Tutorial Of My T-Rex Sculpting, Painting And Piping Fx-Fog
Decorating By Crustymuffin Updated 29 Aug 2013 , 9:58pm by baker4grandkids
I have been asked a lot and I have it on my face book page but I figured I would post it here for easier access. 
The T-rex figure had to have a sturdy structure to build off of. We used
wooden dowels and thick wire to create a sturdy structure that we could pose.
The structure was then mounted to a base. This base supported the figure during the creation
and in the final cake.
After being cleaned and sanitized the structure was covered in foil.
Then it was time to mix the rice cereal and build up the body. We found that mixing the rice
treats and then baking them for 10-15 min helped them to stick and harden faster which was
key since gravity is not your friend here.
We coated the structure with melted marshmallow to help the rice treats stick. You can still see
this on the tips of the feet and the tail. We packed the rice cereal treats on in manageable
sections starting with the belly as it was the most bulky area. Once we were happy with the basic form
we squeezed and compacted the treats. This firmed it up and revealed any areas that needed additional work.
[img]http://www.crazycakes.com/Facebook/6jpg.jpg"width[/img]
When we were happy with the form of our figure, then we began to crumb coat
it with icing. I hollowed out the eye sockets so I could make nice round eyeballs with fondant later.
Next we went on to wrapping the figure with fondant or gum paste. We used fondant in this case.
We rolled out green colored fondant the same as we would when covering a cake. We covered the
figure in 4 parts; first the body, then the legs individually, and the head last. The idea is to cover it
in a way that all seams are hidden or in a natural location. We used Vodka to blend the 4 coverings together.
Vodka helps to wet the fondant extending the working time so you can knead it together. Standard
sculpting tools were used to add skin ripples other details such as the mount and the nose.
The Vodka evaporates after time.
The eyes were done after the body was entirely complete. We use white fondant, rolling it into
little balls and inserting them into the eye sockets. We then made little eyelids and kneaded them in.
After the figure completely dried we began the painting process. I found this scrap book paper at
a craft store. It really helped us understand the pattern needed. We didnt want this Dinosaur to be very
scary so we went less realistic on the color. Every little spec was painted with a brush using metallic green
Americolor edible paints.
Once the specs were done, we airbrushed 2 additional shades of green, white for highlights and
brown/green mix for shadows.
We put the figure aside to dry while we shifted out attention to the cake base. The cake base was
chocolate with butter cream filling and crumb coat. To create the breaking ground formation we just cut our
sheet cake into cracked sections and covered them separately.
You might have noticed that we did not use a smooth crumb coat; that was intentional, as it gives the rocks
better surface texture. The fondant was also rolled thin to further capture the roughness of the crumb coat.
Variously sized detail rocks were rolled from fondant to accentuate the cracks and border of the cake.
These were meticulously placed.
We wanted the rocks to look like they were under lit from the lava. A trick we used was to paint
them the same way candy car paint is applied; using a gold base color, and then spraying a red-tinted
clear coat. Again we used Americolor edible airbrush paints.
Then we hand painted all the crack details with a fine brush.
We then applied torch heat to the paint that we spent a hour applying. This sugar is slightly caramelized,
blending the colors. It was intended to be lava rock, so we wanted it to look hot! We applied heat
heavily on the little detail rocks, making them look like roasted marshmallows. Four small
hoses were then run through the cake and out the bottom. We connected the hoses into one big hose
that ultimately attached to the water-based fog machine.
After the fog hoses were in place, we needed to pour the lava. (Sorry, I do not have a photo
of this step with out the figure in place.) We cooked sugar to the Sugar Crack state, and added
cherry flavor and some orange-red food coloring. After the cooked sugar cooled two to three
minutes, we poured it into the cracks of the rock forms. After ten to twenty minutes, this was
fully hardened. We trimmed the excess fog hoses, and placed the figure on top.
It sure was awesome to see the fog fan out into the room from this cake.
Once looking at it from all angles we realized that we needed to apply more torch effect.
We also torched onto the figure in places.
The moment of truth had arrived. Hook up the fog, and let her rip.
We got it to the party in one piece, thanks to the structure we placed within the cake in step 1.
All we needed to do now was add the candles. There was only once place for that, the head!
