Sugar Work & Confectionery Arts Flashcards
6 cards from real CPC practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 6 Sugar Work & Confectionery Arts flashcards as text
What is 'nougatine' and how is it used in pastry?
Answer: A caramelized sugar mixed with toasted nuts or seeds, rolled thin and shaped while warm for decorative or structural pastry elements
Nougatine (also called praline paste base or croquant) is caramel mixed with chopped nuts, shaped while pliable, and used for decorative cups, shards, and structural elements in pastry.
What is the difference between 'caramel' and 'toffee'?
Answer: Caramel is a wet or dry cooked sugar technique; toffee is sugar cooked with butter to a hard-crack stage
Caramel is sugar (wet or dry method) cooked to the amber caramelization stage, while toffee is sugar cooked with butter to a hard-crack temperature, producing a harder, butterscotch-flavored confection.
Why is it important to keep sugar work away from humidity?
Answer: Sugar is hygroscopic and absorbs moisture from the air, causing showpieces to soften, cloud, and collapse
Sugar is hygroscopic — it readily absorbs atmospheric moisture, which causes showpieces to become sticky, lose their glossy finish, and eventually collapse.
What is 'pastillage' and what are its characteristics?
Answer: A stiff, sugar-based paste made from powdered sugar, gelatin, and water that dries rock-hard and is used for architectural showpieces
Pastillage is a sugar paste that dries extremely hard and white, allowing it to be molded, cut, or extruded into architectural and decorative shapes for centerpieces.
What is 'dry caramel' method vs. 'wet caramel' method?
Answer: Dry caramel melts sugar directly with no added water; wet caramel dissolves sugar in water before cooking to caramelization
Dry caramel melts granulated sugar directly in the pan (faster, more intense flavor risk), while wet caramel starts by dissolving sugar in water (easier to control, reduces hot spots).
What is 'marzipan' and what is its primary ingredient?
Answer: A confection made primarily from ground almonds and sugar, used for modeling, covering cakes, and petit fours
Marzipan is a pliable confection made from finely ground blanched almonds and sugar (often with glucose or corn syrup), traditionally used for sculpting figures and covering celebration cakes.