3D
Graphic Nature
by Allison Dempsey · submitted Oct 4, 2014 · 2014 contest
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Description
This is my second time entering in the Threadcakes contest. I absolutely love the opportunity of bringing amazing designs to cake! My entry choice, Graphic Nature, practically chose itself. I love skull and zombie prints, and a friend of my was turning 40. The skull, crown and cob webs were a perfect fit!
The cake took me about 5 days to complete. The only inedible supports in the entire cake were the 2 toothpicks in the roses and a single toothpick supporting the crown. The cake is made of pound cake, ganache, modeling chocolate, gumpaste and fondant.
I started the process by studying skulls in every direction. I must have looked at hundreds on Google! I even used one of our Halloween decorations as inspiration and guidance.
Then I started baking. I baked 4 8" rounds of my favorite pound cake recipe and chilled them in the freezer over night. Then I mixed up chocolate ganache and attached my layers together. While the stacked cake chilled in the fridge to set up the chocolate for carving, I worked on my gumpaste roses. When the roses were complete it was time to carve. I started shaping the skull by cutting away (very slowly) the cake. When I thought I was close I put a thin layer of ganache over the cake (it helped me see the overall shape without the distraction of the individual cake layers). After a little more carving, I covered the skull in a thick layer of ganache and off set it back in the fridge.
Then the fun begins! I started softening the modeling chocolate and added it to the ganached skull to create the cheek bones, brow and bridge of nose. Then I covered the entire head with white modeling chocolate to enhance the features. I carved out the teeth and pinched and pulled the bone until I was satisfied with the shape. I applied black fondant inside the mouth and around the base of the skull. Then I dusted the entire skull in cocoa powder and wiped it off with a damp cloth to add an aged look and enhance the dimension and features.
The crown was shaped out of modeling chocolate as well. I painted it with silver luster dust. The green pearls are cake decorating candy pearls and the green gems on the top of the crown and around the base are fondant. I sponge painted the top of the crown shades of purple and blue petal dust for an aged and weathered look.
Finally I airbrushed the roses red (the entire time singing "we're painting the roses red" from alice in wonderland") and black to make them look old. After the roses were in place, I used an extruder and created thin threads of white fondant for the webs.
The cake was a huge hit! The birthday "boy" loved it! Thanks for inspiring me! This was so much fun!
The cake took me about 5 days to complete. The only inedible supports in the entire cake were the 2 toothpicks in the roses and a single toothpick supporting the crown. The cake is made of pound cake, ganache, modeling chocolate, gumpaste and fondant.
I started the process by studying skulls in every direction. I must have looked at hundreds on Google! I even used one of our Halloween decorations as inspiration and guidance.
Then I started baking. I baked 4 8" rounds of my favorite pound cake recipe and chilled them in the freezer over night. Then I mixed up chocolate ganache and attached my layers together. While the stacked cake chilled in the fridge to set up the chocolate for carving, I worked on my gumpaste roses. When the roses were complete it was time to carve. I started shaping the skull by cutting away (very slowly) the cake. When I thought I was close I put a thin layer of ganache over the cake (it helped me see the overall shape without the distraction of the individual cake layers). After a little more carving, I covered the skull in a thick layer of ganache and off set it back in the fridge.
Then the fun begins! I started softening the modeling chocolate and added it to the ganached skull to create the cheek bones, brow and bridge of nose. Then I covered the entire head with white modeling chocolate to enhance the features. I carved out the teeth and pinched and pulled the bone until I was satisfied with the shape. I applied black fondant inside the mouth and around the base of the skull. Then I dusted the entire skull in cocoa powder and wiped it off with a damp cloth to add an aged look and enhance the dimension and features.
The crown was shaped out of modeling chocolate as well. I painted it with silver luster dust. The green pearls are cake decorating candy pearls and the green gems on the top of the crown and around the base are fondant. I sponge painted the top of the crown shades of purple and blue petal dust for an aged and weathered look.
Finally I airbrushed the roses red (the entire time singing "we're painting the roses red" from alice in wonderland") and black to make them look old. After the roses were in place, I used an extruder and created thin threads of white fondant for the webs.
The cake was a huge hit! The birthday "boy" loved it! Thanks for inspiring me! This was so much fun!
