Hi everyone! I'm making a cake for a customer this weekend. She wants the cake to be smooth -- with the look of a chocolate dipped ice cream bar. I figure that chocolate ganache is the best for achieving this look.

Here are my concerns . . . she wants the cake to be fully covered. How do I keep the ganache from dripping all across the edge of the cake board? Are there tips or suggestions for keeping things looking clean? Also, in order to keep the cake looking as smooth as possible, should I use a layer of buttercream underneath, or is that overkill? Will the ganache show all the cake imperfections, or will it smooth everything out?

Thanks for any advice you can give me!
Beth

Poured ganache would give you the look you are going for. When I've done this in the past I did use chocolate buttercream under the ganache. Put your cake on the same size (sturdy) cake board and set that on a cooling rack over wax paper. When you pour on your ganache the excess will off and onto the wax paper. Then you can move the whole thing to a larger board, which will keep the main board looking pretty and chocolate free.