3D 1
Xylosaurus
by Carly Geehr · submitted Jun 17, 2011 · 2011 contest
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Description
It all started when I recovered what appeared to be prehistoric remains (which, oddly enough, bore a strong resemblance to PVC) of the legendary Xylosaurus at my local Ace Hardware. I knew at that moment that it was my destiny to recreate his majesty using nothing but sugary goodness.
My first task was to track down historically accurate colors for its famed instrument, and then I began to contemplate its structure. Rice Krispies treats seemed like the right choice here, with the help of some strategic structural white chocolate. OK, *lots* of structural white chocolate. After blowing through nearly an entire family-sized box of the cereal and several bags of marshmallows and whicte chocolate chips, I had created his belly, head, and tail. He needed a little emergency surgery every now and then, but it was nothing a little more PVC, dowels, paper towel splints, and time spent in the fridge couldn't fix.
Next came the star of the show - the chocolate cake. I carved and sculpted, taking care to preserve the Xylosaur's shape. Mixing the ganache and cake crumbs to form downright tasty clay was clutch. Back into the fridge he went!
At this point it was all about the gumpaste. Lots of colors, lots of powdered sugar, lots of stickiness. Good times. After the great gumpaste-making frenzy was over, I moved on to the buttercream. It caused me great pain to use AN ENTIRE TUB OF SHORTENING, but it was indeed a great crusting buttercream frosting. Exactly what I needed to duplicate the Xylosaur's lovely white skin. After a crumb coat and plenty of time to let it set up, I began the arduous task of applying and smoothing a thick layer of frosting. Viva Viva brand paper towels!
Xylosaurus then began to come to life. Knees, toenails, face (so freaking cute!), spots - and of course, the rainbow xylophone. Don't you just want to eat him up? Well, turns out after spending days around massive amounts of shortening, butter, sugar, and chocolate, you get a little, um, overwhelmed. I needed to recruit some help. So I loaded Mr. Xylosaur into my car and headed over to a house full of hungry guys. They were happy to oblige. That's what friends are for - eating the ridiculous cakes you make - right?
My first task was to track down historically accurate colors for its famed instrument, and then I began to contemplate its structure. Rice Krispies treats seemed like the right choice here, with the help of some strategic structural white chocolate. OK, *lots* of structural white chocolate. After blowing through nearly an entire family-sized box of the cereal and several bags of marshmallows and whicte chocolate chips, I had created his belly, head, and tail. He needed a little emergency surgery every now and then, but it was nothing a little more PVC, dowels, paper towel splints, and time spent in the fridge couldn't fix.
Next came the star of the show - the chocolate cake. I carved and sculpted, taking care to preserve the Xylosaur's shape. Mixing the ganache and cake crumbs to form downright tasty clay was clutch. Back into the fridge he went!
At this point it was all about the gumpaste. Lots of colors, lots of powdered sugar, lots of stickiness. Good times. After the great gumpaste-making frenzy was over, I moved on to the buttercream. It caused me great pain to use AN ENTIRE TUB OF SHORTENING, but it was indeed a great crusting buttercream frosting. Exactly what I needed to duplicate the Xylosaur's lovely white skin. After a crumb coat and plenty of time to let it set up, I began the arduous task of applying and smoothing a thick layer of frosting. Viva Viva brand paper towels!
Xylosaurus then began to come to life. Knees, toenails, face (so freaking cute!), spots - and of course, the rainbow xylophone. Don't you just want to eat him up? Well, turns out after spending days around massive amounts of shortening, butter, sugar, and chocolate, you get a little, um, overwhelmed. I needed to recruit some help. So I loaded Mr. Xylosaur into my car and headed over to a house full of hungry guys. They were happy to oblige. That's what friends are for - eating the ridiculous cakes you make - right?
Baker’s site: carlygeehr.com
