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)
Amazing! I could watch these all day. It looks like fun. But I wouldn't want to eat any of it. Is the green stuff kiwi curd or something? It looks like boogers.
Knowing Kim this might be her next project after the gummies!
I'm thinking that the green was Kiwi and the purple may have been blueberry and the red, raspberry or strawberry purees.
I listened to the music for only a few seconds...not bad, but I have a radio on in the background...much better music and I saw the puffing bottle right away.
These skills are amazing and I'm sure take a LOT of practice. Thanks for sharing. love, loVE, LOVE your site.
@Naomi- I thought Unchained Melody, too! LOL Now, if that movie had this instead of the pottery clay- YOWZA (nudge, nudge, wink, wink)
@Gary- you forgot "scared the kids/spouse/dog"
I know I'm not the only one who wants to try this now but I used to decorate with the stabilized whipped topping used in most bakeries and I don't think that's it. That stuff doesn't smooth so completely- it has a little texture to it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOMgDbcA84A
Thanks for that--amazing. I love to watch people make stuff, especially stuff I didn't know existed. Sharing the above "sand art" clip in the same spirit...
Dear Bill Carry..."By american standards, this would serve two...barely"? REALLY? Trust me, I love cake, but this just made me gag a little. Please speak for yourself.
Wow! That is really cool! Unfortunatley, the green stuff on the first video was a little off-putting. But you're right, the music will really drive you to a homicidal rage!
For everyone who liked the music, go find an elevator. I agree with Jen. The baker has gorgeous hands. And everyone wants to know the substance - and is there cake buried inside.
I've been hypothesized by cake!!!
It's stabilised whipped cream. If you want to have a hand at trying this type of decoration, i suggest Pour 'N Whip. Straight from the carton, whip it up, and have fun. Alternatively, buy some heavy whipping cream, sugar (powdered is best) and gelatin to make your own at home. I'm sure there are recipes on the internet for stabilised whipped cream.
There actually is cake in there, believe it or not. And I don't know about you, but in my life there is no such thing as "too much" whipped cream! YUMMM!
Barbara Anne sez:
@Gary- you forgot "scared the kids/spouse/dog"
Ach! You're right!
I forgot to mention that when I saw these fantastic cream cakes, I squealed so loud my cats hid under the lawn mower and my neighbors called Animal Control to report a pack of coyotes loose on the block.
I'm betting that tub in the background is the cream product that's being used, so if anyone can read it, that's probably the answer (Although you might need to "enhance".)
I was reading this post on Google Reader wonder what the heck the bottle thing was too, and then I switched over the the regular site and like magic another video appeared. On GR I only had the 1st and 3rd videos.
That looks like a heavy duty Cool Whip soya type substance used for sculpting. It would remain stable and keep a nice edge. It's absolutely amazing to watch the creation of these "cakes" but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to partake in any. They look ever so slightly radioactive to me with all that bright goo...
We know, do we not, that knowledge of this technique will find its way into the brains of 'decorators' who can do nothing useful with it. It will inspire all kinds of 'variations', as in, "that would be a great way to decorate a cupcake cake!"
There will be experiments with the material used... "Cream, schmeam. I bet it will work with fondant. What did I do with that chisel?"
Engineering types will undoubtedly deem it more efficient to speed up the turntable, thus 'decorating' themselves and the room but leaving the cake relatively unscathed (and un-frosted). Though the kinds of cakes that wreckorators usually produce are not amenable to spinning in the first place; any asymmetry in the distribution of mass is going to result in a mass distribution of cake around the room. These events must be recorded and saved for posterity, aka Cake Wrecks.
Obligatory safety notice: Wreckorators, exercise extreme caution with the blowtorch. Always heat the implement, not the cake itself. Bettercreme is very likely to be flammable.
My mom is a ceramic artist, and unfortunately, all I could think while watching these videos was "Dagnabbit! That's not centered! Fix it before the whole thing collapses!" Heh. Finished products were groovalicious, though!
I LOVE the music! Very early 80s movie soundtrack.
I want to see an episode of "Sandra Lee Does the Turntable."
It looks a lot like Bettercreme to me. I love using that stuff, you can do a lot with it, it has the consistency of whipped cream but it is more stable. These videos are awesome, like watching a magician! I didn't find the fruit gels (that's what they are in MY mind) to be unappetizing, but again, I'm basing that on how I make them, and those taste good!! ;)
there is a way to stabilize cream that has been whipped, so that it can be used as decorator icing, but off the top of my head, I can't remember what you add to it.
It's fun but I'm may be the only grumpy one here, it's doesn't look very appetizing to me :( It's "white stuff" with a few squishes of "green stuff". I might be too classical/occidental and not oriental enough XD But it's fun!
@Jillie B says: "I want to see an episode of 'Sandra Lee Does the Turntable.'" Since the SL has now been invoked, I too must confess to a certain morbid curiosity about how that might turn out. One thing about it: the frosting and the kitchen decor would be guaranteed to match, because they would be as one.
I'd much rather see 'The Swedish Chef does clay art'. Bork! Bork! Bork!
That is really neat, but are we confident there is actually cake under there?!?! That's a LOT of icing/whipped cream/shaving cream/whatever it is!
Mesmerizing and at least for the first video, the music is kind of catchy.
