I often wonder who thought it was a good idea to cook sugar to around 350 degrees, pour it out, and then actually touch it. Was it someone who enjoyed torture and pain? Or were they too enticed by the end result that they didn’t mind handling the molten mass? I’m assuming it was the later because that’s exactly how I feel.

In our introductory class, the task was relatively simple. Boil sugar and water, add glucose and colorant, and pour into shapes. Once the sugar sets, unmold the pieces and assemble. Assembling is done by heating the piece you want to stick with a blowtorch and then securing it to a second piece of sugar. For the most part, this is fairly simple as long as the pieces you’re trying to stick together are relatively sturdy. If they are fine and delicate, then you’re swimming in choppy waters.

I managed to get my sculpture together in one piece with no disasters. It was when I tried to attach the finer pieces to the top where I ran into trouble. Have you ever watched one of those sugar competitions on TV where the chef is concentrating furiously on his piece and then it shatters with a heartbreaking crash? My piece broke not once, but three times. At first I was frustrated, but each time after that, I sighed, picked up the pieces and reattached them. It’s a learning experience, and I was learning a boatload.

In our second class, we moved on to pulled sugar. Similar to poured sugar, heat water and sugar to the boiling point. Add glucose and continue cooking. At the right point, add the colorant and then tartaric acid. The acid helps the crystals set when the sugar cools. Once the sugar reaches the right temperature, pour out onto a Silpat and let sit for a moment. Once the edges are cool, don dishwashing gloves and gently push the edges of the sugar to the middle. Gradually work the molten mass into a ball. As the sugar cools, it begins to set. When it reaches the right consistency, pull.

Pulling sugar is a bit like making taffy. By pulling the sugar and folding it back onto itself, air gets into the mass and makes it shiny or satiny. It also makes the sugar opaque and much more brilliant and shiny than unpulled sugar. Once satin-ed, the sugar is kept under a very hot heat lamp to keep it malleable. Now it’s time for the fun stuff.

Bits of the sugar blob can be pulled to make flower petals and leaves. Several of the great cooking stores here in Paris carry rubber leaf molds. By pulling out a shape of the leaf from the sugar, it can be laid in the mold and pressed into a leaf shape. The sugar is still soft, so it can be shaped and set on paper to cool.

Roses are the hardest flower to make. Even though I thought I was quite good at it, in sugar is a whole different story. My petals weren’t very thin and I had problems with the placement around the center. I didn’t seem to have the right touch.

In our third class, we moved on to blown sugar – the part I’m most interested in. Again we make the sugar, pour it out and satin it. Then we use a hand pump that consists of a small rubber bladder on the end of a metal tube. The sugar is wrapped around the end of the tube and gently inflated. This can be rather tricky since the sugar is still hot and quite fluid. Inflate too little and the sugar hardens too fast. Inflate too quickly and your work of art pops suddenly. But if you work just right, coaxing the bubble into shape and gradually cooling it down, the results are amazing and look something like fantastic glass Christmas ornaments.

After blowing several bubbles, I made a simple, yet beautiful flower. The center is made with a simple bubble and surrounded by petals pulled from the sugar. The petals are adhered to the bubble by heating the bottoms with a blowtorch and pressed into shape. I was thrilled with what I made and was sad when I had to dump it in the trash. Unfortunately sugar sculptures won’t last longer than a day – especially when it’s humid – because they being to melt and drip causing a sticky, gooey mess.

Yesterday was the first practice run for the final exam – which happens to be this Friday. The class is six hours long and a great opportunity to experiment with color and form. We begin by making our base of poured sugar. We then whip up a batch of pulled or blown sugar and make decorations. At the last minute, we assemble to base and adhere the decorations. I’m making this a lot easier than it sounds as there are several obstacles encountered along the way.

One – humidity. Humidity is sugar’s worst enemy. You can even predict if it’s going to rain by the consistency of your sugar. As the humidity increases, the sugar begins to melt and become very sticky. Imagine trying to assemble a delicate flower wearing plastic gloves that stick to each piece wherever you place your fingers.

Two – gravity. Because our sugar sculptures are about 1 ½ feet tall the base pieces have to be thick enough to stand upright and support the weight of the decorations. Gravity and humidity love to work against you at a rapid pace. As soon as your pieces are upright, they begin the gradual descent downward. Flowers that were placed on the base at a rakish angle want to fall forward. Leaves that were placed in just the right spot want to slowly bend until the rest on another piece. When heating one piece to attach it to another, you must hold the two together for quite a while before the sugar sets. It’s a very patient job.

Three – burns. No class would be complete without me burning myself at least once. Yesterday I managed to do it four times. A record for me. Twice I set my gloves on fire heating up small pieces with the torch. I finally decided to work with bare hands for a more delicate touch and gave myself two sugar burns when pressing hot pieces together. But it was worth every second. The results were beautiful.

Although I don’t have the colors quite right, I’m confident for the final. We have one more six hour practice run tomorrow before the big day. But I’m ready. Watch out chefs because here I come!

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