Urgent Help - Drip Cake Disaster

Decorating By NAvery Updated 13 Jul 2018 , 1:06pm by -K8memphis

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NAvery Posted 6 Jul 2018 , 10:02am
post #1 of 27

Hi All

I covered my cake in Fondant and finished it off with a Teale Ganache Drip. When I completed it, it looked beautiful, smooth and shiny.

I just happened to walk past it a few hours later and it has a ripple effect all over the top (photo attached). I was wondering if anyone could tell me why this may have happened? And,  should I try to add another layer with the same ganache or would I be better off making a new batch? Or even colour some white chocolate melts and try to add a layer over the top.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. 

Thanks in advance

Narelle Urgent Help - Drip Cake Disaster

26 replies
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Freckles0829 Posted 6 Jul 2018 , 11:31am
post #2 of 27

What temperature was your cake?  If your cake was cold then the rippling could have occurred due to the chocolate setting up too quickly.

As for how to fix it, I am not sure.

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cutiger Posted 6 Jul 2018 , 12:49pm
post #3 of 27

The only other thing I can think of is that the ganache was too thick.  To fix it, I think I would see if I could scrape off the top a little and try again with thinner ganache.  Sorry I'm not much help but I hope you come up with a solution!

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cutiger Posted 6 Jul 2018 , 12:49pm
post #4 of 27

The only other thing I can think of is that the ganache was too thick.  To fix it, I think I would see if I could scrape off the top a little and try again with thinner ganache.  Sorry I'm not much help but I hope you come up with a solution!

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TruCake Posted 6 Jul 2018 , 2:46pm
post #5 of 27

I would do 1 of 2 things

1) Add more to it and let it appear intentionally messy like stirred paint

2) Add decorations to match the theme of the cake

You don't want to mess your cake up.  But I agree that the ganache was to thick 

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whatthedogate Posted 6 Jul 2018 , 3:17pm
post #6 of 27

I would not touch it.  I would throw a parchment round on top or some candy or cookies in that color scheme.  You could even take some of that extra fondant from the bottom and make a thin circle and place it on top.

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SandraSmiley Posted 6 Jul 2018 , 5:02pm
post #7 of 27

I think it is beautiful!  Tell everyone it is a new, fancy technique and was intended to look that way.  You could always make chocolate shards to insert in the top and fill in with cookies or meringues.  I think any attempt to "fix" it woud make it worse.

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NAvery Posted 7 Jul 2018 , 1:35am
post #8 of 27

Hi All ... an update on my disasterous drip cake. I ended up trying to cover the top of the cake with the existing ganache and now it has dried with white marks (photo attached). I have never had this trouble working with ganache before ... the only thing I can think is that I have used a cheaper brand of white chocolate. Any suggestions what may have caused this and should I attempt another layer using the same ganache or make a new batch and try to match it. I love the idea of rolling a very thin layer if the fondant from the bottom tier but the colour doesn’t match exactly! Any other thoughts? Thanks in advance! Urgent Help - Drip Cake Disaster

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TruCake Posted 7 Jul 2018 , 1:48am
post #9 of 27

I would not try it again.  It looks great.  Decorate the top as mentioned earlier.  Or pipe rosettes on the white circle. 

Good luck 

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WYBee Posted 7 Jul 2018 , 4:33am
post #10 of 27

I would leave it alone. It looks good. The most I would do would be to 

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WYBee Posted 7 Jul 2018 , 4:35am
post #11 of 27

Not sure what happened. I might put some chocolate curls on it or some turquoise sugar. Anything more might just give you a new issue to overcome.

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NAvery Posted 7 Jul 2018 , 7:55am
post #12 of 27

Thanks so much to everyone for your help and suggestions ... after using a combination of all of your ideas - I got there! Nit the look I originally set out for ... but the Birthday Girl was happy - so that’s all that matters! Thank you again ... you are all awesome! Photo of completed cake attached!

