A little while ago, my sister approached me with an idea. She’s doing an education degree, and her and her friends had to give a series of lessons on the geological sciences to a class of primary school kids. One of their lessons involved teaching the kids about the structure of the Earth. One of her friends came up with the idea of presenting a model of the Earth made out of cake. So my sister asked me if I could make a spherical cake with all the layers of the Earth inside it.
I told her I couldn’t do it. “How do you get a sphere inside a sphere inside a sphere?” I recall saying. “Oh yeah,” she replied, realising what it would involve.
I spent the rest of the afternoon thinking about it. I don’t admit defeat. Ever. But especially not with cake. Nothing is impossible is pretty much my baking motto, so to say this cake was impossible left me feeling weird. There had to be a way. A way that didn’t involve carving or crumbing the cake. I kept mulling it over until I had a breakthrough.
There was a better way of doing this that I came up with, but I needed a set of hemisphere tins to pull it off. I didn’t have the equipment, nor the funds to purchase it, so I had to come up with a plan B. Somehow I went from “it’s impossible” to having multiple ideas. Go figure.
Plan B involved baking a cake inside a cake inside a cake. And crossing all fingers and toes and hoping it worked.
Looking pretty promising so far.
There weren’t enough people to warrant a complete sphere, so we went with a hemisphere globe instead. With the inner core, outer core and mantle all cake-d up, it was time for the crust. Chocolate buttercream filled that role.
The rest was left up to marshmallow fondant.
Depictions of the globe, satellite pictures of the Earth, movies… they almost always seem to show the globe featuring America smack bang in the middle. I’m always surprised and excited to see it any other way. So this time I let my home country by the focal point of the cake, and based everything else around it. America still got a little peep around the side.
I added a little white and marbled it into the fondant to make some clouds. I hand cut all the continents from fondant, then painted them with a gel paste mixture using a dry brush technique. This process all up took me about 6 hours and was the most arduous process. Coupled by the fact I was using the world’s tiniest brush. But I think the different colours makes it look much better than if I’d have used plain green fondant.
When I started this cake I was determined for pin-point accuracy. I was going to make every country and every island so damn accurate a pilot could use it as their navigation system. But by the time I got to Europe, it was more like, “Yeah, that’s the general shape.” By the time I got to the Americas I was wondering if that continent was even necessary. I missed a whole heap of islands above Australia and settled instead for the main ones. Cutting out the countries wasn’t that cake walk I’d imagined it to be.
I finally got to a finished look for the cake and let my sister take it off my hands. She brought me back a slice so I could share a picture of the inside with you all. The red layer is orange Madeira sponge, the yellow is lemon Madeira sponge and the white cake was a vanilla buttercake.
And one of her friends sent me some pictures of their cutting out the cake.
It wasn’t an image of perfection, but I was just relieved that the layers were there. I ran into a lot of trouble with the yellow layer simply through this being one large experiment, so I was expecting it to be a mish mash of terrible proportions.
I’d definitely change a few things next time I tried it. I’d especially love to try the Plan A version of it one day, for that would allow toe possibility of using more moist cake recipes.
I’m told the cake was a massive hit with all the staff and students, so that was definitely a relief!
ETA: Tutorial for making a concentrically layered cake is now here.
Cakecrumbs 
This is astounding! The inner layers didn’t get dried out from being baked more than once?
I didn’t sample it but it appeared not: same theory as a polkadot cake.
True art. What a wonderful thing. I bet it tasted great.
Thanks! Apparently the next lesson the kids were all raving about how much they liked the cake — either it turned out well, or they’re easily impressed!
You are amazing.
Thank you. :]
That’s gorgeous! Wow!
I’m always surprised and excited to see it any other way. So this time I let my home country by the focal point of the cake
I appreciate this very much. /Kiwi
Haha. I imagine you guys get even less globe love than we do!
Totally epic!
Incredible job, I LOVE the attention to detail– it’s functional, it’s beautiful AND it’s edible? Trifecta achieved! You’re amazing.
Re: Totally epic!
Thanks so much! ♥
I am a geology student. I like cake. Marry me?
Done!
Awesome!
Thank you!
great geophysics cake!
