Hey guys I was brought a pic of a cake and asked to make it in chocolate buttercream with dark chocolate buttercream accents. There was no info with this cake but it looks to me like it's chocolate fondant or modeling chocolate. I haven't had much luck making the diamond impression in chocolate buttercream (It never crusts enough) and they do want it to have a darker look to the lines. I'm guessing I could lightly mark them, wait a bit, score them more deeply, and if it does not look dark enough pipe in the lines? I'm just afraid I won't have perfectly straight lines or the indentations that look so nice. Any tips would be appreciated.

They also wanted chocolate covered strawberries scattered on the cake. I have never done those before and while I don't expect too many hiccups with them I would love some tips for those as well.

I use the recipe on the back of the Hershey's cocoa can. I add at least one more cup of powdered sugar than called for, and it crusts beautifully. I use the VIVA method to smooth it, and I'm sure it would take an impression mat.

I use some brown icing coloring , and sometimes melted dark chocolate candy melts to my regular chocolate icing........ it tastes REALLY good... is darker than usual, and crusts very well...... you could use whipped chocolate ganache too.........

I thought about the whipped ganache as well. Does it harden or crust? Can you use an impression mat on it?

hummmm...... I never tried using a mat on it, but it does crust, or actually "sets up" I would try it first and see what happens...... boy would that taste good though !

I would use Wilton's Crusting Buttercream recipe and add mix in cocoa to the butter/shortening mixture before adding the powdered sugar. I use this recipe for my chocolate cakes that are covered in fondant.

The image looks like buttercream to me.

You could use the impression mat as a guide to make buttercream transfer panels. Measure the sides of your iced cake. Cut waxed/parchment/freezer paper to size (plus finger room). Pipe clear gel (or icing) just on the very top edge of the design. Use the piped on mat to mark your paper. Now, you have a guide to pipe onto. Pipe over the marked lines on your paper. Place paper onto rigid board and place into freezer. When hard, remove and place against side (one side at a time and working rather quickly...have a fondant smoother nearby to assist the transfer). Use the fondant smoother to help adhere the transfer. Slowly peel away paper.

What if you froze it long enough for your icing to harden then used a diamond cutter to make the pattern. That would work, wouldn't it?

I actually think that is a buttercream cake...

Thanks everyone I am going to experiment with the ganache and the buttercream transfer tomorrow. Hopefully I get something pretty close. I am going to try doing ganache underneath and then the whipped ganache or buttercream that way a darker chocolate would be seen underneath if I score it deeply enough. I'll let you guys know what works.

I would suggest making the transfer with the darker chocolate. When you apply it to the sides it can be slightly embedded with the smoother before the paper is removed.

I wish you the best whatever technique you try.

Since the cake question has been answered, I'll respond about the strawberries.

They are super easy. Just get premium, fresh berries with the green still attached. Wash them gently in a cool water bath, place them on a towel to get most of the water off, then transfer them to a fresh, dry towel to finish drying overnight. Do NOT refrigerate the berries at any time. If they are refrigerated, they will form condensation on the berry and/or chocolate.

For ideas, you can take at look at the Shari's Berries site:
http://www.berries.com/

Having used both whipped ganache for frosting and buttercream I've got to tell you ganache just will not crust the way a buttercream that uses real butter will. I've never covered any cake with fondant, but I've made impressions in really hard buttercream. Here's one: http://cakecentral.com/gallery/2089090/ballerina-barbie-princess-cake

The last time I used ganache for frosting it was for the baby gender reveal cake in my photos. I had to put a lot of stripes in fondant over it and the temp was very warm and humid. I kept having to put the cake back in the fridge to harden it again because the ganache became very soft and sticky. If I were you I'd go with a really good buttercream that you can get really cold and hard so you can press harder with your mat and get really sharp impressions. Just my opinion! Good luck!

Thanks guys and thank you Apti for the strawberry tips I'm sure that they will save me some headaches