Hi everyone. My cake layers tend not to shrink when baked so that gives me problems when trying to ganache my cakes as I'm really wary of trimming down the sides of the cake in order to have room to apply ganache. This is because I think that carves away the stability of the sides of the cake and makes it more prone to collapsing (as I've once encountered).

Aside from the last resort of having to order acrylic discs custom cut to 0.5 inches bigger than the cake size (this costs A LOT here in the UK); my question is; is it alright to just buy the cake boards I'll use to ganache (I normally use the two-boards ganache method) in the next size up and then have a 1 inch ganache layer. For example; use 9" board for an 8" cake. This would mean I don't need to trim/carve the cake.

Any advice would be much appreciated please. Thank you  

AOne inch thickness of ganache is A LOT. It would be very expensive too. I have never had any trouble trimming the edges of my cakes if needed. The ganache provides a lot of stability when set up.

What sort of cakes don't shrink when baked?

Everything I bake shrinks to some extent.

Hi Winniemog. Thanks for replying :) My vanilla cakes do shrink; but only by a tiiiiiny bit. Lol. It's quite frustrating and I do wish they shrunk more; but alas; the space offered by the little shrinking of my cakes isn't quite enough to apply a normal layer of ganache. I realise 1" layer of ganache is quite rich; but I'm pondering what else I can do. I assume you use the same size board as the cake size? About how much do you normally trim/shave your cakes around the sides in order to make room for your ganache please? Thank you.

AI bake an 8" cake to sit on an 8" cake board for example. The cake would shrink usually at least a few millimetres all around. I torte and fill my cakes on the correct cake card board (8" in this case). I attach the cake card to my set up board with ganache. Then you can check all around the cake with my scraper/smoother to see if there is a gap between the edge of the board and the cake all round. If not, I will trim an extra few millimetres or so as needed. I probably aim for up to 5-6 mm ganache all around the cake (1/4"). If you are ganaching using a top board as well, then you can line up the boards top and bottom and see even more easily if there is cake over the edge of the board.

Have you ever attached fondant decorations to a ganached only cake? My client wants a ganache covered cake without fondant covering it but wants me to decorate with fondant lace appliques, emblems etc.

AI have done that. I tested it like a buttercream with fondant accents. But it wasn't elaborate detail just some flowers and petals.

• Thanks vldutoit, I am going to test it today with a lace applique. Hope it works, if not I am going to have to tell her she will need fondant covered or buttercream.

Thanks a lot for your replies Winniemog :)