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NAvery Posted 7 Jul 2018 , 8:00am
post #13 of 27

Urgent Help - Drip Cake Disaster

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TruCake Posted 7 Jul 2018 , 11:18am
post #14 of 27

Looks great! You did a very good job

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-K8memphis Posted 7 Jul 2018 , 11:59am
post #15 of 27

i'm like sandra, i loved the first anomaly -- then i think your ganache got too hot and the white stuff is bloom -- but what a save -- looks wonderful! lovely presentation -- is that sugar or isomalt?

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SandraSmiley Posted 7 Jul 2018 , 1:36pm
post #16 of 27

It is absolutely gorgeous!  Fantastic save!

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WYBee Posted 7 Jul 2018 , 3:54pm
post #17 of 27

It's beautiful! You did a wonderful job.

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Rachel_n_VA Posted 12 Jul 2018 , 1:45pm
post #18 of 27

Gorgeous!  No one would ever guess how much angst this cake caused you. 


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whatthedogate Posted 12 Jul 2018 , 3:18pm
post #19 of 27

Wow, you have an eye for design.  I love how the jewels play against the diamond border. 

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-K8memphis Posted 12 Jul 2018 , 4:22pm
post #20 of 27

well -- you didn't say if it was sugar or isomalt jewels -- isomalt will give gastric distress if you eat too much and there's enough there to do in  several people if only a few people ate it -- so  just saying -- be careful with what is and is not edible -- not to be a debbie downer but that stuff could be very dangerous to a person who already had stomach troubles -- honestly not trying to rain on your parade because it is absolutely gorgeous but when you prepare food for a crowd -- you have to err on the side of super careful caution --

lovely looking cake -- best to you

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jchuck Posted 12 Jul 2018 , 7:29pm
post #21 of 27

I agree Kate. If I ingest artificial sweeteners, I get upset stomach and migraines. And I must be careful with alcohol sugars, which isomalt is one. On the information/ ingredients page for isomalt, it says this

”Sugar alcohols can cause diarrhea and flatulence when consumed in quantities over 50 g/day for adults, 25 g/day for children.”

When I’ve used isomalt, it was very small quantities, as in a jewel. I didn’t like that isomalt didn’t keep it’s shine. If I had to make the diamonds as on top of this cake, I would most likely use hard candy mints I could melt in the oven. 

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SandraSmiley Posted 12 Jul 2018 , 7:43pm
post #22 of 27

I tried using Jolly Rogers candies as jewels and they melted on my modeling chocolate.  That was on Cleopatra's headdress.  I had to remove all of it and redo the whole front.

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-K8memphis Posted 12 Jul 2018 , 8:14pm
post #23 of 27

erythritol is a 'safe' sugar alcohol, if there is sucha thing -- it doesn't mess up your guts like most if not all of the others -- anything with 'itol' on the end of the word is suspect --  

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jchuck Posted 13 Jul 2018 , 12:56am
post #24 of 27

Kate my son is fructose intolerant, well almost anything ending in “tose” . Lactose, fructose, dextrose, certain types  of glucose, like corn derived glucose. And he doesn’t tolerate alcohol sugars either.  I made flames for a collaboration cake, and I used same recipe I use for peanut brittle. I just eliminated the nuts and the baking soda. Was fine when I first made them, but eventually with the humidity, flames got soft and tacky. I think if you’re doing a competition piece, isomalt is fine. If you have several isomalt pieces on your cake, I would plan on removing them before consuming the cake. If I baked to sell, would tell the customer that also.

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-K8memphis Posted 13 Jul 2018 , 12:52pm
post #25 of 27

oh for sure yes I agree -- isomalt is better than sugar for show pieces -- but it is nothing but dangerous to serve on a celebration cake -- and here -- would we put something gastro-intestinally hazardous on our mashed potatoes and remove it before consuming or on our steak or on our avocados? no -- these cakes are catered food -- serving the masses and we need to err on the far far side of as safe as can be -- nobody needs to put something dangerous to the public on a celebration cake -- what if a kid runs up and grabs something and stuffs it in his mouth -- uh ugh  -- we have a duty to be as safe as possible -- not to be as close to line as we can get  -- not with someone's health --


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jchuck Posted 13 Jul 2018 , 1:01pm
post #26 of 27

Totally agree K8memphis/Kate...

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-K8memphis Posted 13 Jul 2018 , 1:06pm
post #27 of 27

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