Moana’s Tamatoa gigantic coconut crab cake video tutorial

So by now you all know how much I love making movie based food and cakes! So when I got invited to attend an early showing of Moana with my kids I couldn’t WAIT! it meant I’d be able make a cake based on SEEING the movie – not just previews! AND I’M SO GLAD!!! Tamatoa turned out WAY more awesome cause I saw the movie – now only if I could get invited to more prescreenings!

Before seeing the movie I was planning on making a cute pig cake – he’s adorable and I used to have a pig collection and even a pet pig so right up my alley! BUT alas – he’s not a very big character after the first few mins! So there I was – watching the movie, hoping for inspiration and BAM!  this this larger than life (literally 50 ft tall) crab covered in gold and jewels rockin Bowie inspired song!!! LOOOOOVE! seriously I knew I found my cake…

I mean look at that smile! (his teeth are my favorite part) Tamatoa is a GREAT character!

of course real life hit (the week before Thanksgiving) and with multiple starts and stops it took much longer than normal to get this cake done – it had lots of components that needed to dry! the structure – legs – took a few tries to get something that worked – but at the end of the day it all comes down to a good internal structure and base for carved cakes –

for the base I used –

• 1/2 inch 3’x3′ press board (should have used wood for drilling into)for the body base and claws)
• 1/4 inch rods – cut and bent
• 1/4 inch pipe holding thing-a-ma-gigs
• and finally liquid welding to keep the legs from rotating!

As for his treasure – I didn’t count but I made hundreds of fondant shells, make some “bones”, boats, totems, and small candy confetti (for money)  – and covered his back shell! then painted it with my favorite gold powder – Rokem gold – and added gold and silver and pearl beads, sixlets and gold sugar crystals for texture/filler!  Don’t forget Maui’s white bone hook right on top!

So his body and head are all cake – and the top half of his abdomen (aka bottom) the BOTTOM half of his abdomen is rice krispy treat – as are the claws.  So carve the shape, cover it with ganache and then fondant! the decorating is last and always the most fun! the full video has so many details! I hope you love him as much as I do!

This angle is the most spider like -I’m FREAKED out by spiders, even itty bitty ones – so to have a 3-4 foot “spider like” creature in my kitchen for over a week was creepy – as long as I didn’t look for too long I was okay – from the front it’s not creepy at all… but I watched too many coconut crab videos on youtube and **shudder** I had to stop – totally got my creepy vibe going.

The Cake Decorating Supplies used to make this carved structured cake

• Fondant (lots of blue, a little orange, white and black)
• Long, Sharp, Strong serrated knife (I like the Cutco Santoku-Style 10″ Slicer)
• small frosting spatula
• tapered spatula
• Fondant/gumpaste extruder (or a clay extruder you ONLY use for cake decorating)
• Fondant/gumpaste tools (I like these tools or these tools)
• 18 gauge wire
• Scriber Needle
• Turntable
• Gel color (ivory for teeth)
• Airbrush gun
• Airbrush paint
• Rolkem Super Gold
• gold sugar crystals
• shell silicon molds , more shell silicon molds
• edible confetti “sequins”
• silver edible balls
• gold edible balls
• pearl sixlets
• white edible balls

SOOOO what do you think!!! love him? love the movie? gonna make him  (I recommend going smaller – this was a beast!)

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Ashlee Marie

With the right tips and tricks, I believe YOU can make, bake, or create anything. This is what I love to do - make some awesome, teach you how, and give you that boost of culinary confidence you need to rock your own kitchen!

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Latest posts by Ashlee Marie (see all)

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