3D 1
Kiwi Anatomy
by Elinore Sheryka · submitted Aug 15, 2011 · 2011 contest
1 / 35
Description
The Kiwi Anatomy tee was so inspiring to me - I love the intersection of science and art, and I was immediately reminded of anatomy lab. Last year, I attempted my first cake. Only a few fancy cupcakes in between then and now, I’m really happy to have this reason to play with some new materials and techniques.
A drawing as on the tee would be found in a lab manual, and a labeled 3-D diagram such as this cake would be available for additional study in the laboratory. This particular Kiwi looked like a hybrid cross to me. They are both in the Kiwi family, so the genetics should work, right?
This is a strawberry cake with chocolate buttercream frosting (on Kiwi Bird), cream cheese frosting (on supporting cake), and marshmallow fondant (Kiwi innards, white base cake.). The beak, feet, eyes, labels and legend are gum paste with straw-and-wire armatures, and painted with vodka and paste coloring. The Kiwi feathers are made from the chocolate buttercream applied with a grass tip.
I made the rectangle for the legend and the dots for the labels 3 weeks out, and the feet and beak 1 ½ weeks after that. Cake prep and carving probably took 4 hours or so, and then another 2-3 hours for assembly .
I didn’t listen to my mom’s warning that the head would be too heavy to really have a shot at being supported by just a straw or two, and so I unfortunately had to place the head on that big honkin’ chunk of fondant . If I could do one thing differently it would be to use some wooden dowels and gum paste to make proper and attractive supports for the two bird parts.
But aside from that…How CUTE is that FACE! I’m really happy with how this turned out!
Thanks everybody, and thanks Threadcakes!
A drawing as on the tee would be found in a lab manual, and a labeled 3-D diagram such as this cake would be available for additional study in the laboratory. This particular Kiwi looked like a hybrid cross to me. They are both in the Kiwi family, so the genetics should work, right?
This is a strawberry cake with chocolate buttercream frosting (on Kiwi Bird), cream cheese frosting (on supporting cake), and marshmallow fondant (Kiwi innards, white base cake.). The beak, feet, eyes, labels and legend are gum paste with straw-and-wire armatures, and painted with vodka and paste coloring. The Kiwi feathers are made from the chocolate buttercream applied with a grass tip.
I made the rectangle for the legend and the dots for the labels 3 weeks out, and the feet and beak 1 ½ weeks after that. Cake prep and carving probably took 4 hours or so, and then another 2-3 hours for assembly .
I didn’t listen to my mom’s warning that the head would be too heavy to really have a shot at being supported by just a straw or two, and so I unfortunately had to place the head on that big honkin’ chunk of fondant . If I could do one thing differently it would be to use some wooden dowels and gum paste to make proper and attractive supports for the two bird parts.
But aside from that…How CUTE is that FACE! I’m really happy with how this turned out!
Thanks everybody, and thanks Threadcakes!
