Thursday, May 7, 2009

Remy Stirs the Pot


Hello Sugar Friends!

So sorry for the delay in posting. I have been crazy busy; and it continues through next week. Whew, this old cake chick is tired! I hope all of you are doing great, and your caking adventures are going well.

I am working on some things to post next week, so in the mean time I thought I would show this cute cake I made a few months back for the daughter of a friend. She was having her party at one of those little chef places, so the theme of the cake was just perfect! When the mom asked me if I could make Remy stirring the soup pot like in the movie, I said sure I can! Then of course, after I hung up the phone, my thought was : How the heck am I going to do that? The pot I can do, but figure modeling is not my strong suit. So I just jumped in and went for it.



I used a real chopping board for the cake base, and I love the effect that gave.




Here is the first body parts of Remy drying. I find this image quite disturbing. He scares me. But not as much as possums.


I put on his face and arms, and then used a bubble tea straw to simulate the spoon he would be holding on the real cake.


Hands make holding the spoon a tad easier for him. His little chef hat makes him official!



Here he is drying so he would have the proper body position for the cake. He no longer scares me. I think he is pretty dern cute now.


Here are 3 layers of cake iced with thickened ganache as I described in this post.



Here are the pot handles drying. An Aussie friend gave me the idea to use aquarium air tubing wrapped in fondant. I taped them down to the table so they would dry in the proper curve. I have no idea if that is food safe, so do some research before you do this.


Here I am working on the cheese and veggies, all made of fondant with tylose.




Cute little carrots.


Swiss and aged Gouda. Tee hee.



I wrapped the cake in white fondant, added the top trim and the handles, and then airbrushed it with copper luster dust. Buttercream makes the soup, with little fondant veggies sprinkled on top.



Despite using the straw to configure his arms, when I put the real spoon in the cake, I could not get it to line up with his hands correctly. After a few choice words, I just decided that he was shifting the spoon from one hand to the other, and my picture caught it mid-shift. Yep, I like that story.

I also chose to ignore the fact that he is walking on the soup more than he is standing on the edge of the pot. (Rat bastard.)

Sometimes things just don't go as we plan, and we have to suck it up. I hate when that happens.

But overall, I was very pleased with the cake, and mom and daughter went crazy over it. Mission accomplished!

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Here is a cake I did last weekend before going to Texas using the run sugar technique. Is this something you guys would like to see on DVD?

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Back from Texas

I had a wonderful time in Texas last weekend. The DOS and classes were a blast! I love traveling to teach and meet cake people. Cake peeps are the best on earth!

Check out this cake Sandy in Texas made in my fish class. Hers came out better than mine. She is banned from any future classes with me.



Check out Sandy's great cakes at: http://www.picturetrail.com/sandyscakes


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Topsy Turvy DVD

Todd and I are working on the finishing touches for Totally Topsy Turvy. It's going to be close to 4 hours long. It will include a narrated slide show showing how to cut and serve a topsy, and also has some bloopers from the shoot! I love the music for this one; my favorite so far! Thank you for the pre-orders placed already. May 15 is the cut off to get the free recipes!

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OK kids, back to my busy, crazy, wonderful life, and I will check in with you guys next week. This weekend is my 46th birthday, 24th wedding anniversary and Mother's Day. I got me some serious eating to do!

Happy Mother's day to you all! (Even if you do not have kids, you are still a mother to your cakes, so go celebrate!)

Sharon

26 comments:

Alicia said...

Happy Birthday/Anniversary/Mother's Day Sharon! As always, thank you for the tutorial. I'd love to see the run sugar technique on DVD. Keep 'em coming! :)

Jennywenny said...

Wow! That is incredible! I cant believe you were disappointed with it! I'm sure the kids didnt even notice, I bet they were squealing with glee!

Have a wonderful birthday!

I sent you an email as I'm dying to hear about the problem you alluded to in a previous post with the saggy fondant, let me know if you cover it in the DVD!

Janel said...

Its so amazing that just today i was thinking to myself "Sharon really needs to update her blog! Maybe I will email and remind her that there are some us out here with no life and with the small exception of having to take care of a 2 year old, her blog is the reason that we get up in the morning".

So, I thought about it for a while and then I decided "OK, if there is no update by tomorrow I will definately have to email her some smart a$$ remark about her blog!"

See...you read my mind!! Saved me all the trouble of plotting the sarcastic remarks I was going to email you.

I have had Remy in my favorite photos since you posted him on CC! I really think that he is just about the CUTEST figure I have ever seen!! I love doing figure modeling and accents in fondant/gumpaste!!

I would love to see the run sugar technique!!

I will end my post (aka rant!) by saying I will think about you and wish you a Happy Birthday/Anniversary/Mother's Day with an icy adult beverage on the deck of the giant cruise ship that will be taking me to Jamaica this weekend!!! (I know I suck!! hehe!).

