The pastillage or pastigliaccio is a paste similar to sugar paste but it is not used for covering cakes, instead it is used to create decorations that need to dry quickly, rigid decorations.
The working of pastillage is still a soft process with the characteristic of drying very fast and allowing to create decorations that “stand” on the cakes. It is an edible paste but, obviously, because of this characteristic of drying quickly, they remain harder if we want to eat them.
Personally, I have used it in some decorated cakes where I needed rigid decorations like the glass in the cinema cake or for making simple flowers like calla lilies.
The recipe is simple and the ingredients are easily available, so all we have to do is try to make pastillage and enjoy creating many edible decorations, but also beautiful to keep over time.
For sugar decoration lovers, I remind you to take a look at some of my decorated cakes for inspiration.
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Cheap
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 1 block of 1.1 lbs
- Cooking methods: No cooking
- Cuisine: French
- Energy 1,987.12 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 505.35 (g) of which sugars 423.35 (g)
- Proteins 5.52 (g)
- Fat 0.01 (g) of which saturated 0.00 (g)of which unsaturated 0.00 (g)
- Fibers 0.00 (g)
- Sodium 30.65 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 500 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp water
- 0.21 oz gelatin sheets
- 0.53 oz glucose
- 0.28 oz vinegar
- 15 oz powdered sugar
- 2.65 oz cornstarch
Tools
You can knead the pastillage directly by hand in a bowl, but if you want to simplify the operation, you can use a stand mixer with a paddle attachment.
- 1 Stand Mixer
- 1 Spatula
Preparation
The process is very simple and you can knead it easily by hand. You just need to soak the gelatin sheets in water; when it is completely softened, squeeze it and put it in a container. Add the glucose, white vinegar and place in the microwave to melt everything. Once it is well dissolved, add it all at once to the bowl where you have combined the sugar with cornstarch. Start turning with the help of a spoon, then transfer everything to a work surface and knead it until you obtain a homogeneous ball.
The pastillage obtained is immediately usable, remembering two fundamental rules.
– Work it with well-greased hands using margarine and help yourself to spread it with corn starch.
– Immediately close the excess with plastic wrap, otherwise it dries quickly.
NOTES
The paste you don’t use is perfectly preserved at room temperature, wrapped in plastic wrap and inside a closed container. If it hardens, when you reuse it you just need to soften it for a few seconds in the microwave. Please, don’t be discouraged by the presence of white vinegar in the recipe, because you can’t taste it at all and trust Aunt Debby who tastes any recipe for you before proposing it 😍.
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