Ganaching Large Cake Tiers Without Flipping Them Over
Decorating By Lacie76 Updated 4 Dec 2015 , 8:33pm by Nancylou
Hello, I am currently working on a 3 tiered cake that will be covered in white chocolate ganache and then in fondant. I have used the upside down method for ganaching my smaller cake tiers and have achieved perfect edges and cakes are level. However, doing this is not feasible for my larger tiers (i.e. 12" rounds) as the cake is way too heavy for me to flip over (and my hubby is gone on deployment so no man muscles in the house). Does anyone have a technique for ganaching large cake tiers that are level without using the upside down method? Thank you in advance for any ideas!
Hi Lacie,
I started out using the upside down method, then encountered the very same problem when I had to flip a larger cake. I thought about what makes the upside down method work - the weight of the cake pressing down on the top (now the bottom), etc. So, I did everything the same up to the point of "the flip", except, I didn't flip ... I leveled it, then put a weight on top of the acrylic to mimic the weight of the cake and then proceeded, and it worked. So, now I no longer flip, not even the smaller cakes. Also, once the top has set (right after the first placement in the fridge) I no longer need the weight.
I hope this makes sense.
Nancylou
I flip 12" and 14", 4" deep cakes without a problem...yeah, they are heavy but it's easy with practice. I'd just say to make sure that you use really strong acrylic disks, one hand on top, one hand on the bottom and make sure you are near a table so you can put it down easily :-) Good luck... xx
I place a 2nd cardboard round on top of the cake and make sure it's even with the one on the bottom. I use both rounds to guide my bench scraper around the cake for nice even sides. I chill it for a bit then peel off the top cardboard round and ganache the top of the cake. I just use a level tool to make sure my top is level and even but it's not an issue because when you take the cardboard round off the top- it leaves a little space that you simply fill in with ganache.
Tutorial from Faye Cahill.
http://www.notquitenigella.com/2010/11/04/how-to-make-a-two-tier-wedding-cake-with-faye-cahill/
Aso, cakethings has acrylic boards with a hole to keep both boards centered. They sent me an acrylic dowel that fits right in the center.
@imaginethatnj, great tutorial from Faye Cahill - love her. So, what I was trying to say earlier with putting some weight on the top acrylic is not even necessary, because the ganache on top of the cake will set smoothly and evenly regardless. I think that makes "the flip" obsolete too - wooohooo!
Lacie - If you read what Jinkies said, that is the gist of the tutorial.
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