You Spin Me Right Round
August 27, 2011 When Kimberly C. sent me to Capital Confection's post on some crazy cool cake videos, I knew I had to share them with you guys. Check out the magic these bakers in Malaysia can achieve using nothing more than heavy (frozen?) cream, a spinning turn table, and a few basic tools:
(For your sanity's sake, I advise turning the sound off.)
The technique is called "clay art" because of the pottery techniques used. Isn't it amazing?
Here's another one:
My jaw hit the desk when s/he used that plastic bottle to puff air into the ripples. Sooo cool.
These are from the Quenary Academy, which apparently specializes in clay art and really annoying music (keep your sound off - trust me). There are even more videos under a different user name on Youtube, too - although they all appear to feature the same instructor:
If you're like me and could watch these all day, then check out the Quenary Academy's Youtube page, and also user ahntuank19's for lots more.
Also, if any of you have any more information on these techniques (especially on what kind of cream is being used), let me know in the comments!
(Note from john- I just added the second video which features the plastic bottle. Thanks comment section!)
Reader Comments (106)
A MAZ ING!
Oh... You're talking about a video you didn't post. No wonder I was confused as all getout.
I am in a ridiculously good mood today, because I found the music charming!
Regardless, those are some amazing techniques!
So cool!
Haha it's a wonder that bits of cream don't just fly off the sides though.
But definitely getting a turntable and trying this sometime!
How did I miss the plastic bottle part? I didn't see it :-/
That's pretty cool!
It is amazing what you can do with a potters wheel and a few bits of plastic. Thank you for posting these. It was great to watch. It might be Italian Meringue instead of cream or butter icing. I love the cake wrecks site. I also love your sense of humour with all your comments. The cakes wouldn't be half as much fun without the commentary to go with them. Keep up the good work.
Best wishes from Australia
I didn't see anything that looked remotely like using a plastic bottle to puff air into ripples...
Is there any cake to these? It looks like its all cream.
Like Paul, I kept looking for the plastic bottle puffing air into the ripples (???)
This was fun to watch nonetheless!
I think the "spray bottle" is actually a blowtorch. In the second video, the baker uses it to heat up the spoon she'll use to make the puffs. How cool!
These are Incredible... And frozen heavy cream -- how cool is that....! (Unfortunately, I listened to the music, and now I have an over-powering urge to skip around.....)
The video Jen's referring to (with the air bottle) can be found here: http://quenary.com/en/node/5
It's the first video they show. Amazing!
I'm watching Dr. Who right now so I wasn't going to have the sound play anyway. Good thing I didn't miss anything by doing that. Very fun videos.
That's pretty sweet. I actually don't mind the music!
@Paul:
I'm glad I wasn't the only one who missed it! And I watched the video TWICE!
By the way, how do we know it's a "she" making the cake?
Incredible!
Needs more "Unchained Melody."
I wonder if "heavy cream" is a mistranslation of "cream cheese." That would explain how the stuff is so malleable but holds its shape; and why it goes so well with fruit.
The plastic bottle is featured in the first video at the source blog post.
Casey Paul and Sara, there are two videos, one has annoying music (like stuck in your head all day long, make it stop, make it stop) and the other one has the puff bottle. Both are amazing!!! I did find myself wondering how the cakes/cream? tasted though, it reminds me of Korean pastries which look like an amazing petit four and are made of adzuki bean paste...so disappointing when you don't know and are expecting cake!
Might these be meringues? It would make for this sort of work, and it would explain the fact that we never see cake as they move the "frosting" around.
Either way, this is really, really, neat. Thanks for showing it, Jen!
Maybe it isn't cream, but lard. Ewwww! lol
I'm wondering what the green-gel-goo is that is piped into the first cake as well as the black goo in the last one. Any ideas?
The plastic bottle puffing starts at 2:14 in the second video It's a subtler technique than the wormed spoon. Neat stuff!
My first thought was meringue. I hope that, whatever it is, it's tasty, because there appears to be an awful lot of it in comparison to any actual CAKE.
I might just buy a few tubs of Cool Whip, dig out my old FisherPrice record player, and see what happens!
It reminds me of the spin art you can do at carnivals
Love the cake.....a spinning turntable is wonderful!
