Need your opinion:

I remember seeing a red velvet cake iced and garnished with cake crumbs covering the sides of the cake. I am making a 7-layer chocolate cake with a chocolate buttercream. The icing is a bit lighter than the actual cake, and I was thinking I might add cake crumbs to the side of this cake, drizzle the top with melted chocolate and finish with a shell border? I am trying to make a good impression...This is the first time someone has ordered a simple party cake and I (a) don't want it to look like a simple grocery store cake, (b) wanna impress my mom's co-workers (the cake was ordered for a work function by one of her co-workers) and (c) want to make sure I get more orders from this!

So, do you think this will make it look...gourmet?

sounds like it would be beautiful...........oreo crumbs might be cool too!

It dresses up a otherwise plain cake nicely
Don't forget to sprinkle a very thin ring of crumbs on the top edge of the cake too

The cake crumbs look great - you can also use chopped nuts, jimmies, or my favorite - cocao nibs.

Thanks.

I just don't get the point of garnishing de side of a cake with crumbles. Is it because it's cheap, and you think that you can fool your customer with that?
Fine bakeries don't do that. Why not grated coconut, chopped nuts, grated chocolate, chocolate vermicelli, jimmies...

Thanks norma...wasn't trying to fool anyone into anything.

i think the cake crumbs can look great, especially if they give a bit of contrast against the bc. a tip... toast the crumbs before hand on a cookie sheet... just until they are a bit hard. that way they don't clump and give you a cleaner looking product good luck, hth!

Tomoore, I think that your 7 layers chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream icing will be fantastic!
If you are going to drizzle chocolate on top I don't think that you need to overdo it adding something else on the sides. Just let the chocolate drips a little and make a nice border. How about some chocolate covered strawberries on top?