Hi,

I have bought 3 commercially made loaf size fruit cakes which I am going to stack (one on top of another) , put dowels and then carve into handbag shape, crumb coat and apply FONDANT.

I will have to start on this cake ASAP!!

I will be presenting this cake to my son's teacher wed next week 19th dec and it will be a early birthday cake (wont see after 19th due to school holiday) and I assume she will cut the cake on her actual birthday end of dec, so the cake has to last til then.

1) Can I use chocolate ganache between these fruit cakes (to act as glue to hold the cakes together)?before I put the dowels though

or something else like apricot glaze? buttercream? I am not sure what goes well with fruit cakes

2) What do i used to crumb coat before covering with fondant? again , can I use chocolate ganache?

The reason I hope to use chocolate ganache is that I have seen Paul Bradford's handbag cake demo and the chocolate ganache is super smooth and there was no lumps whatsoever, ideal surface to then cover with fondant

I've only carved one fruitcake but this worked well for me:

ONLY use apricot glaze between layers- boil it a bit longer/hotter so it sets more firnly, trim the two meeting edges of cake very level and don't join a 'cut edge' to a 'crust edge' ie an edge that sat against the pan sides.

Once stacked, doweled and carved cover in your slightly over-boiled glaze then cover in marzipan/almost paste, it doesn't have to be as neat as fondant so if it rips you can fill in holes/gaps. then brush with a little water and then roll out your fondant and cover- leaving the water on slightly longer helps it stick to the marzipan.

Mine was a 9" tall tractor and it needed no internal boards just 3 layers of cake glazed to cake the whole way up- although the tractor shape is more of a self-supporting structure than a handbag so check stability before covering.

Hope that helps :)

Gray

do two layers of fondant.  prepare the cake as Gray advised but instead of the marzipan do a layer of fondant. let it rest for at least 12 hours and then do the second layer. if you just do a single layer of fondant there is a chance that you will have dark spots form the juice of the fruit cake.

2 more Questions which need answers please my cake friends

1) the top of the fruit cakes already has a 1cm layer of harden royal icing on it. Should I stack the cakes on top as is or get rid of the royal icing. I am not sure if the cakes on top will sink.

Also 2) Gray said to only use apricot glaze between the cakes, so what should I use to adhere the fondant to cake and also the 2nd layer of fondant to first layer of fondant?

Could I use white chocolate ganache? I will have to google a recipe..........gosh, I will have to start on this tomorrow.Getting nervous.....

I make a very moist, rich fruit cake and I usually only cover with one layer of fondant, especially if it is colored.  I have never had any trouble with brown spots and I usually let my cakes sit out to be looked at for at least a month before I cut them. Most bought fruitcakes are not that moist that they will be a problem but 2 layers of fondant will give a smoother finish.  Rather than using ganache if you vitamise some of your offcuts with a small amount of alcohol, juice etc to make a paste you can smear this on with a offset spatula to fill any small holes from raisin etc sinking on cooking. I then just use a minimal amount of simple syrup to moisten either the cake or inbetween the layers of fondant to make them stick.  Like Crazy-Gray I would use a thin layer of jam between the layers.
 

AI wouldn't use ganache with a traditional fruit cake. You should glue your cakes together with boiled apricot jam, then cover the entire cake with boiled apricot jam. Then cover with your first layer of fondant. Let that dry out for a day. Then, you can still cover the cake the way Paul does which is in panels. That way you'll still get the sharp clean edges. Adhere the fondant to fondant using water, edible gum glue or trex (white vegetable fat). I would use edible glue as my first choice.

Make sure you use icing sugar to roll out the fondant. If you use corn flour/ corn starch your cake will ferment and go mouldy.

Re: royal icing, if its easy to remove, I would be inclined to. I can't imagine it would make too much difference either way though.

AI would say cover entirely and then panel. On traditional square/round you usually panel the marzipan and then cover entirely with fondant so there aren't any gaps. So I'd do the opposite so you'll definitely have a seal on it.

There shouldn't be any oozing, the cake should soak up whatever moisture you add to it. If it oozes there's too much been added. The apricot jam should provide a seal , you'll brush it on when it is boiling hot to kill bacteria, then it will set back to jam.