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 Product Information Pastiche Working with Pastiche Working with Pastiche Pastiche is a ready to use hard setting sugar paste ideal for flower modelling but easily adjusted for use in a wide range of sugarcraft techniques. Flower Work Using a little white fat or Jem Petal Base, on the fingers to prevent sticking, take a small (walnut sized) piece of Pastiche and knead it between fingers and thumb until it makes a clucking sound. The paste is now ready to use. Soft Handling Pastiche will need less kneading and less white fat, as it is a softer paste to start with. When pinning out Pastiche for cutter flowers we recommend using two thick polythene sheets. Lightly smear the central working area of each with a little white fat or Petal Base, and place a small piece of paste between the sheets. Pin out until the desired thickness is achieved. This method can be adapted for use with a non stick rolling board or plastic flower mat by using just one polythene sheet on top of the paste. Peel off the top sheet and lightly dust both surfaces of the paste with cornflour. Cut your petals, place surplus paste back into the bag immediately and work the petals as required for your chosen flower. Use the polythene sheet to cover the cut petals prior to working. Drying time will vary according to the thickness of the petals, but most pieces will dry overnight. Original Pastiche will dry more quickly, whilst Soft Handling will give a longer working time before the pieces start to set. Using too much cornflour for dusting will dry the paste too quickly, so apply sparingly using a dusting bag. It is easy to make a dusting bag - just take a small square of muslin, and place some cornflour in the centre, then gather up the corners tightly to form a bag and tie securely with thread or ribbon. Colours may be added to Pastiche but if dark colours are required, be aware that the ingredients in the colour may affect the drying time of Pastiche. If the paste becomes too sticky, for instance if a large amount of colour is added, this can be remedied by working a little icing sugar into it. Other Techniques By the addition, in varying proportions, of Sweet Silk or any soft covering sugar paste, the handling characteristics of Pastiche may be modified to make a paste suitable for many sugarcraft techniques. To produce a less resilient, softer setting medium add the soft paste in proportions between 20% and 80%. By this method Pastiche may be adjusted to suit individual requirements. Factors such as room temperature, hand temperature, and humidity could influence the proportions you use. As a rough guide, We suggest the proportions below for the following techniques. 100% Pastiche ~ Flowers, rigid cutter moulds, small ornaments such as bells, thin moulded items, bridgework, pastillage style work, quilling, lace paste structures 75% Pastiche / 25% Sugarpaste ~ Plaques, caskets, cutter lace 50% Pastiche / 50% Sugarpaste ~ Garret Frills, flounces, swags and drapes, deep 'candy style' moulds, bas relief, mdelling, applique, clay gun (you may need to soften further by addition of white fat for clay gun use) 30% Pastiche / 70% Sugarpaste ~ Smocking Many of these techniques can also be successfully completed using Pastrima, our modelling and general cake craft paste. Storage Pastiche is temperature sensitive and so will be stiff when cool and softer when warm. We recommend that you store it at a temperature to suit your needs - room temperature suits most. Upon exposure to air, Pastiche will start to dry and set up. Always keep spare paste covered with polythene while working. After use the paste should be tightly wrapped and sealed in its original silver plastic bag and kept in the airtight tub supplied. The paste is also sensitive to light, so kilogram packs which come wrapped in clear polythene should be overwrapped (eg in a black bag) and kept in the dark. In this packaging pure Pastiche will keep well for several months without refrigeration. The paste may be frozen to further extend its life. | |