Exploding death star cake, yup I said it.

[rat]

I'm looking for suggestions as to how to pull this off for a grooms cake.
The cake is to be for about 20 people and on a post so it looks free floating. Of course it will be exploded at the end of the ceremony. My concern would be getting the fondant smooth without it falling off the bottom of the sphere due to gravity. Any ideas?? The taste is not critical because the cake will be exploded though the groom may want a slice first. The look is important though. I have the base and structure figured out already. Thanks, something to think about??

Stuff like this makes going to work all worthwhile,

[chefpeon]

I'm assuming you've got the thing engineered so that that bottom half of the sphere is not cake.......it's either styrofoam or a formed rice krispy treat thing?
If true, then getting the fondant to stick to either one isn't difficult. The rice krispy treat stuff is sticky in itself, and if you lightly dampen the surface of the fondant that is to adhere to the bottom half of the sphere, it'll stay there till you rip it off. Same with styrofoam. Just lightly dampen the side of the fondant that will stick to the hemisphere.

And what are you using for explosives??? Heh heh heh.

[rat]

For the boom part, we've had success using curing salt (potassium nitrate), powdered sugar and a mystery ingredient, though it makes a better smokebomb.
The explosive part is easy, I could even rig up a small powder charge no big deal. I have plenty of reloading supplies here at the house. I was thinking of doing the cake solid but I do agree the styrofoam base would be a better idea.

[chefpeon]

Hee hee.....in these days of extreme cakes, who'd think a pastry chef oughtta have pyrotechnic knowledge? Back to school for me.
Of course, guys do have a proclivity for blowing things up.

[rat]

Well, the extreme cake thing has certainly raised the bar for everyone. I haven't made one traditional cake in over a year and we had a busy wedding season this year.

[nowIamone]

I have a feeling that the mother of the bride will be very unhappy with this....

[chefpeon]

Originally Posted by nowIamone

I have a feeling that the mother of the bride will be very unhappy with this....

And for as many "mother of the brides" that I've had to deal with over the years, I think that's awesome. In fact I'd make sure she was standing real close to the cake come explosion time........ok ok....I'm evil, mean, cynical and I have an attitude problem.........but it's fun just thinking about it.

Actually, on a slightly different topic, while I respect the whole "extreme cake" trend, made popular mostly by Duff Goldman; as a pastry chef, I also have respect for the fact that we are working with a media called "food".
I really don't believe that food should explode (intentionally) or have moving parts, or emit "smoke" or "lava" or any of that stuff. I mean, that's just MY policy personally. If customers ask me to do it, I won't. I'll refer them somewhere else. I believe you have to sacrifice a lot in taste when you have to construct a cake to be a shape that can possibly be unstable. The choices you have in the type of cake and fillings you can use is very limited, and I think, that if a cake doesn't taste great, why bother? If someone wants something to explode at their party, why does it have to be the cake? This is something I just kind of don't get.

No offense to you or anything rat, I hope you pull it off.....and even better, post pictures!

[rat]

I do agree with you Chefpeon, I like Duff but as far as a baker I have heard from people the cakes taste less than they look. It seems 50% + of each cake is non edible. I'm sure anyone can make great looking cakes by hiring art students. Not every pastrychef is a fine artist and less artists are pastry chefs. As for what people want, I don't care as long as they have the $$$ to pay for it. Take a look at my viking wedding cake in the pictures section. We got over 2000 dollars for that one, the brides mom wasn't too crazy about that either.

[chefpeon]

Now an exploding roast beef.......I'd like to see THAT.

[Erik]

Originally Posted by chefpeon

Now an exploding roast beef.......I'd like to see THAT.

Now, that sounds delicious!!

[rat]

You would have to say it in French to sound good.
Exploding beef with gunpowder sauce.

le boeuf éclatant a servi avec de la sauce à poudre
yummy!!

[spikebones]

hi rat,

i know this is two years later and i'm hoping that you and your clients are still alive

this might sound strange coming from someone who bakes but i know a thing or two about what you're playing with.

the powder that you are using to make your cakes explode is called flash powder and is EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. it is a combination of sugar (oxidizer), potassium nitrate (Kno3) and of course the secret ingredient. if the correct quantities are mixed together, you could not only blow yourself & the new mother-inlaw-to-be who's standing next to the cake to smitherines but the shaffeur and the building too. a 1/2 pound mixture when ignited expands into an area approximately 30 meters in diameter & at a rate of approximately 1 meter every 0.001 seconds. this is an extremely powerful explosion and although it does make for cool smoke bombs (barring that the correct smoke bomb mixture is used), it could turn out to be fatal.

i am by default a pyromaniac. i can not help myself, i was born like this. i have many a time burnt myself & my worst experience was with flash powder. instead of using something that involves fire, why not try using compressed air? it is safer, you can control the direction of the "blast" and when everything is over and done with, all you need do is refill the bottle and you're ready for round two.

if you are not keen on this idea and still want to go with the flash powder, then i would suggest using a match box size explosive rigged up to an electronic detanotor.

please feel free to contact me if you would like to learn how to construct either of the two as i will give you the necessary advice needed in order to construct them in the safest manner possible.

as for the cake, who would ever want to blow up a cake that didn't taste good? there are people out there who enjoy eating cake off other people you know

spikebones

[spikebones]

hi rat,

i'm hoping that you and your clients are still alive

this might sound strange coming from someone who bakes but i know a thing or two about what you're playing with.

the powder that you are using to make your cakes explode is called flash powder and is EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. it is a combination of sugar (oxidizer), potassium nitrate (Kno3) and of course the secret ingredient. if the correct quantities are mixed together, you could not only blow yourself & the new mother-inlaw-to-be who's standing next to the cake to smitherines but the shaffeur and the building too. a 1/2 pound mixture when ignited expands into an area approximately 30 meters in diameter & at a rate of approximately 1 meter every 0.001 seconds. this is an extremely powerful explosion and although it does make for cool smoke bombs (barring that the correct smoke bomb mixture is used), it could turn out to be fatal.

i am by default a pyromaniac. i can not help myself, i was born like this. i have many a time burnt myself & my worst experience was with flash powder. instead of using something that involves fire, why not try using compressed air? it is safer, you can control the direction of the "blast" and when everything is over and done with, all you need do is refill the bottle and you're ready for round two.

if you are not keen on this idea and still want to go with the flash powder, then i would suggest using a match box size explosive rigged up to an electronic detanotor.

please feel free to contact me if you would like to learn how to construct either of the two as i will give you the necessary advice needed in order to construct them in the safest manner possible.

as for the cake, who would ever want to blow up a cake that didn't taste good? there are people out there who enjoy eating cake off other people you know

spikebones

[spikebones]

hi rat

the substance you are using make your cakes explode is extremely volatile and dangerous. rather use compressed air bru. it's safer, cheaper and there is no fire involved.

spikebones

[Blueicus]

So how did the cake turn out?