Hey all!

I made my father in law's 60th birthday cake this past weekend. It was a chess theme, so I ordered molds for the chess board and the pieces. I'm not upset with how they turned out, since it was my first time trying something like this, but does anyone have any tips for me here?

First of all, when putting the pieces together to make the 3-D chess pieces, how in the world to you get it so that there's no 'leakage' on the sides that then has to be chipped off once they're done? Or is there a much easier way to not have to chip/trim? While I don't mind it so much, handling the pieces even for a few minutes to do the chipping/trimming made the chocolate lose its sheen, even with plastic gloves on. I've seen folks who's pieces are nice and perfect and shiny. How'd you do that??

Second, does anyone have any suggestions for keeping the lines nice and straight when filling in the chess board? I tried my best to keep it in the lines, but always seemed to go over. So my lines aren't nice and crisp. Is this just a practice thing, or is there a trick of the trade that someone can offer?

Thanks for any advice! Below is a picture of the finished cake, so you might be able to see what I mean about the lines and the sheen...

Can't answer your question, but awesome cake Where did you get the molds?

Thank you!

I got them from a place here in NC, actually... It's Confectionary House, and they were great to work with. Very helpful and quick with the e-mails to let you know how things are going.

http://www.confectioneryhouse.com

I think you did a great job on your cake I would love to know how you did the squares-they look much better than you think!

I very carefully outlined the squares before filling them in. There are 16 squares in the mold, with slightly raised edges for each square. Once I had the white filled in, I filled in the rest with milk chocolate.

I tried staying right within those lines, but some spooged over now and again. It's not perfect, but not too bad... I'd just like to know if there's a trick to getting it perfect, since I've seen some done that were absolutely gorgeous.

Thanks!