What a beautiful cake! I especially appreciate it because I’m a geophysicist, and when I teach about Earth’s interior I use all sorts of cooking analogies. I know it would be extra difficult, but if you could make the mantle part of the cake an actual marble-cake it would be perfect. See for example Allegre & Turcotte’s 1986 Nature paper: “Implications of a two-component marble-cake mantle” http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v323/n6084/abs/323123a0.html
Thank you. Marbling the cake could be fun! It would be no more difficult than doing it the other way.
Awesome idea. Would seem a simple idea to most, but obviously required a lot of thinking. I think the countries came out looking very accurate. And even though you say the layers weren’t perfect, I’m sure inside the earth that they aren’t perfectly smooth spheres. 😉
Haha — I’m not about to visit to go check.
This is beautiful.
I would have the north pole at the top though personally, since the reason for it showing up on maps and satellites the other way around, is because of the way the planet actually sits, it’s not really anything to do with having America showing for me. I might try this with other planets, or the moon!
You did a great job.
The way the planet actually sits? There’s no difference to the planet between the south and north poles. It’s purely a human convention that the north pole is the one we put on top.
Ah bias…
Don’t you just love it when unconscious bias rears it’s little head.
Truly lovely cake. I’m a bit sad that my part of the planet didn’t make the cut, so to speak, but really gorgeous. I hope it was delicious, too.
I think the continental map is really neat, and not that much off! Might not lead a pilot to the very precise spot but close 🙂
Awesome!
That is so cool! It’s beautiful. The layers are so nicely done, and the colours look great. What’s up with the North though lol! It’s all stretched flat like a map hehe.
I like the Australia focus too, though I would have made it peach-coloured, rather than green. Can’t wait to see the plan A one, if you do make it! You should get a globe to use for reference next time, so you don’t have to worry about map projections.
Awesome. Awesome awesome.
hehe, if you made it for a special party, and there was a celiac there, you could make them a little gluten-free moon cake. To scale of course 😉
Another annoying thing about accuracy is the actual thickness of the crust. If your cake had a radius of about 20cm, the crust would be 1 mm. That’s not much icing…
Haha, close enough for a days fondant work.
Great cake!
You did a great job with the continents and it was a great idea. I get excited about cakes, and even more excited with cleverness.
Re: Great cake!
Thank you. :]
cake
that is so cool 🙂 thank you for sharing!!!
Re: cake
Pleasure is all mine! Thanks for stopping by.
This is one gorgeous cake, constructed with talent and cleverness!
Thank you! :]
I would never eat something so unnatural (I really don’t understand this colourful chemical trend) but I must admit : it looks awesome! Good job!
Julie
(I loved the funny comment about drawing Europe and America ^^)
I’d not assume every coloured cake is made with ‘artificial’ colouring. ‘Natural’ food colourings are not only easy to make at home, but readily available to buy commercially.
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User referenced to your post from Interesting Links for 01-06-2013 saying: […] ) Earth Structural Layer Cake. (I am damned impressed) […]
your cake
i think this is wonderful – beth from america
Re: your cake
Thank you Beth. :]
fascinating!! that’s really cool!
Thank you. :]
How to make the layers???
This is absolutely stunning! I am so impressed with your ingenuity, and I would love to try a similar one myself. But I am really not clear on how you made the spheres inside the spheres? Was that middle sphere baked in a small bowl first? More explanation would be VERY MUCH appreciated! Please! Thanks! 🙂
Re: How to make the layers???
Thanks. I used different size puddings bowls or hemisphere cake tins. I’ve not included a recipe yet as the method was not entirely successful (gaps and patches of undercooked batter for present) so I’d rather perfect it myself before sharing a technique that may lead others to disaster.
!!
This is brilliant! Excellent work!
Re: !!
Thank you. :]
I found this reposted here: http://cheezburger.com/7498354688
Congrats for making something that has been seen by so many people!
This is wonderful! I’m thinking of trying it as an ice cream cake, by packing softened ice cream in layers into a round mold, using a different ice cream flavor/color for each layer. Freeze it hard and decorate it fast!!
Sounds like a fun idea!
You make me want to stop my studies and become a baker.
Do both! That’s what I’m doing. :]
Reblogged this on RitaCarri.
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Loved it! The finished cake looks awesome, your baking ideas were inspired, but most of all I loved that you didn’t give up. You rock!
