Structural 4 Legged Elephant Cake

Subhashini Ramsingh
Last Update September 8, 2021
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About This Course

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Syllabus

In this elaborate tutorial, Subhashini Ramsingh teaches us how to create a structure cake from scratch; right from building the structure on your own to completely making this 4 legged elephant cake. This detailed course also teaches us how to work on any 4 legged animal, by building a strong structure and a base for the cake to be built upon. Carving the cake in the shape of the elephant, you are taught to build the entire body using a combination of cake, modelling chocolate and fondant . This particular course is a complete exposure to not only working with different mediums but also in learning a lot of different techniques starting from building the base of the structure to how the texture of the elephant skin is made, painting of the eyes, toe nails, tusk etc., is all shown in complete detail. Making the elephant trunk including a stable structure is a technique which you can use in other structured cakes in the future. Overall, this course is a complete package which deals with everything about a structured cake with attention to a lot of minute details that are involved in this particular 4-legged elephant cake.

Lessons
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Tools & Materials
In this first lesson, you will learn about all the tools and materials needed to make this 4-legged elephant cake. 
Attaching The Flange
Attaching the flange is a crucial part of the lesson. This is where the entire structure will be built, so choosing the position of the flange is very important. In this lesson you will understand which is the right place to position the flange and also understand how to mark and drill the flange to the base board.
Attaching Structure To Board
Once the flange is fixed in position, you need to build the structure. In this lesson, you will learn how to build the entire structure based on the size and shape of the elephant and all the crucial inputs to build the right structure for the perfect final output.
Building The Base Of The Elephant
Once the structure is built, you need a proper base for the cake to be placed and to build the body of the elephant. In this lesson, you will learn what are the suitable materials to be used for building the base and how to securely attach the base to the structure built, so it is permanently attached to the structure and acts as a stable base for the cake to be built.
Trunk Support
Elephant is a beautiful animal with a long trunk. Since we are working with cake, we need to understand the complexity of keeping the trunk in a stable position and also allow you to shape and position the trunk as you require while building the elephant. In this lesson, you will learn what medium to use to build the trunk of the elephant and how to securely attach the trunk to the structure. It will also help you change the position and the way in which you want the trunk to be on the elephant.
Sealing Non-Edible Parts
Once the entire structure is built, we need to seal the complete structure using edible medium, so the cake doesn’t come in contact with the non-edible parts of the structure. In this lesson, you will learn what is the best medium to use to cover the structure and how to completely cover and seal the structure and safeguard the actual cake from touching any part of the non-edibles used in the structure.
Building Legs & Lowerbody
Once the structure is made ready and edible safe, you start building the lower part of the body which are the legs. In this lesson, you will learn how to build the legs and give them shape. We need to understand that the cake portion is not the final size and shape of the entire elephant. We need to cover it with ganache and then fondant, so giving room for adding more medium over the cake is a crucial part while working with the cake and that important aspect is taught in this lesson.
Carving Head & Body
Once the legs are complete, you need to start working on the head and body. We will place the cake on the base of the structure that was created and then start carving to get the actual and perfect shape of the elephant. In this lesson, you will learn how to layer the cakes on the base and then carve it to the perfect shape by keeping the picture of the elephant as an inspiration.
Shaping Legs & Body
Once both the body and legs are in shape, more details on how to bring the whole body together should be made. In this lesson you will learn to use cake and make a complete shape of the elephant’s body and legs
Shaping the head
Once the body and legs are made perfect, then you need to perfect the head. In this lesson, you will learn how to shape the head of the elephant and make it perfect.
Trunk & Tusk
Working on trunk and tusk is a trickier part, as it cannot take in a lot of weight. Yet it needs to retain shape and be balanced with the structure. You will learn the best medium to build both the trunk and the tusk and complete making them in proportion with the shape and size of the body.
Ganaching The Elephant
Once the shape of the entire elephant has been perfected, the whole elephant should be covered with ganache. In this lesson, you will learn the right technique to cover a non-conventional shape of cake with ganache and to smooth it to perfection. This step is important because only if the ganache surface is smooth, the fondant cover will be smooth on the outside.
Adding Extra Details
After the body has been ganached to perfection, more details have to be added on the body. They will be the extra muscles and bones which have to be explicitly shown on the outside of the body. Carving such details on the cake will give the depth and details as needed. In this lesson, you learn what is the right medium to create the muscles and other intricate details over the body of the elephant
Draping Fondant Part-1
In this lesson you learn how to drape a cake which is not a round or square. A cake which is carved in the shape of the elephant, is very tricky to cover completely with fondant and give it a smooth finish. In this lesson you learn how to cover the elephant with fondant in parts and yet give a smooth finish for creating textures later.
Draping Fondant Part-2
In this lesson you will learn how to reach out to the most difficult places of the elephant and cover with fondant.
Draping Fondant Part-3
In this lesson you learn how to cover the trunk with fondant and seal all the seams smoothly and completely cover the entire elephant with fondant
Creating Skin Texture
Giving a realistic skin texture to the elephant is important in this particular cake. In this lesson, you will learn the essential tools and technique for creating the real life-like skin texture for the elephant.
Ears, Tail & Tusk
In this lesson, you will, how to make the ears for the elephant which is a tricky part. You will also learn how to make the tail and the tusk of the elephant.
Elephant – Nails & Eyes
Eyes are the most crucial part of any character. Especially in animals, one eye is the mirror image of the other and creating the both with the right shape and size on either side is a very tricky technique. In this lesson you will learn how to make very realistic eyes for the elephants and understand the ratio and proportion of both eyes. You will also learn how to make the nails and paint them to look natural.
Quick Recap
In this lesson, you will have a complete recap of the whole lesson as a revision to all that you have learnt in the previous lessons

Curriculum

20 Lessons5h 30m

4 Legged Elephant Cake

Tools & Materials20:02
Attaching The Flange7:46
Attaching Structure To Board00:08:46
Building The Base Of The Elephant00:26:51
Trunk Support6:29
Sealing Non-Edible Parts00:03:20
Building Legs & Lowerbody00:18:41
Carving Head & Body00:19:42
Shaping Legs & Body00:20:32
Shaping the head00:07:22
Trunk & Tusk00:10:06
Ganaching the Elephant00:08:49
Adding Extra Details00:10:53
Draping Fondant Part 100:12:00
Draping Fondant Part 200:13:10
Draping Fondant Part 300:10:25
Creating Skin Texture00:16:42
Ears, Tail & Tusk00:20:22
Elephant – Nails & Eyes00:21:46
Quick Recap3:54

Your Instructors

Subhashini Ramsingh

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125 Courses
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6980 Students
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2,500

Level
Expert
Total Duration 5.5 hours
Total Lesson(s)
20
Enrollment validity: Lifetime