3D
The Big Picture
by Naomi Horowitz · submitted Aug 5, 2011 · 2011 contest
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Description
I decided to do this design because I loved the idea that the universe could be appreciated like art for its beauty, and the idea for the construction came pretty quickly when I looked at the tshirt. It's a two-tiered yellow cake with chocolate frosting and fondant, with fondant figures, a chocolate wall, and a chocolate sky.
1. I baked the first tier, cut off the tops, frosted it, set it aside. 2. I had disastrous attempts at sugar glass for the windows and using a balloon to mold the sky (not shown for good reason). 3. I molded the dad, mom, and kid from fondant, with toothpick supports. 4. I painted the family with Wilton food coloring gels diluted with vodka. Gave Dad nerdy glasses and Mom (the best) appropriately themed nerdy tshirt. I gave the kid Converse sneakers. 5. I used a giant bowl as the mold for the chocolate sky, putting wax paper between and haphazardly taping it down to prevent distortions. 6. I pressed chocolate between two pieces of wax paper for the gallery wall. 7. I cut out the gallery wall and windows (I eyeballed it instead of matching it exactly to the tshirt design). 8. I painted the wall black with silver and gold frames. 9. I baked the second tier, cut off the tops, frosted it, and cut it to have the same circumference as the width of the gallery wall. 10. I stacked the tiers, cut the first one in half, and placed the wall in the split. 11. After my own pathetic attempt at fondant (they said after 5-10 minutes of kneading it would stop being sticky, and 15 minutes later my hand was so far engulfed in the goo that I wasn't sure it was still there), I caved and bought store-made fondant, which I tinted purple and rolled out. 12. I rolled the fondant onto the cake and replaced the gallery wall in a slit I cut into the fondant. 13. I placed the people in front of the wall, using toothpick supports. 14. I painted the Milky Way onto the chocolate sky, using Wilton paints with vodka again for the black background and Wilton pearl dusts for the actual image. 15. I placed the sky on the second tier so that the family would see the Milky Way through their gallery windows.
I had so much fun making this cake! Thanks so much for hosting this, I've followed this competition for the past few years and was so excited to make it before the deadline! It took me about three days to do from start to finish, working intermittently between work and getting more supplies/ingredients.
1. I baked the first tier, cut off the tops, frosted it, set it aside. 2. I had disastrous attempts at sugar glass for the windows and using a balloon to mold the sky (not shown for good reason). 3. I molded the dad, mom, and kid from fondant, with toothpick supports. 4. I painted the family with Wilton food coloring gels diluted with vodka. Gave Dad nerdy glasses and Mom (the best) appropriately themed nerdy tshirt. I gave the kid Converse sneakers. 5. I used a giant bowl as the mold for the chocolate sky, putting wax paper between and haphazardly taping it down to prevent distortions. 6. I pressed chocolate between two pieces of wax paper for the gallery wall. 7. I cut out the gallery wall and windows (I eyeballed it instead of matching it exactly to the tshirt design). 8. I painted the wall black with silver and gold frames. 9. I baked the second tier, cut off the tops, frosted it, and cut it to have the same circumference as the width of the gallery wall. 10. I stacked the tiers, cut the first one in half, and placed the wall in the split. 11. After my own pathetic attempt at fondant (they said after 5-10 minutes of kneading it would stop being sticky, and 15 minutes later my hand was so far engulfed in the goo that I wasn't sure it was still there), I caved and bought store-made fondant, which I tinted purple and rolled out. 12. I rolled the fondant onto the cake and replaced the gallery wall in a slit I cut into the fondant. 13. I placed the people in front of the wall, using toothpick supports. 14. I painted the Milky Way onto the chocolate sky, using Wilton paints with vodka again for the black background and Wilton pearl dusts for the actual image. 15. I placed the sky on the second tier so that the family would see the Milky Way through their gallery windows.
I had so much fun making this cake! Thanks so much for hosting this, I've followed this competition for the past few years and was so excited to make it before the deadline! It took me about three days to do from start to finish, working intermittently between work and getting more supplies/ingredients.
