Confectionery is the art of making confections, which are food items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates. Exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confectionery is divided into two broad and somewhat overlapping categories: bakers' confections and sugar confections. The occupation of confectioner encompasses the categories of cooking performed by both the French patissier and the confiseur.
Cake is a flour confection made from flour, sugar, and other ingredients and is usually baked. In their oldest forms, cakes were modifications of bread, but cakes now cover a wide range of preparations that can be simple or elaborate and which share features with desserts such as pastries, meringues, custards, and pies.
A wedding cake is the traditional cake served at wedding receptions following dinner. In some parts of England, the wedding cake is served at a wedding breakfast; the 'wedding breakfast' does not mean the meal will be held in the morning, but at a time following the ceremony on the same day. In modern Western culture, the cake is usually on display and served to guests at the reception. Traditionally, wedding cakes were made to bring good luck to all guests and the couple. Nowadays, however, they are more of a centerpiece to the wedding and are not always even served to the guests. Some cakes are built with only a single edible tier for the bride and groom to share, but this is rare since the cost difference between fake and real tiers is minimal.
Icing, or frosting, is a sweet, often creamy glaze made of sugar with a liquid, such as water or milk, that is often enriched with ingredients like butter, egg whites, cream cheese, or flavorings. It is used to coat or decorate baked goods, such as cakes. When it is used between layers of cake it is known as a filling.
A mille-feuille, also known by the names Napoleon in North America, vanilla slice in the United Kingdom, and custard slice, is a French dessert made of puff pastry layered with pastry cream. Its modern form was influenced by improvements made by Marie-Antoine Carême.
Fondant icing, also commonly referred to simply as fondant, is an icing used to decorate or sculpt cakes and pastries. It is made from sugar, water, gelatin, vegetable fat or shortening, and glycerol. It does not have the texture of most icings; rolled fondant is akin to stiff clay, while poured fondant is a thick liquid. The word, in French, means 'melting,' coming from the same root as fondue and foundry.
Molten chocolate cake is a dessert that consists of a chocolate cake with a liquid chocolate core. It is named for that molten center, and it is also known as chocolate coulant ("flowing"), chocolate lava cake, or simply lava cake. It should not be confused with chocolate fondant, a recipe that contains little flour, but much chocolate and butter, hence melting on the palate.
Sugar sculpture is the art of producing artistic centerpieces entirely composed of sugar and sugar derivatives. These were very popular at grand feasts from the Renaissance until at least the 18th century, and sometimes made by famous artists. Sugar was very expensive by modern standards, and sculptures in it a form of conspicuous consumption, reflecting wealth. Today, there are many competitions that include sugar sculpture.
Food Network Challenge is a competitive cooking television series that aired on the Food Network. In each episode, professional chefs vie in a timed competition in their professional specialty. The winner receives a cheque for $10,000 and a gold medal. The first run of the series started in 2005 as a number of specials, before becoming a regular series that launched in 2007 and ended in 2011.
Heny Sison, popularly known as Chef Heny, is a pastry chef, cake decorator, and television host in the Philippines.
Cake decorating is the art of decorating a cake for special occasions such as birthdays, weddings, baby showers, national or religious holidays, or as a promotional item.
Cookie decorating dates back to at least the 14th century when in Switzerland, springerle cookie molds were carved from wood and used to impress Biblical designs into cookies.
Kerry Vincent was an Australian television personality and baker. She was a judge on several Food Network shows, as well the co-founder of the annual Oklahoma Sugar Art Show.
Icingtons are traditional wedding figurines made entirely of icing sugar. Icingtons are distinguishable from other wedding figurines by their organic soft look. They are placed on top of the wedding cake as a visual and symbolic mechanism.
Ron Ben-Israel is an Israeli-American pastry chef. He is the executive chef and owner of Ron Ben-Israel Cakes in New York City. He is known for his wedding and special occasion cakes as well as for his detail in sugar paste flowers. From 2011 to 2013, he hosted the cooking competition TV show Sweet Genius. Ben-Israel has also been a judge on a variety of Food Network shows, including Cake Wars, Chopped, Guy's Grocery Games and Worst Cooks in America.
Kaysie Rogers-Lackey is a food artist and cake decorating instructor based in Seattle, Washington. As owner of The People's Cake in Seattle, WA, she has been featured in wedding and cake magazines, including "Brides", Martha Stewart Weddings", Modern Wedding Cakes, Seattle Bride, "Seattle Metropolitan Bride and Groom" and American Cake Decorating. In 2015 Kaysie was also profiled in The Wall Street Journal's "What's In Her Bag?". She is a frequent competitor on Food Network Challenge cake decorating competitions, having been featured on four different episodes, and winning three as of 2012. She was also featured on Food Network's "Last Cake Standing". Kaysie teaches at cake decorating schools in the United Kingdom, United States, Mexico, Canada, Australia, Asia, Africa, South America, India, throughout Europe, and the Middle East. The People's Cake was named one of "Brides" magazine's Top 100 Cake Decorators in the United States in 2013. Kaysie was named one of "Martha Stewart Wedding's" Top 63 Pastry Professionals in 2014 and "Dessert Professionals" magazine's.
Shayne Greenman is an Australian artisan baker, sugar craftsman and culinary artist.
The French Pastry School (FPS) is a vocational secondary school located in Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. Its courses cover pastry, baking and confectionery arts. The French Pastry School is a for-profit school, and the only culinary school in the United States dedicated exclusively to teaching pastry.
The first season of The Great Canadian Baking Show premiered on CBC Television on November 1, 2017. Ten amateur bakers competed over eight weeks of challenges throughout the competition for the title.
Sylvia Weinstock was an American baker and cake decorator. She was known for making delicious, multi-tiered wedding cakes decorated with botanically accurate sugar flowers. She also created elaborate trompe-l'oeil cakes that looked like cars, a crate of wine, Fabergé eggs, and other objects.
