Hi Everyone!

This question is for anyone who has done a chocolate shell on the bottom of a giant cupcake cake -- mine break. ALL the time!! I can get a good cast, unmold no problem, trim the cake, put it in and whammo -- the freaking shell breaks EVERY time!! What am I doing wrong?

(Thanks in advance!)

I had to make 10 of these suckers as baby shower centerpieces awhile back. I had a few small cracks, but they were easily patched with more chocolate applied with a toothpick.

My guess for your problem is that the shell is too thin and is cracking from the weight of the cake. After doing the initial cast and letting it harden, I'd recommend going back in and doing an additional coat or two of chocolate to the sides in order to strengthen them. If you hold them up to the light, you might be able to see where the chocolate is thinner and more prone to breaking.

HTH!

yup...what lulu says.

Also, you might trim the cake smaller so it puts no pressure on the sides of the shell.

Thanks everyone, I'll try that. I was making one thick layer which worked well -- when I poured thin layers I got a lot of "thin spots" which were hard to patch. Back to the kitchen!!

I have made several and no breaking problem. But I don't pour, I apply with an offset spatula. Put in fridge and repeat twice. The problem I have is in slicing. If I'm where I can use a hot knife, great. But if not, the shell seems to break in chunks when I cut it. Not a pretty slice. Any solutions to that?