A land of castle, cookies, tarts and rolls II

It was a week of huffing and puffing. My back was sore and my feet are still numb but the satisfaction of completing all tasks on time worths every minute. I almost die when our chef told us that instead of 5 days to complete our group project, we got only 4 days because today is a public holiday. So here we go, squeezing 5-day work into 4 days.

Scrambled to reschedule our work plan as well as our own time management to complete two castles as well as our own 3 recipes. Again, some were not contributing as much as they should (you know who...) but I don't care because I really want to learn how to make the castles using fondant and pastillage. Here goes one of my motto: "The more I did, the more I learnt". The weasel in me came out when I indirectly managed to 'convince' a lot of my design into the castles without anyone noticing...hehehe. I got everyone to go along with the colour selection, door design and to add mosses and bricks to cover all defects.

In this project, we got to make 2 castles. One is a real cake and the other one is a dummy made from styrofoam. Fondant is a softer material which used to cover real cakes but too soft for other kinds of figure moulding. Hence, it is more palatable. Pastillage on the other hand, is easier to work with but I would not recommend anyone eating it. Here are the recipes for fondant and pastillage (they are cool to use as 'play dough' since it is completely non toxic):

Fondant
Icing Sugar......................................................5kg
Gelatin.............................................................75g
Water...............................................................430ml
Glucose...........................................................600g
Glycerine.........................................................120g

1. Mix water and gelatin for 10 mins.
2. Heat over medium fire and stir until gelatin dissolve (do not boil).
3. Add in glucose and glycerine. Mix well.
4. Put icing sugar in a mixer and using hook, stir on speed 1.
5. Add the water mixture gradually. A clay like dough will form.

Pastillage
Icing Sugar......................................................5kg/10kg/1kg
Water...............................................................450ml/900ml/90ml
Gelatin.............................................................50gm/100g/10g

1. Soak gelatin in water for 10 mins (do not stir).
2. Heat the mixture (not to boil) wait for the gelatin to dissolve.
3. Put icing sugar in a mixer and using a hook, stir on speed 1.
4. Add the water mixture gradually. A clay like dough will form.

Note: Always pack both fondant and pastillage in air tight bags or containers if not using (dry doughs are not usable). Use food colouring for any desired colour (mix in the colour by kneading the dough repeatedly until colour even).

I completed all my 3 recipes right before our project presentation at 1pm. I made some changes on the make up.Here are the pictures:

 

Verdicts: The Walnut Cinnamon Rolls and Chocolate Chip Cookies were hits! They were finished in an hour later. I had to pack some before they were finished. Unfortunately, my almond cream tarts while looked nice were not favoured. I believe I put too much nutmeg powder! HAHAHA...but the pastry shells were excellent!