Iso: Instructions For Pirate Treasure Chest W/ Treasure
Decorating By eatdessert1st Updated 25 Aug 2007 , 2:33pm by eatdessert1st
Hi, all:
I've seen the beautiful chests here and was hoping someone could post some tips on making one. I was thinking I could use a 9x13 cut in half and stacked for the base but I'm not sure how to do the curved lid. Also would love some tips on doing the wood look. How many servings will this size yield? I probably need about 20 servings. Maybe I should go bigger???
Well, mine cannot possibly be one of the "beautiful" ones you speak of, LOL! But here's directions for the one I did last year, along with some other tips.
I am cutting and pasting this from an email I sent to someone who PM'd me about it last year, so there may be some useless stuff in there too.
The cakes were actually cut from an 11 x 15 sheet that I was using on another order. Both customers wanted 1/2 choc and 1/2 vanilla. So I baked a choc and vanilla 11 x 15, then cut each one in half. So for the treasure chest I had a choc and a vanilla, each 7 1/2" by 11. I then cut each of those in half and stacked the halves (with icing as filling between layers) and placed them side by side (choc/vanilla). Does that make sense? That was the chest. It was 7 1/2" x 11". For the lid I baked a quarter sheet (8" x 12") and trimmed it a bit. It sits on its own board. You can do whatever you like to get the size you need.
For the wood grain I used a corn cobb skewer. The ones I have have 2 pointed tines, one longer than the other. I practiced on the back and it looked pretty good. First I used a ruler to impress lines for the "planks", then I just ran the tines in curvy lines. It's easy, just practice a bit to get the look you want. You could probably use a fork, but the tines aren't as pointy as the corn cobb skewer. The tricky part was the lid. It is resting on a big blob of icing along the back, 2 dowels in the chest and it has several skewers along the back as well that go all the way through the lid and the chest. The skewers were a necessary afterthought that I needed to shore up the lid. (Because) I found out later that you need to sharpen the dowels so they go through the chest and into the bottom board. That way they are anchored and will stay straight. If you don't, the weight of the lid will cause them to begin to lean backwards through your cake and not be a very stable support for the lid (which I found out!). You can barely see them in the attached pic. A cake friend also suggested a double board for the lid, where you cut holes in the 2nd board (bottom board) for the dowels to rest in, but not go through both boards. Hope that makes sense. I would use this method if I ever make another one. When I placed it, I laid the lid slightly off the back of the cake and on the blob of icing and pulled it slightly forward into place so it would grip the blob of icing. If I do it again and if I were you, I would poke holes for the skewers (or dowels, I really hate skewers, as they can splinter when you cut them) through the lid and its board, so you can place the skewers back through when you place the lid.
So, recap, the lid is resting on a blob of icing along the back, held up by dowels sticking out of the chest, and supported by skewers along the back (I'd say at least 1" from the edge of lid).
I had grander plans for the metallic accents on the treasure chest and the lid, but the lid gave me fits and took a lot of my time so I didn't have a lot of time for the accents. You can see the lid is dinged in some places because I had to keep taking it off. It also needed more treasure, but that's all I had. The jewels are ring pops. Get lots of chocolate gold coins. And if you use fondant for the metal accents put them on first and then paint them with Luster Dust mixed w/vodka or everclear. I dusted mine and let them sit a bit and when I tried to put them on they cracked.
Mine isn't the best here either, but where I had the most trouble is also placing lid on the top. I also used several dowels to hold up the top. I like the idea of two cake boards to hold up, thus leaving one for the dowels to go through and one to rest on. The only other tip not mentioned.... I would put candy in bottom before putting top chest on. It is difficult not to damage cake when placing coins far back into chest! Good luck. (photo is in my collection) Good luck! It was fun to make!
i am doing my first treasure chest cake today for tomorrow so this is very helpful i love the idea of two cake boards with holes in the bottom. i am makeing a small treasure chest (6x
and placing it on a sheet cake, so to help with the weight i am makeing the lid out of RKT.
not sure if you still need any ideas concerning the lid, but I found the cake to be heavy for an open treasure chest lid, so I used a rice crispy treats,
Pressed them firmly into a container the same size as my cake, when set and cooled, I measured out the treats into fourths lengthwise (figure 1)
I then cut the sides lengthwise from top 1/4 measure from edge to about halfway up thickness toward the outer edge on both sides, (figure 2)flipped the cut pieces over and onto top making a curved surface (figure 3), covered it all in BC then fondant.
I hope this makes sense.
You guys are THE BOMB! Thank you So much for the quick and extremely clear instructions! Miss Tex, that is a beautiful chest...and your instructions are perfect.
I love the idea of the RKT for a light weight lid. Thank you, dbax, for the cool illustrations. I'm directionally challenged so visual aids are very helpful to me.
Since this cake will be traveling back to GA (3 hr drive) for my little nephew's bday I won't assemble the lid until just before the party. I had a terrible experience with a makeup bag cake not traveling well to the same place last yr. THe icing melted off the cake (off course it was JULY) and the poor cake shifted. LEsson learned... lots of dowels and I'll use fondant to cover the chest (seems to keep everything together better for long trips in the heat) I so appreciate this board.... it's so nice to have people care enough to post help!
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