We turned on the fog and everyone dropped their jaws followed by exclamations of
WOW and smiles all around. Now that was a Crazy Cake!
Thanks so much for sharing. It is awesome!!!
Yea the plan all along was to give him a Mohawk with the candles. it just made it more playful. Thanks for the props and I hope it helps others come up with some cool cake ideas
After spending the last 10 minutes searching for the word to express how impressed I am with this cake, I'm at a loss (my vocabulary ain't that vast)...to say WOW!!! just doesn't quite explain how I feel about it. I think the techniques used to pull off this magnificent display are amazing and the finished piece...well, it's beyond words.
Thank you for sharing how you pulled it off.
I just realized that the Crumb coat image had a typo and didn't display here it it is.
When we were happy with the form of our figure, then we began to crumb coat
it with icing. I hollowed out the eye sockets so I could make nice round eyeballs with fondant later.
COOL!! Excellent! I love good, plain, clear directions.
Can't to this, but appreciate all your effort!
Sure you can! You just may not want to or need to right now, but all things are possible. Just had to throw that in there.
Whoa, mama, this is one INCREDIBLE cake!!! And thanks so much for posting the how-to. I'm pretty sure I'll never do a cake this spectacular, but there are plenty of ideas here to apply to smaller projects.
Oh WOWOWOWOWOW
Incredible and a gigantic THANK YOU for posting the tutorial here. We cannot access facebook from China, and this is one of the best I've seen in a long, long time
Now I really wnat to make him, but.....no rice crispies here either, marshmallows can be hard to come by, but meybe sometime in the future, i hope to get the opportunity to make something like this, this is AWESOME!!!!
how did you do it with the tubing? Run that under the table how and how did you get the smoke to flow into the tubing? that's the only part I don't really understand?
How amazing!!
I have a question, I maybe missed it in the tutorial.
How do you attach the dinosaur from the base you created it on onto the base of the cake?
How do you attach the dinosaur from the base you created it on onto the base of the cake?
Yes very good question!
- I made the base as you see it in the images.
I detached the T-Rex legs from the wooden block
Attached 2 spare dowels to the wodden block where the extended legs were Placed the wodded base with dummy legs on the cakes board.
Traced out it's shape and cut 2 of the 3 ply's of the cardboard away and cut 2 holes in the bottle that lined up with the screws that secured the leg dowels to the base.
While all that was happening I then stuck the figure into foam.
I built the cake around the base.
When i was done I unscrewed the dummy legs, removed them, and placed the Figure back. Then screwed his legs to the base.
I do not really do this any more though. The legs can twist can crack your figure. The better way is to Hot glued hollow tubes just bigger than the dowels to the cake board. I push them through the bottom and glue the bottom and the top. Build the cale around this and when you are ready to set the figure in, he just slides in place. I use plastic supports and plumbers pipe, as well as cardboard tubes. What ever strenght you need.
Heres a is a video of my gollum cake using this new method with plumber s pipe.
Oh Wowowow
you guys have incredible talent, wish I could be a fly on your wall. Is there a second part to the gollum cake, and do you have a finished picture ot it somewhere?
I'm going to your website now, and my family can make their own dinner today, I'm busy
all your works are breathtaking. Your video was amazing (can't wait for part 2!) and your website is now on my list of favorites. And, glory be, I see you're in Austin, one of the three places I visit when I go back to the States nowadays! Do you ever give classes? I could see organizing my life around a Crazy Cakes course for a while!
sorry, but i dont understand when did you bake the rice krispies?and how? yes i know stupid question... all your works are breathtaking.
Make rice krispies like usual. Lay them out in a pan to cool. Then you can put them in the Oven on low for 10 min. to settle and harden up a bit. It just keep them from being so soft and that hold shape better against gravity.
Do you ever give classes?
We just built a new comercial kitchen and plan to in the next year. We are also talking to some production companies about doing some traning vedios. There is more info on my facebook page. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Austin-TX/Crazy-Cakes-Inc/172885063568
Is there a second part to the gollum cake, and do you have a finished picture ot it somewhere?
The finished Gollum can be found:
http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-photos-by-Crustymuffin.html
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Austin-TX/Crazy-Cakes-Inc/172885063568?v=photos#!/album.php?aid=198703&id=172885063568&ref=pb
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