3D 2
Day of the Dead Panda
by Amanda LaMoy @LulaMonster · submitted Jun 15, 2012 · 2012 contest
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Description
For my first entry of 2012, I chose Day of the Dead Panda, mostly because the design is awesome and it was one that hadn't been attempted by other bakers in previous years.
I chose to try my hand at cake sculpting for this one - it's something I've wanted to do for some time, and turned out pretty great, though slightly feline.
Made with 6 or 7 (I forget exactly how many) yellow butter cake cakes, all baked in different sizes. I used a couple pictures of actual pandas as a reference...still didn't get the shape down perfectly, but what the hell, right? Still gets the point across. :) Used chocolate ganache for frosting, which along with the marshmallow fondant, is what's holding this beast together.
Now for the real work! The pattern is painted on with black gel color and vanilla extract, and proved to be difficult, since it didn't seen to translate from 2D to 3D as smoothly as I hoped. Some details are missing, some added in. The flower on the top of the head is made up of individual fondant petals.
Forced this upon my coworkers, as I usually do when I just feel like baking or have a Threadcake. Nobody in my office wanted to be the first person to cut into it. Flattering, but it is cake, and cake is meant for eatin'. Total time, from start to finish (including the longer-than-usual baking times for the cakes), was around 15 hours. Well worth it!
I chose to try my hand at cake sculpting for this one - it's something I've wanted to do for some time, and turned out pretty great, though slightly feline.
Made with 6 or 7 (I forget exactly how many) yellow butter cake cakes, all baked in different sizes. I used a couple pictures of actual pandas as a reference...still didn't get the shape down perfectly, but what the hell, right? Still gets the point across. :) Used chocolate ganache for frosting, which along with the marshmallow fondant, is what's holding this beast together.
Now for the real work! The pattern is painted on with black gel color and vanilla extract, and proved to be difficult, since it didn't seen to translate from 2D to 3D as smoothly as I hoped. Some details are missing, some added in. The flower on the top of the head is made up of individual fondant petals.
Forced this upon my coworkers, as I usually do when I just feel like baking or have a Threadcake. Nobody in my office wanted to be the first person to cut into it. Flattering, but it is cake, and cake is meant for eatin'. Total time, from start to finish (including the longer-than-usual baking times for the cakes), was around 15 hours. Well worth it!
