply by jeri c on
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Sounds like sooo much fun! I am impressed with all you did in one weekend! You must be exhausted!!!
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Excitement keeps you going. My husband was a bit bored. He had to find something to do while I was in class all day.
jeri c said:Sounds like sooo much fun! I am impressed with all you did in one weekend! You must be exhausted!!!
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Permalink Reply by Stampinsher on
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Having you describe your experience being there at this event made me feel as if I was there too. It sounded like a lot of fun! Bad hair day, who ever has a bad hair day? Mine is almost every single day, LOL. A good day for me is when I don't brush my hair when it is dry, so I always try to wet it. No water then it is tied up tight. Otherwise, meet Ms. Bozo the Clown Hair!
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Most of my days are bad hair days. I have crazy, curly, unruly hair. It looks good straight, but I don't have the patience to spend an hour doing it. I go to the bus stop in my pjs and crazy hair. To think my mother gave me perms when I was a teenager. God, those were really awful hair days.
Stampinsher said:Having you describe your experience being there at this event made me feel as if I was there too. It sounded like a lot of fun! Bad hair day, who ever has a bad hair day? Mine is almost every single day, LOL. A good day for me is when I don't brush my hair when it is dry, so I always try to wet it. No water then it is tied up tight. Otherwise, meet Ms. Bozo the Clown Hair!
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Permalink Reply by Jessica Barrera on
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Hello, my name is Jessica Barrera, and I was wondering How much would a cake cost like the one on picture 10. And, also how long would it take--- Please if you may answer this question as soon as possible and Thank You
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Permalink Reply by Deah on
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Jessica, that cake wasn't done by Terri. It was done by Julie Bashore, so you would need to contact her. Here's her website http://www.sugarartschool.com/index.html. I suspect that cake was in the thousands of dollars though.
Jessica Barrera said:Hello, my name is Jessica Barrera, and I was wondering How much would a cake cost like the one on picture 10. And, also how long would it take--- Please if you may answer this question as soon as possible and Thank You
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Julie Bashore sold her bakery. She now only does classes.
Deah said:Jessica, that cake wasn't done by Terri. It was done by Julie Bashore, so you would need to contact her. Here's her website http://www.sugarartschool.com/index.html. I suspect that cake was in the thousands of dollars though.
Jessica Barrera said:Hello, my name is Jessica Barrera, and I was wondering How much would a cake cost like the one on picture 10. And, also how long would it take--- Please if you may answer this question as soon as possible and Thank You
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Permalink Reply by Wes & Jaci on
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Holy Cow, i would love to attept to make a cake like those My lord, then i would be a professional LOL, Just Amazing
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