3 days of making sugar flowers with the talented, adorable & lovable James Rosselle was a fabulous way to spend the first long weekend of the summer! We Canadians are pretty dedicated to this weekend, lovingly called the May 2-4 - it's a time to get away to the cottage, spend time outside with friends & family enjoying the BBQ & drinking beer. However last year when we announced that James Rosselle would be making his first trip to Canada to teach a 3 day course entitled "To Have & To Hold", registrations came pouring in!
For someone as young as James, he has an impeccable resume - his journey began with an opportunity to work for the "king of sugar flowers" Ron Ben-Israel , he then moved on to Chicago where he worked in the pastry kitchen for Gale Gand at TRU restaurant, then an opportunity came along where he could get into teaching as an instructor at the famous Notter School in Orlando. And as if that was not enough, James has participated in numerous Food Network Challenges, winning Gold 4 times out of 4!
On our first day of class, students settled in to fresh coffee, tea & croissants while James showed us his techniques to a flawless fondant finish & how to create gorgeous sugarpaste roses & ranunculus. Our colour scheme for the weekend was purple, fuchsia, black & white - stunning!
Here is Susan stacking her 3 tier wedding cake
James demonstrating his sugar ranunculus
On day 2, the sugar work continued with the finishing stages of the ranunculus and hydrangeas. We then started to decorate our cakes with textured sugar bands and a variety of Patchwork cutters. Taking from James' lead, students got creative and put their own touches to each cake - the variety of designs while still in the same colour scheme was amazing!
On day 3, we brought life to our flowers with dusting. James taught us all how to finish our cakes with a stunning crown of sugar flowers that would make any bride weep.
Lisa creating her sugar flower crown
James with his finished creation!Thank you James for an amazingly sweet 3 days!
Hi Lisa,
ReplyDeleteIsn't James just the cutest guy :)
He's so fun to be with.
Lori V.
Hi Lisa,
ReplyDeleteI had a amazing time and I can't wait to come back for more classes... Hopefully James can come back and show us more of his gorgeous flowers!