3D Finalist
Bountiful Catch
by Samantha Friday @Sedfriday · submitted Aug 11, 2011 · 2011 contest
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Description
Ok, so people might think I am being a bit overzealous here by entering a second cake in this competition…but I couldn't help myself! The first cake was so much fun to make I had to make another - something even more challenging! So I sifted some more and found a design I thought had potential - it reminded me of a goldfish I once had (Fred, this is for you! :P).
The mission (which took about a week) began with the prep work- made a honkin' big ball of red marshmallow fondant with those horrible pink marshmallows that they always contaminate the bags of white mallows with here in Australia. Found a use for them - yay!
I also made the decorative pieces out of gumpaste ahead of time (the key, flaps, leaves headpiece etc.), so they would have sufficient time to harden.
I had leftover slab cake in the freezer from the camera cake, so I thawed it and used leftover icing to make the cake-ball-inspired koi. I moulded them into the shape of fish and covered them in white chocolate. I then used coloured chocolate to add the detail, which I have to say was the most tedious thing ever!! Piping was out of the question - I suck at piping chocolate - so I used a toothpick to add the scaled look.
I needed something for the tails that would look delicate and wavy but hold its shape- my first attempt at making and using modelling chocolate.
I wanted the cat's facial features, like the cheeks and nose, to be more 3D, and for this I used cake-ball to shape and stick onto the face before I masked it in icing and covered it in fondant.
For the key to stay in the mouth I used modelling chocolate to make the cat's teeth.
I had to bake a few cakes this time as well and since I planned on taking it to work to be eaten (enough people to be able to eat all this cake), I decided to add a bit of variety making the base chocolate, the face layer lemon, and the hat and arch orange chiffon. I chose chiffon because I wanted a relatively "light" cake to go on the top. It was a trade-off though because the cake was light yes, but also fragile and weakest where it arched. It split a bit when I was cutting it to shape but hoped the icing and fondant would reinforce it. The red fondant however was not as sturdy as my regular white kind (perhaps the red food colouring I added ample amounts of changed the consistency or something…). It took a few tries before I got it rolled out to my liking and was able to cover the base and the arch.
The arch… ok, look I'm an artist, not an engineer! So the reinforcing didn't quite work- a little while after placing it on top of the hat piece, it started to tear at that weak spot. I had hoped to pull it all off without using dowels or artificial supports but I was afraid the right side might completely come apart from the rest and potentially ruin the cake, so I relented and used a couple of bamboo skewers to support that side. It seemed to do the trick and stabilized it so I could continue to add the rest of the details (this part took about a day).
There were moments where I wondered why I was doing this, and where I wanted to hurl the thing out the door, but I persevered and I am pretty happy with the overall result. :0)
I lugged it into work to serve up at "morning tea" where it was met with awe and no one wanted to cut into it! (I was highly flattered)
By the end of the day however…after some brave soul cut into the back of it…it was demolished. Mission accomplished!
The mission (which took about a week) began with the prep work- made a honkin' big ball of red marshmallow fondant with those horrible pink marshmallows that they always contaminate the bags of white mallows with here in Australia. Found a use for them - yay!
I also made the decorative pieces out of gumpaste ahead of time (the key, flaps, leaves headpiece etc.), so they would have sufficient time to harden.
I had leftover slab cake in the freezer from the camera cake, so I thawed it and used leftover icing to make the cake-ball-inspired koi. I moulded them into the shape of fish and covered them in white chocolate. I then used coloured chocolate to add the detail, which I have to say was the most tedious thing ever!! Piping was out of the question - I suck at piping chocolate - so I used a toothpick to add the scaled look.
I needed something for the tails that would look delicate and wavy but hold its shape- my first attempt at making and using modelling chocolate.
I wanted the cat's facial features, like the cheeks and nose, to be more 3D, and for this I used cake-ball to shape and stick onto the face before I masked it in icing and covered it in fondant.
For the key to stay in the mouth I used modelling chocolate to make the cat's teeth.
I had to bake a few cakes this time as well and since I planned on taking it to work to be eaten (enough people to be able to eat all this cake), I decided to add a bit of variety making the base chocolate, the face layer lemon, and the hat and arch orange chiffon. I chose chiffon because I wanted a relatively "light" cake to go on the top. It was a trade-off though because the cake was light yes, but also fragile and weakest where it arched. It split a bit when I was cutting it to shape but hoped the icing and fondant would reinforce it. The red fondant however was not as sturdy as my regular white kind (perhaps the red food colouring I added ample amounts of changed the consistency or something…). It took a few tries before I got it rolled out to my liking and was able to cover the base and the arch.
The arch… ok, look I'm an artist, not an engineer! So the reinforcing didn't quite work- a little while after placing it on top of the hat piece, it started to tear at that weak spot. I had hoped to pull it all off without using dowels or artificial supports but I was afraid the right side might completely come apart from the rest and potentially ruin the cake, so I relented and used a couple of bamboo skewers to support that side. It seemed to do the trick and stabilized it so I could continue to add the rest of the details (this part took about a day).
There were moments where I wondered why I was doing this, and where I wanted to hurl the thing out the door, but I persevered and I am pretty happy with the overall result. :0)
I lugged it into work to serve up at "morning tea" where it was met with awe and no one wanted to cut into it! (I was highly flattered)
By the end of the day however…after some brave soul cut into the back of it…it was demolished. Mission accomplished!