Jen and John,
It's nothing but whipped cream (double cream) and sugar beaten together. In England this stuff was fiied into cream puffs and eclairs. It's FAB! You add in the fruit jelly and this would be spectacular. It would then be refrigerated until very firm and would be able to slice into pieces. The consistancy would be that of a mousse. Very cool posting. Unfortunately I have no skills such as these:(
That was awesome!! Wish I could do that!
I went to the Quenary Academy website. They have a Chinese version of the website and I know Chinese so I went in there to take a look.
http://quenary.com/cn/node/6
In the paragraph right above the 1st video, it says: (my rough & bad translation)
"...It uses fresh cream to represent the clay used in pottery. It uses the turning power of the turntable and some professional tools to show pottery-like characteristics on the cakes."
The "fresh cream" here can refer to Heavy Cream, Whipping Cream, Double Cream, Whipped Cream...I'm not sure which one they're referring to in that paragraph, not that I know the difference between those creams either.
Bonus:
Apparently the cake in the following video is made by the inventor of this "pottery cake" technique
http://dv.ce.cn/flash/player.swf?videoID=313812&autoStart=false
(Warning: video loads VERY slowly, at least on my computer)
iT'S LIKE CAKE POTTERY, THAT IS SO COOL!!
It's shaving cream.
I'm not that much of a potter
I dabble in ceramics a bit
But my wheel holds a pile of white stuff
That tastes like big slice of ...
Shaving cream, be nice and clean
Shave every day and you'll always look keen
The process of creation is interesting to watch, but I don't find the final product to be appetizing or even aesthetically pleasing. Am I alone in this?
How can something be so cool ... and so completely unappetizing? I think it was the colors that killed it for me. And yet the control and technique were incredible.
Looks too white to be double cream, but i supose it could be as if whipped it gets very thick but you would need huge amounts it must be chilled and what amazing skills! But the fruit puree and toppings look very peculiar , don't think I would like.:(
Are there any other Aussies out there who are thinking that would be an AWESOME way to make/decorate a Pavlova?
Now I want to try it :P
We use a cream in our baking classes (I'm a pastry chef.. heh) that appears to be heavy cream, but its really frosting in a box. It is pre-made "frosting" that comes in a cardboard milk container that you pour into a mixer and just whip it up. It looks just like heavy cream, but very sweet and non-dairy based. It manipulates like it too. The brand we use comes in chocolate and vanilla. It too can be over whipped causing it to turn grainy and gross feeling. We call it Better Cream, because that is the brand name.. but trust me it is NOT better than real butter cream... but it isn't the worst thing out there either.
Oh.. and it is actually easier to keep the turn-table going. If you keep it still you're more likely to make mistakes. It just takes practice to get use to the spinning it. I don't go as fast as the people in the video, but I definitely don't let it be slow. Turn-tables are your friend. :)
When I finish my degree in ceramic design, I'm going to smuggle myself onto a course at this school!
The frosting seems to me to be kinda like this stuff I make with whipping cream (1 cup), superfine sugar (around a half-cup depending on how sweet you like stuff) and two tubs of mascarpone cheese. Seriously. You just whip the stuff up. You can add other stuff to make it flavored like vanilla or orange zest.
X-D I know the song in the third video! Of course I remember the version by Oran Juice Jones, not this one.
I think I would like to try one of these cakes to see what they taste like! Time to save up for a visit to Asia I suppose...
In my experience, the better it looks the worse it tastes, so therefore, YUCKY.
@Gary- much better and thank you, sir! LOL
@ Craig- ugh a CCC (patooie)! You're right but I don't have to like it.
K, all I really wanna know is- is there cake under that shtuff?! Cut a slice and let's see how it holds up!!
It looks like Better Cream to me. You can buy it at GFS frozen in quarts. You thaw it and whip it like cream. It lasts must longer than cream and is made from vegetable fat.
My sound was off until you told me to turn it off...then I turned it on.
They should have used Benny Hill music.
Wow, what the hell? I'm flabbergasted by how amazing these look, seriously. Actually, I want to be able to do it. :(
i agree, it looks like stabilized whipped cream to me. Considering this is from Asia, I'd say it probably contains an obscene amount of sugar syrup but no gelatine, which would also explain why it's so shiny. I lived in Japan for a while and have eaten lots of cakes with that kind of frosting (not as pretty, though). And yes, the whipped cream to cake ratio takes some getting used to. Although I've also been served cakes with similar amounts of frosting in the US:
According to the school's website, "The coloring on the of clay art cake is made from natural fruit paste and powder, together with the attractive decoration from fresh fruit distribution to increase its flavor." So there! Unfortunately, if this is like most Asian pastires, it looks approximateloy 100 times better than it actually tastes. They don't really do sweet over there.
Cake and porn music. Perfect!
Having lived in Asia, I'm going to bet that the "heavy cream" in this video is related to actual dairy in name only. I recognize the stuff, it's like Cool Whip only with less flavour. It has a slightly greasy taste to it, kind of like whipped lard or margarine (without the dye). They make beautiful cakes with it but it and the cake underneath are awful. They look like cakes in every possible way, but the moment you take a bite, you know you've been robbed.
Wow.. I think I stared in disbelief and wonder, and amazement for the entire length of the video, without even blinking! Owww..now my eyes hurt!