Need Some Ideas For Friend's Bday Cake

Decorating By nightmoon Updated 30 Jun 2009 , 2:35am by nightmoon

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nightmoon Posted 16 Jun 2009 , 12:35am
post #1 of 9

I'm making my friend's cake for a party of 80-100 people. I've decided on a 2 layer (total 4 inches high) 18" x 12" cake. I'm uploading an attachment (a badly hand drawn image i made of what I want to make).

It will be the WASC featured in recipies here on cc.
I will make white butter cream frosting. (my own go to recipe)

I will make a pink ribbon and bow out of gumpaste and 'wrap' the cake like a present.

Also i'd like to make a chocolate 'strip' around the top of the 'present' box so it looks like a lid. This is where i need some help. How would you all suggest I make the cholocate strip?

The filling will be a chocolate ganache. Second area i need some help. I don't think just a ganache filling will be enough. (Normally I just use a buttercream between the layers but I want a rich chocolate between the layers to give some contrast. Do you think i need something else beside just the ganache? Do i need a soaking liquid? If so, What? I think something expresso flavored would be awesome with the ganache but wouldn't the dark color of it wreck the look of the white cake?

Last but not least, it seems everytime I make this size cake, i have so much trouble with the cake wanting to break apart when moving it from the cooling rack to the cake board (usually the bottom layer goes ok. It's the 2nd layer that always wants to break up on me. (yes, i've totaly 'glued' it back together... but does someone have an easy way to move an 18 x 12 layer? Thanks for all your help
LL

8 replies
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pinkslppr Posted 16 Jun 2009 , 5:30am
post #2 of 9

What is a WASC cake? I see this abreviation alot here on CC and don't know what it is. I'd like to help but I can't unless I know this. I'm a newb.

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Eme Posted 16 Jun 2009 , 5:52am
post #3 of 9

Chocolate strip around top - use chocolate fondant. You can make some MMF, using cocoa powder to replace some of the powdered sugar and then add black of you want a darker color... or just use Wilton fondant for that small area.

If you are using WASC I would not put any type of soaking syrup on it. WASC is already so moist that you are probably going to overdo it. If you want a mocha/coffee flavor to compliment the ganache you might try putting the coffee in the ganache itself (add it to the cream then add that to the chocolate). If you are worried about using just the ganache (very doable by the way) then add some frosting to it, just to kinda thin out the chocolate in the ganache - it becomes a very rich creme!

As for moving a cake this size, use a cookie sheet under the cake and slide it on to the bottom layer from this. You can also use a cardboard cake board this size. You just need to support the cake a little better. Try wrapping it and putting it in the fridge over nite to help firm it up.

HTH

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nightmoon Posted 16 Jun 2009 , 3:26pm
post #4 of 9

Thank You Eme! That was so helpful. I appreciate it.

Pinkslppr, here is a link of abreviations used on this site. if you forget the link, just do a search on abreviations and you'll find it again.

http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-2926.html

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CutiePieCakes-Ontario Posted 17 Jun 2009 , 12:10am
post #5 of 9

To help with the transfer, I usually put each layer on a separate cake board before levelling. Then I just slide it into place. Just be careful that your starting edge is lined up perfectly, because it's a pain trying to adjust it once it's connected with the filling.

BTW: Thanks for the abbreviation link. I'm new, too, and that one got me. I was thinking "White Anglo-Saxon Cake"?? icon_lol.gif DH is Italian and sometimes calls me "Mangacake" (phonetic spelling), which is what the Italians call the English ... means "cake eaters".

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Franluvsfrosting Posted 17 Jun 2009 , 12:25am
post #6 of 9

For moving them I've used cake boards, cookie sheets, my superpeel (www.superpeel.com) and a cutting board. My superpeel is my new favorite toy but I do artisan breads and pizzas too so I use it a lot for that. If you have a nice moist cake you don't need syrup but flavors I've used with ganache are: creme de cocoa, raspberry, plain sugar syrup, vanilla, kahlua, etc. Mostly I used DaVinci's coffee syrups for my moistening syrups. I can by any flavor I want and the alcohol flavor ones have no alcohol.

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pinkslppr Posted 17 Jun 2009 , 4:04am
post #7 of 9

Thankyou, nightmoon. That's a big help.

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nightmoon Posted 30 Jun 2009 , 2:35am
post #8 of 9

Thanks to those of you who gave me your tips, I appreciated them and you all were awesome. Here is a picture of the finished cake. It came out really delicious and was ooohhh'd and ahhhhh'd over all evening.

I went with just the ganache filling but flavored it with some chambord liqueur.

I thought I just 'had' to have a 'real' chocolate band for the box top so i lined a cookie sheet with pam sprayed tinfoil and spread some tempered chocolate on it and froze it for a half hour or so. Then i cut it (through the tin foil and everything) and put the strips on the cake and peeled the tinfoil off. It worked kinda ok. There was some cracking and a few small pieces falling off so I melted some of the leftover chocolate and used a paint brush to make 'repairs'. That fixed it up ok.

I had one big "oops". I had forgotten how or rather what I used as a cooling rack for a cake this size and when it was time to remover the first layer to the cooling rack, I used one way too small and both ends and then the sides fell off. Darn! So I made lemonade and used this cake to carve up into a 'pillow for the princess' onto which I put a royal icing tiara! I totally wanted to try one of those. It was great, too because the birthday girl got to take that one home.

(I remembered after this mess that I must have used one of my oven racks to cool the layers on in the past and that solved the problem for the rest of the layers).

Anyway you all, thanks for your help!
LL

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nightmoon Posted 30 Jun 2009 , 2:35am
post #9 of 9

Thanks to those of you who gave me your tips, I appreciated them and you all were awesome. Here is a picture of the finished cake. It came out really delicious and was ooohhh'd and ahhhhh'd over all evening.

I went with just the ganache filling but flavored it with some chambord liqueur.

I thought I just 'had' to have a 'real' chocolate band for the box top so i lined a cookie sheet with pam sprayed tinfoil and spread some tempered chocolate on it and froze it for a half hour or so. Then i cut it (through the tin foil and everything) and put the strips on the cake and peeled the tinfoil off. It worked kinda ok. There was some cracking and a few small pieces falling off so I melted some of the leftover chocolate and used a paint brush to make 'repairs'. That fixed it up ok.

I had one big "oops". I had forgotten how or rather what I used as a cooling rack for a cake this size and when it was time to remover the first layer to the cooling rack, I used one way too small and both ends and then the sides fell off. Darn! So I made lemonade and used this cake to carve up into a 'pillow for the princess' onto which I put a royal icing tiara! I totally wanted to try one of those. It was great, too because the birthday girl got to take that one home.

(I remembered after this mess that I must have used one of my oven racks to cool the layers on in the past and that solved the problem for the rest of the layers).

Anyway you all, thanks for your help!
LL

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