[Editor's note- Dear Clarity, I took the liberty of removing the spam portion of your comment. I hope you don't mind. -john]
What kind of frosting is that? That can't just be whipped cream or frozen whipped cream. It has to be some sort of magical concotion! Love this!
Go to their facebook page. They have a ton of pictures posted on there!!
It looks like stabilized whipped cream to me. It certainly has all the characteristics of that. As far as the green jel stuff goes I would think it was Kiwi jel. Not sure about the dark colored but I imagine that it is a fruit jel of some sort. Black currant maybe?
I think it's Italian meringue. Not too bad an alternative. Some people like meringue, even plain on lemon pie.
Like everyone else here I'm a bit confused what on earth was being lacquered on to the cake (assuming there is a cake in there somewhere). It might be cream, marscapone, meringue or even mayonnaise, but my money is on the silicone sealant you use to waterproof bathrooms.
I must admit, I liked the music. It reminds me of the soundtrack to the original Parent Trap movie. ^^
That's pretty awesome!
Those are pretty awesome!
According to a discussion posting in their Facebook, it is fresh, heavy cream :-)
Wow I never post but these videos are too cool! I love it and now I want to try it out myself:)
OK, I'll ask the "pink elephant in the room" type question. How do you serve and eat this substance? We saw no cake. We saw pliable goo and possibly that was meringue, possibly it was cream (or creme). Probably it is very cold and will immediately go into cold storage prior to serving to hold its shape. So... does one slice this, scoop this, dip this, or slurp it with a straw?
Whatever its content and composition Malaysia is a tropical country and very humid. This product would certainly loose its consistency in a hot car on the way home so this (dairy???) treat would probably be only served up in restaurants or at special events. The size is not very big (by American standards this would serve two... barely...) so you would need several of these puppies for a small wedding party.
As to the "purple elephant in the room" question: wouldn't this make a great cake wreck? I can picture it at a a Sweet 16 party tagged with Happy 16th! Control your whore moans Sweetie!
Wow! This is so mind-blowingly cool that I peed in my pants, threw up in my mouth, got diarrhea, and spewed coffee all over the monitor.
(Not really, but that seems to be what Cake Wrecks commenters say when they like something.)
My guess is that the colored stuff being squirted onto the cream is fruit puree.
I'd like to go to this academy, but would they make me listen to that music?
You had me at the word "meringue." I hope it's meringue. I want some meringue. I love meringue. It's probably some yucky cream-like substance :( I saw the puff-bottle right away. Anyway, amazing technique, and the decorator has very pretty hands. Not chancing the music!
Never mind what its made out of holy piping bag control!!! Aside from the sheer mind blowing technique I'm amazed at how rock steady her hands are. Please Please Please someone introduce this instructor to the wreckorators who piped the earthquake cakes a few days ago.
This is really an amazing video. I really did expect there to be some kind of wreck....... didn't happen! WOW!!!
I kind of liked having the music on. it made me feel like I was watching a special feature on "The Wonderful World of Disney."
I think the green goo is Kaya which is an egg cream flavored with coconut and pandan leaves. the Pandan leaves give it it's green color.
I was viewing their Facebook page where someone asked in a discussion what type of cake topping they used, if it was meringue, whipped topping etc...
They answered back that it was fresh cream. I don't see how that's possible, but the cakes are so amazing I don't think I care if that's not accurate.
I'm a pro decorator and the "cream" used looks like a whipped topping product that is oil-based and non-dairy (similar to Cool Whip.) It's pure white, super smooth, and holds its shape extremely well. I use it in cakes with fresh fruit toppings like in the videos. Great fun to watch!
I can barely get buttercream smooth on a cake that's standing still! If I used a turntable, there wouldn't be any cream left on the cake!
Very pretty, but can they possibly taste good? I like a little cake with my frosting...
While these are very pretty and skillfully created ... I can't say they look like something I want to consume :/
So I'm thinking it looks just like the soft serve ice cream at DQ! (yes, I used to work at Dairy Queen once upon a time) it would explain how it holds it's shape, and why they needed to heat the spoons and things. There must be a way to find out what it is! I will lay awake at night wondering!
Heavy cream is just really thick cream (more so than whipping cream) that beats very well. It also has a high fat content (something like 45-50%), so over-beating can turn it grainy and then, if you want Popeye arms, it will eventually beat into butter. In the UK, it's called double cream.
All that second cake needs is a few table tapers and some corn nuts!