Trionfo ( Italian: [triˈoɱfo] ) is an Italian word meaning "triumph", also "triumphal procession", and a triumphal car or float in such a procession. The classical triumphal procession for victorious generals and Emperors known as the Roman Triumph was revived for "Entries" by rulers and similar occasions from the Early Renaissance in 14th and 15th-century Italy, and was a major type of festival , celebrated with great extravagance. The cars are shown as open-roofed, many clearly utilitarian four-wheeled carts dressed-up for the occasion. Others were two-wheeled chariots. In art, they might be pulled by all sorts of exotic animals.
18-533: Another specialized sense of the word was an elaborate sugar sculpture ; these decorated tables on important occasions in the Renaissance and Baroque periods, especially in Italy and France. Eventually they were replaced by the silver surtout de table or porcelain centrepieces. The word may derive from a call of triumph during antique triumphal processions: "Io triumpe". Triumphs were described in literature,
36-401: A steeple! How did he do it? I'll tell you, my son: 'Twas made of white sugar—and easily done! Royal icing Royal icing is a hard white icing , made from softly beaten egg whites , icing sugar (powdered sugar), and sometimes lemon or lime juice. It is used to decorate Christmas cakes , wedding cakes , gingerbread houses , cookies, and many other cakes and biscuits. It
54-489: Is almost always used for the base and structural elements of showpieces. Cast sugar can also be used in many other recipes such as those for cakes. A thick sugar paste, similar to gum paste, is molded into shapes. When dried, it is hard and brittle. Made with gelatin, water and confectioner's sugar, it hardens quickly and can be shaped for a short while by hand, and after hardening, with electric grinders, cutters, sandpaper and assorted files. Some recipes will contain an acid in
72-555: Is called "糖人 (sugar people)". Japan has the similar tradition, which is called " Amezaiku (飴細工)". The sugar people's candy in China are brownish-yellow, while the ones in Japan are white because they use "sarashi-ame (whitish candy)", which is made by pulling and stretching out the sugar many times until white. A Mother Goose nursery rhyme refers to sugar sculpture: Wasn't it funny? hear it all people! Little Tom Thumb has swallowed
90-412: Is gathered on a fork or a special tool designed for spinning sugar and is flicked in long strokes over succeeding pipes. Sugar sculptures may be used as alternatives to a wedding cake . However, they are often much more expensive, as they are made-to-order and very time consuming to create. This traditional Chinese art form uses heated, liquid sugar to create three dimensional, often blown figures. It
108-444: Is generally credited with the addition of a layer of marzipan between it and the cake beneath. Piping with royal icing came along a little later, in the 1840s, driven by German culinary innovators. Prior to that, decoration was usually of moulded pastillage or sugarpaste. There is a myth that it was named royal after it gained widespread publicity when images of Victoria and Albert's bride cake (wedding cake) were circulated, but this
126-632: 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
144-454: Is the climax of the Triumphs of Maximilian (several artists). The Triumphs of Caesar by Andrea Mantegna (by 1492) were also very influential. The Italian sculptor Giuseppe Cassioli named his Olympic medal design Trionfo . First used in 1928, the design was used for Summer Olympic Games until it was replaced at the 2004 Olympic Games. Sugar sculpture Sugar sculpture
162-401: Is then stretched out and then folded on itself repeatedly. This process incorporates air into the sugar, and gives it a bright lustrous sheen. The sugar can then be sculpted by hand into various shapes, made into ribbons, or blown. In blown sugar, a portion of pulled sugar is placed on a rubber pump which is tipped with either wood or metal. Pumps are most commonly hand pumps. While being blown,
180-399: Is traditionally prepared with raw egg whites, which have a very small chance of transmitting salmonella poisoning . Meringue powder or ready-to-use, pasteurized , refrigerated egg whites (wet eggs) can be used with similar results. The Oxford English Dictionary gives the first mention of royal icing as Borella's Court and Country Confectioner (1770). The term was well-established by
198-454: Is used either as a smooth covering or in sharp peaks. Glycerine is often added to prevent the icing from setting too hard. When placing icing on cakes, marzipan is usually used under the royal icing in order to prevent discoloration of the icing. Usual proportions are 2 egg whites to 1 teaspoon of lemon juice, 1 teaspoon of glycerine, and around 1 pound of sugar depending on the application. As well as coating cakes and biscuits, royal icing
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#1732765553358216-450: Is used to make decorations such as flowers and figures for putting on the cake. The royal icing is piped into shapes which are allowed to harden on a non-stick surface. These can then be arranged to create edible decorative effects on a variety of sweet foods. The glycerine must be omitted for this purpose. Royal icing is often used to create snow scenes but is also used as an edible adhesive – particularly for gingerbread houses. Royal icing
234-430: 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. The sugar has been cooked, and the now-liquid sugar is poured onto a silicone rubber mat. Any coloring is now added. The sugar is then folded repeatedly into itself, until the sugar is, while still flexible, cool enough to handle. The sugar
252-466: The air incorporated in the icing to rapidly expand, causing the mixture to grow to several times its original volume. The mixture is quickly poured into a lined dish, and placed into a blast chiller to set. This process produces a sugar mass with the texture of volcanic pumice , the color of which is determined by the color of the sugar syrup. Sugar syrup is made into long extremely thin strands which can be shaped to make things like birds' nests. The sugar
270-484: The cars often carrying classical gods or personified virtues, with Petrach 's Triomphi (1374) being extremely influential, for example on Hypnerotomachia Poliphili (1499). This had woodcut illustrations, and such scenes were very popular in art, perhaps culminating in the enormous woodcut Large Triumphal Carriage by Albrecht Dürer (1522), a triumphal car carrying the Emperor Maximilian that
288-425: The early 19th century, although William Jarrin (1827) still felt the need to explain that the term was used by confectioners (so presumably it was not yet in common use among mere cooks or amateurs). It developed at some stage in the early 18th century, replacing earlier styles of icing which generally involved making a meringue-like concoction that was then dried out in the mouth of an oven. Elizabeth Raffald (1769)
306-413: The ingredients list, such as vinegar or cream of tartar. Granulated sugar is mixed with a minimal amount of water, and is put under pressure. It hardens into a solid piece. Though this is used for showpiece bases, it is less often used because of the time required to produce it, and its lesser aesthetic value. The liquid sugar is blended with a small amount of royal icing . The heat from the sugar causes
324-435: The sugar can be shaped, often into animals or flowers. Blown sugar cannot be quickly cooled by dipping it in water, so chefs must use fans to cool the sugar, all the while rotating it, so that it does not come out of shape. This technique is very useful in making balloons for wedding cakes. In this technique, sugar is poured into molds. This technique produces sturdier pieces than the pulled and blown sugar techniques do, and it
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