Hello everyone and Happy New Year!!

I've been asked to do a 3 tier stacked chocolate wedding cake for a friend in a fortnight's time. I have the design sorted (I think) and a choice of a couple of cake recipes that I will trial over the next couple of days.

What I'm least confident about is the best way to cover a chocolate cake to make it look as professional as possible. I know that you can get chocolate covered fondant - is this a better idea than trying to use ganache or another kind of covering for the first time? Also - what would you use between the layers?

Thanks again for all yor help - the tips have all been invaluable!

So many things you can do...You can cover it on chocolate buttercream, chocolate fondant, ganache. Fillings..you can use rasberry, cherry, chocolate mouse, cookies an cream, peanut butter mousse, white chocolate mouse...so many choices the sky is the limit!
Edna

it depends on your level of expertise. If you are used to fondant, then chocolate paste might be the best option. However if you are more experienced in BC it might be better to use that, unless you can fit in a few practise cakes before the wedding. Ganache is a different kettle of fish, the one and only time I tried it it was a battle. The consistency of the gananche and the preperation of the cake must be perfect otherwise it will look a mess. Once again it might be best to try a practice cake if you havent used it before
HTH

ganache is very, very difficult to make look professional (in my opinion). You can make your own Chocolate MMF. I've done it and it tastes awesome, and worked just like regular fondant. That would be a good option if you want it to look professional.

I just tried Chocolate MMF for the first time this week using the CC recipe "Chocolate Marshmallow Fondant" by nefgaby (it's the square one in my photos) and I found it easy to work with but it kind of dries out quick compared to regular MMF.

I made the Chocolate MMF and let it sit overnight. Just before starting to cover the cake I warmed it for a few seconds (as recommended by many CC'ers) and rolled it out. Then I got distracted by my son and when I got back to it only a few minutes later, it ended up cracking at the corners when I went to cover the cake. So I had to re-knead the whole thing until it softened back up and after rolling it the second time, I had to put it on the cake immediately to get a smooth finish. So if you choose to use it, I would recommend just working with the amount you need for each tier as you work on that particular tier. HTH.

When I make Chocolate MMF I just make Rhondas Ultimate MMF and add about 1/2 cup cocoa powder as I'm mixing in powdered sugar. I had to add a little extra Crisco and a few drops of corn syrup to add moisture. It tastes great.

For a lot of my chocolate cake, I use MINT flavored cream cheese fondant... The cream cheese fondant is in the recipe section if you want to try it... It IS harder to work with than regular fondant, but covering a small cake and getting a smooth finish is decently easy. It's the BIGGER ones that give me trouble!

Again
Thank you all very much! I suspect that covering the cakes with ganache will be beyond me so I'm going to go with the chocolate fondant recipe. I haven't made my own before - but it sounds like there are a few recipes to try. I'm really intrigured by the mint frosting option - I must give that a try some time too!

Thanks again - I'll post the pictures when it's finished!!

If you want something with a darker chocolate I would recommend Jibbies chocolate velvet buttercream. That has the prettiest dark chocolate finish I've seen yet. It looks like suede. (I know.. suede doesn't sound like wedding material, but, trust me, it's beautiful, crusts quick, and tastes great.)

Lisa

If that's what's in your photo- it does look lovely. Sorry to be ignorant but is Jibbies a recipe or a product? (I don't always recognize US terminology!! - I think you have a lot more variety in your cake-making than we do in the UK...)

Thanks, but, no, it's not like that cake in the pic. I do have one, though, in my pictures. Look for the one that is real dark chocolate with roses on it. (The second picture) That one was done with this buttercream. I don't know how to put the link in this post, so I'll tell you the long way. (which is actually kinda short) Go to the recipes tab, buttercream, and look for Jibbies chocolate velvet buttercream. That's it.

Lisa

Wow - that rose cake is stunning! I will definitely check out that recipe. Thanks!!