In all sincerity I hope you have an outstanding weekend!

Janel :)

Unknown said...

I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to see the run sugar technique....and gumpaste flowers...I'll never stop pushing for that one. Happy Birthday/Anniversary..and Mother's Day...to your kiddos and your cakes!

rockysharon said...

LOVED your pot of soup. Remy was probably standing on two slices of carrots that were floating right beneath the broth in the pot. The perfect spot for a soup stirring rat!

Put my name in the pot for the run sugar technique!

Loved the class in Alvin. Thanks for all your sharing.

Have a great weekend of celebrations and may you have many more!

Tawnya Torres said...

Hey Sharon, Happy Birthday, Happy Anniversary, and Happy Mother's Day. Hope you have a good one. We loved having you in Texas and hope I get to talk to you again in the future. I absolutely love your silly personality and wonderful sense of humor. How does that sign look up on your wall?

Desert Rose said...

Happy Birthday Ms Sharon,
Happy Mother's Day and Happy Anniversary :D
May God bless you and your family.
I was looking at this cake just yesterday on your web album,and I LOVED it!!! since my birthday is on Sunday,I was asking my hubby if he'd make this cake for me haha.
THANK YOU SO MUCH for all your help.You are a blessing and an angel!
- H

Snooky doodle said...

oh the Remy cake is amazing. Apart from loving Ratatouille the cake really looks similar to the film. Amazing :)

dori said...

Loved the cake back when you originally did it and still loves it! Rat bastard-*snork*

Happy Birthday, Mother's Day & Anniversary! At least you live in the right part of the world for some serious eats!

Heather said...

SUCH a darling cake! I saw that little rat in person too!
Heck woman, I'D love to see you do run sugar, and I've known you forever and spend my life in your back pocket stealing bits of education!

Anonymous said...

Darling cake!!!! I love it.
Happy B-Day, Anniversary and Mother's Day!
Vicki :)

Julie said...

Remy is adorable, and I love the cake on the wooden cutting board!
What did you use for his whiskers?

Kim Dodgen said...

OUTSTANDING!!! I love Remy and the entire cake. You do such a wonderful job with all your creations.

I would love a DVD on the run sugar technique, so please put me on the list.

Happy Birthday, Happy Anniversary and Happy Mother's Day.

Kim

ljchris said...

Happy Birthday/Anniversary/Mother's Day!
Loved getting to meet you in Alvin last weekend. (I didn't squeal! =) You're a wonderful teacher and a hoot!

Hope you can get some rest soon.
Laurie
p.s. any tutorial you put out there, I'm in!!

DARLENE said...

LOVE IT, BUT COULD YOU SHOW STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS OF REMY? MY GRANDSON LOVES THE MOUSE. COUNT ME IN ON THE DVD FOR RUN SUGAR. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ANNIV. AND MOTHER'S DAY (AIN'T WE SO BLESSED)
DARLENE

Patricia @ ButterYum said...

Fantastic Remy cake - dare I ask how many hours it took to make?

Beth said...

Sharon, your cakes are, as usual, both creative and oh sooo perfect. I would love love love to have a DVD on run sugar. Have a very Happy Birthday and a wonderful Mother's Day!

SugarEd Productions said...

Thank you all very much!

Jenny wenny I think I sent you an email with that answer.

Julie: they were 18 0r 20 gauge floral wire.

Janel: I hope you get sea sick. (J/K) :)

Butter rum: I ganached the cake one day and decorated it the next. I made Remy over a few days, but only a liitle bit of time each day.

Hey my Texas ladies!! So great to have you check in! TEXAS ROCKS!

Heidi said...

I think it would be fun to learn how to do run sugar in dvd. Sounds like a busy week!

fiddlesticks said...

Remy is adorable, and I love the cake on the wooden cutting board!
I would love to see the run sugar technique!!
Sharon, Happy Birthday, Happy Anniversary, and Happy Mother's Day.
I hope you ate all weekend and someone else did all the work!

dai said...

I would love to know/see how you covered that huge pot in fondant without it slipping/bulging! (One piece wrapped around the side?)

Hope you had a lovely Mother's Day!

Tracy Auseklis said...

Love Remy!! That was my favorite movie! You'r Remy is perfect. I have a cake in July with little sponge bob figures...Hope I do as well on them as you on Remy!- Tracy A

Bimmer said...

Hi!

I chanced upon this site and all I could go was Wow, WOw and WOW-ing over the cakes!

You are WONDERFUL!

Bimmer
www.mybakingblog.blogspot.com

MammaDucky said...

So, as I've been perusing your blog for the past hour or so, I come across this post. Holy crap. I totally used pics of this cake as a guide when I made my twins' b-day cake a couple of years ago. Mine did not come out NEARLY as wonderful, but it was quite useful as inspiration!

Anonymous said...

What did u use to make Remy?gumpaste?

Anonymous said...

fondant with tylose!