3D
Memento Mori
by Mary Burroughs · submitted Jul 10, 2011 · 2011 contest
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Description
Note: This cake is Nature’s Reign by Terry Fan. I had found this design in the threadless design page back in February, but it no longer appears there. If for some reason I had made a mistake and didn’t see this design there, I understand that this cake would no longer be eligible for the contest, but I had fun making it and really liked how it turned out.
When I saw this design, I just knew it had to be made into a cake. I really liked the design because it included some techniques that I had never tried before; a gum paste crown, sugar gems, gelatin wings, shaped skull, and covering an odd-shaped cake. It took around 40 hours to make over the course of a week and tasted amazing.
About a week before baking the cake, I started the construction of the gum paste crown. I created a pattern for the crown from paper and sized it so it would fit around a Rubbermaid container. I modified the container by taping on a cone so the crown could be tapered on the top. Next I rolled out some gum paste, cut it, and placed it on the container to dry. After a week of drying, I removed it from the container and attached additional gum paste to the outside to create detailing. After all this was dry, I mixed together edible food paint and painted the crown. Next I created sugar gems. This was the first time that I had ever worked with poured sugar, so I was ecstatic when the gems came out perfect the first time. Next I attached the gems to the crown to finish it off.
The leaves were created from green gum paste, threaded onto wire and allowed to dry on a piece of aluminum foil. After the leaves were dry, I painted them with a mixture of petal dust and vodka. The eggs were created from blue gum paste and shaped into eggs. After the eggs were dry, I used a mixture of white petal dust and vodka and applied it to the eggs using a stipple brush. To achieve the crack on one of the eggs, I used a fine paint brush and edible paint. The bee was created from yellow gum paste shaped into a bee. After the bee was dry, I painted on the black stripes. Next I created gelatin wings. I had read an article in a cake decorating magazine about gelatin wings and wanted to try it out. To create the wings, a gelatin mixture was applied to a mold using a paint brush and was applied in several layers. Once the desired thickness was achieved, the wings were removed from the mold. I really liked how these wings turned out. To create the flowers I made a paper pattern and used it to cut out yellow fondant. I also created paper cones for the flowers to dry on. Once the flowers were dry, I threaded the center stem through the middle and allowed the flower to dry some more. Next I used petal dust to add color to the flowers.
I baked 4-8 inch round chocolate cakes and layered and filled them with chocolate frosting. Next I used a Halloween foam skull for reference on the carving. After the cake was carved, I mixed up a batch of buttercream frosting and frosted the cake. Then I rolled out some fondant and covered the cake. I was quite happy with how the fondant turned out considering it was my first time covering a cake like this. Next I painted grey lines to achieve a wood-like pattern. Then I attached the crown, ivy, flowers, teeth, leaves, and other details to the skull. To finish off the cake, I piped green grass all around the skull and added the finishing details.
I’m really happy with how this turned out and I hope you enjoy it too.
When I saw this design, I just knew it had to be made into a cake. I really liked the design because it included some techniques that I had never tried before; a gum paste crown, sugar gems, gelatin wings, shaped skull, and covering an odd-shaped cake. It took around 40 hours to make over the course of a week and tasted amazing.
About a week before baking the cake, I started the construction of the gum paste crown. I created a pattern for the crown from paper and sized it so it would fit around a Rubbermaid container. I modified the container by taping on a cone so the crown could be tapered on the top. Next I rolled out some gum paste, cut it, and placed it on the container to dry. After a week of drying, I removed it from the container and attached additional gum paste to the outside to create detailing. After all this was dry, I mixed together edible food paint and painted the crown. Next I created sugar gems. This was the first time that I had ever worked with poured sugar, so I was ecstatic when the gems came out perfect the first time. Next I attached the gems to the crown to finish it off.
The leaves were created from green gum paste, threaded onto wire and allowed to dry on a piece of aluminum foil. After the leaves were dry, I painted them with a mixture of petal dust and vodka. The eggs were created from blue gum paste and shaped into eggs. After the eggs were dry, I used a mixture of white petal dust and vodka and applied it to the eggs using a stipple brush. To achieve the crack on one of the eggs, I used a fine paint brush and edible paint. The bee was created from yellow gum paste shaped into a bee. After the bee was dry, I painted on the black stripes. Next I created gelatin wings. I had read an article in a cake decorating magazine about gelatin wings and wanted to try it out. To create the wings, a gelatin mixture was applied to a mold using a paint brush and was applied in several layers. Once the desired thickness was achieved, the wings were removed from the mold. I really liked how these wings turned out. To create the flowers I made a paper pattern and used it to cut out yellow fondant. I also created paper cones for the flowers to dry on. Once the flowers were dry, I threaded the center stem through the middle and allowed the flower to dry some more. Next I used petal dust to add color to the flowers.
I baked 4-8 inch round chocolate cakes and layered and filled them with chocolate frosting. Next I used a Halloween foam skull for reference on the carving. After the cake was carved, I mixed up a batch of buttercream frosting and frosted the cake. Then I rolled out some fondant and covered the cake. I was quite happy with how the fondant turned out considering it was my first time covering a cake like this. Next I painted grey lines to achieve a wood-like pattern. Then I attached the crown, ivy, flowers, teeth, leaves, and other details to the skull. To finish off the cake, I piped green grass all around the skull and added the finishing details.
I’m really happy with how this turned out and I hope you enjoy it too.
Baker’s site: cakeengineering.weebly.com
