3D 1st place 1
Noah Express
by jennifer flynn @madgoose · submitted Aug 15, 2009 · 2009 contest
1 / 48
Description
I wanted to set myself a challenge of biblical proportions, not only making this cake 3D but only using edible materials. The Noah Express was the cake for me. Little did I know the trials and tribulations I would face, a true test of faith in my own cake making abilities. Two days before the planned start of my entry, my oven decided it had enough of this world and went to the big scrapheap in the sky.
By the time I had this little problem sorted, Glasgow was facing it's second heatwave of the year. My flat is not prepared for this and so the cake making process was akin to working in the Sahara Desert. My plan was to decorate the cake on my birthday so my husband and I could enjoy some cakey goodness, however I underestimated the time and detail so in actual fact it took me three days to complete the cake (oops). Having no cake didn't stop my from opening my presents which came in very handy at a later stage.
So to the cake! Noah Express. 3D. All edible materials. A love/hate relationship with gumpaste. But mostly hate. Baking the cakes was fairly simple just standard pound cake frosted with vanilla buttercream. All the animals were made from fondant and gumpaste except for the bear. He was so rotund he needed a separate block of cake just for his belly. The ship was painted using food coloring and vodka, and all the animals faces were drawn on with edible pen.
As I'd decided to only work with edible materials using toothpicks or dowels to support the animals wasn't an option so I used a second cake to prop the little guys up. You can't see the support cake unless you take a sneaky peek at the back (pic included).
Now the gumpaste was absolutely the most frustrating part of this whole process. The balloon, antlers, and fishing rod all decided at some stage or another that they didn't want to stay on the Noah Express. Don't even get me started on how the snake behaved.
Remember that present which came in handy? Well at the height of my gumpaste rage, it was the perfect outlet. Turned out to be "Punch Out" for the Wii. Knocking out the likes of King Hippo and Don Flamenco never felt so good! I did get carried away as I began to wonder since Mike Tyson isn't in the game anymore who would be the ultimate opponent to knock me out in 2.2 seconds hmmm...what was I talking about again? Oh yeah gumpaste, in the end my magical support cake came to the rescue and held everything in place. In your face snake!
After we cut the cake, I asked my husband what he thought of the cake. His response was, "mmmmmmmmmhmmmmhmmmmm" he's deep in the cake zone so I think that equates to yummy.
By the time I had this little problem sorted, Glasgow was facing it's second heatwave of the year. My flat is not prepared for this and so the cake making process was akin to working in the Sahara Desert. My plan was to decorate the cake on my birthday so my husband and I could enjoy some cakey goodness, however I underestimated the time and detail so in actual fact it took me three days to complete the cake (oops). Having no cake didn't stop my from opening my presents which came in very handy at a later stage.
So to the cake! Noah Express. 3D. All edible materials. A love/hate relationship with gumpaste. But mostly hate. Baking the cakes was fairly simple just standard pound cake frosted with vanilla buttercream. All the animals were made from fondant and gumpaste except for the bear. He was so rotund he needed a separate block of cake just for his belly. The ship was painted using food coloring and vodka, and all the animals faces were drawn on with edible pen.
As I'd decided to only work with edible materials using toothpicks or dowels to support the animals wasn't an option so I used a second cake to prop the little guys up. You can't see the support cake unless you take a sneaky peek at the back (pic included).
Now the gumpaste was absolutely the most frustrating part of this whole process. The balloon, antlers, and fishing rod all decided at some stage or another that they didn't want to stay on the Noah Express. Don't even get me started on how the snake behaved.
Remember that present which came in handy? Well at the height of my gumpaste rage, it was the perfect outlet. Turned out to be "Punch Out" for the Wii. Knocking out the likes of King Hippo and Don Flamenco never felt so good! I did get carried away as I began to wonder since Mike Tyson isn't in the game anymore who would be the ultimate opponent to knock me out in 2.2 seconds hmmm...what was I talking about again? Oh yeah gumpaste, in the end my magical support cake came to the rescue and held everything in place. In your face snake!
After we cut the cake, I asked my husband what he thought of the cake. His response was, "mmmmmmmmmhmmmmhmmmmm" he's deep in the cake zone so I think that equates to yummy.
