How to make a Renaissance SUGAR SCULPTURE
British Museum Collection
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5m 10s
Want to add some punch to your dinner parties? Or make a political statement at Sunday lunch? In this final recipe video of the Pleasant Vices series Tasha demonstrates how to make a sugar sculpture to adorn your table.
The history of sugar sculpture is one of status, power and storytelling, so what forms you choose to make and what tales you choose to tell are up to you - but as Tasha will show you it takes just three ingredients to create a decoration that could last for centuries.
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.
Sugar showpieces can be composed of several different types of sugar elements. All begin with cooking sugar, and possibly an acidic agent and/or non-sucrose sugar product to avoid unwanted crystallization, to the hard crack stage, around 300 °F (149 °C). When all components are completed, they are welded together using a gas torch. The sugar is melted, and then joined together.
Cast: Tasha Marks (Historian)
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