Hi all, I have just started decorating cakes and my FIRST completed cake ie from baking to final decorating goes to one of my best friends 30th tonight. I need a few pointers tho for next tome which I know you will be able to help me out with.
1. I was trying to do a fancy heel shoe cake but it broke, I was using my favourite fondant and gum tragncanth but im not sure how much I should have put in. I thought i put in enough but cakies how much per lb or would cmc worked better..the shop had ran out of that so I had to get the other stuff.

2. I used bakel alpine white choc mud cake, it is a really beautiful eating cake but i think my cooking tinme was off, the cake was 9 x 13 inches a perfect shoe box size and i think it was in for a total of 2 hours, my gut feeling was that it was possibly 10 mins too long. the sides went a bit darker than i liked but i did cut down the cake slightly so no biggy, cake still tasted wonderful.

Any assistance would be great appreciated. I have tried my own receipes to make the cake just yet that will be the nect challange to find a receipe that i love.

cheers

Allie

The oven temperature should have been lowered a little on the cake after an hour of baking. Also when it smells sharply of "done", it is telling you something...

You should also consider using the "magic cake strips" reusable pan wrappers that go on soaking wet with water, and prevent humps.

Items like shoe soles/bases can be made a full week ahead of time with pastillage (homemade gelatin gumpaste) and they will dry hard as glass. But they have to be fully supported until they dry.

My large white mud cakes aften get a little brown around the edges. To me, it doesn't affect the taste or texture, really, so I don't worry about it.