Thank you!
What an incredible cake! I’m going to try making one for my dad’s 60th this week. You mentioned another (more ideal) method of baking this cake. What was it? I’m about to buy the equipment so I can go for something specialised. Your cake is inspirational 🙂
I find it really difficult to explain via text, especially when I am still experimenting myself! I’m currently working on getting a tute done for this cake to hopefully help with that.
Simply AMAZING! SO impressed with this! Thank you so much for sharing your experiences! Can’t wait for the tutorial! So wonderful of you to be willing to share it with all of us! And from the USA, we don’t mind not being the center of attention when the results are this beautiful! 😉
Thank you! The tutorial is now live.
I did the same thing 25 years ago, but I made mine for my 8th grade earth science class-to illistrate the whole in the OZONE. Mostly I wanted to eat cake in science class (as did my classmates). Who knew it was such a good idea. Yours is way better. I do recall that everyone in class had blue lips!
That sounds fantastic!
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Beautiful job! As a science teacher in Ohio, I once did a lesson on the Cincinnati Arches using different colored layers of cake. The bending and folding were not as difficult as I thought they would be, and it really got the point across. So much simpler than your amazing hemisphere project! Kudos.
Kudos for using cake as a learning tool! If the kids in my sister’s class are anything to go by, it really drives the message home!
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Did you use bowls for this? How did you find oven safe bowls?
It’s not difficult to find oven-safe bowls – many ceramic bowls are fired in a kiln that reaches temperatures far beyond the home oven. Many homeware stores also sell pudding bowls that are designed for baking.
The detail is amazing for the countries. Very well done. Wondering if the kids appreciated the details and complexity of the cake?
Kids seldom do, but that’s what I love about them. They don’t care, they just see cake and want to devour it. They ooh and ahh and all that, but they don’t take the time to study the little details. While the adults hesitate and don’t want to touch it, the kids are just waiting for the slightest hint that they are permitted to swam in and destroy it, which they promptly do. Seeing my creations be so fiercely enjoyed is such a wonderful moment for me.
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So that pretty much RULES.
Thank you. :]
I don’t understand… did you bake the cake inside a glass bowl? and the inner hemisphere… was that an already baked cake that you then pressed down into the batter of the next layer…but again, within a glass bowl? And did you use a hemispherical cake form for the original smallest hemisphere? Are you willing to share?
I’ve posted a tutorial for this cake now: https://cakecrumbs.me/2013/08/01/spherical-concentric-layer-cake-tutorial/
oh no.. you cut my country apart….
It had to be done!
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Miss?
That’s a fucking awesome cake!
Thanks so much. :]
I love your planet cakes 🙂
Thank you!
Hi there! My best friend had challenged me to make the most complicated cake that I could for his birthday. A couple of weeks later my cousin shared your earth structural cake on Facebook and I knew that I found my inspiration! The only thing is that I wanted to have filling in between the layers (I’m not a big fan of solid cake). I actually came up with an idea for my own mold using different size hemisphere tins to create hemispheres in layers without carving and allow me to place the them on top of each other. It took me a couple of tries, but I got it to work. It wasn’t as gorgeous as yours, but I accomplished what I wanted and it was a big hit. It was such a big hit that a couple of people who had the cake actually sent me the link back to your blog when they saw it on Facebook later. Thanks for the inspiration!
Core – White chocolate mousse with mini chocolate chips
Lower Mantle – Chocolate cake and dulce de leche
Upper Mantle – Vanilla and chocolate swirl butter cake
Crust – Buttercream
Surface – Marshmallow Fondant
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/112798289796298129115/albums/5907342823221172721
It looks wonderful!
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Could you post the recipes that you used, I want to cry and re-create this cake for my 18th birthday (I’m a geography student), this cake is literally amazing!
I’ve posted a tutorial for this cake now: https://cakecrumbs.me/2013/08/01/spherical-concentric-layer-cake-tutorial/
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Lovely looking cake!
Do you remember the Far Side cartoon? http://s189.photobucket.com/user/nomomomo_bucket/media/kitchen.gif.html
I can;t say I do, but that is quite appropriate!
That’s what belief in a noble purpose, together with focus and determination can achieve.
Thanks! It was mostly a big helping of stubbornness on my part.
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