The Giddy Delights of Trompe L’Oeil Candy

Key Facts

• Set design by Laila Gohar May 9, 2024, 5:03 a.m. ET At the wedding banquet of King Henry IV and Joan of Navarre in 1403, showstopping sugar sculptures were carted out after each of the six courses.
• Called sotelte (or “subtleties”) in England, culinary masterworks like these were traditionally concocted from a paste of sugar, ground nuts, oils and vegetable gums and gilded or painted with pigments.
• Now, thanks to both technology and social media’s penchant for photogenic food, ever wilder and more wondrous treats are showing up at parties and online — trompe l’oeil confections capable not only of tricking the eye but of blowing the mind, too.
• “When I did a cake in the shape of a lobster, I thought, ‘What would be something you’d eat with lobster?’” The result: a dill-flavored pâte sucrée with lemony mascarpone cream and gooseberry compote encased in marzipan.

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