Decorating A Cake Without Having A Big Enough Freezer
Decorating By haopengyou Updated 27 Jun 2019 , 4:54am by kakeladi
I would like to make a large cake for my 9th grader's graduation (I am their teacher). There will be about 250 people. I have a pan that is a tad bigger than half sheet. My plan is to make a 2 layer cake with each layer approximately 2.25 cakes (I want to fit the size of the board that I have to present it on, as well as to stagger the layers so that they hold together more nicely). I have some nice cake recipes - I have used them and get consistent results, a chocolate cake made with cocoa and a white chocolate cake made with sour cream. They are equally moist and "dense". I did some simple decorating many, many moons ago..(understand the term "President Reagan"?) but never anything this big.
My questions: I am looking for the most most stable frosting/icing I can find. Is the "decorators frosting" likely to be it? I have seen one recipe that calls for shortening and one that calls for cream cheese. Which one will be the most stable - and delicious? The cake will sit in a room that will probably be 80 degrees or more for several hours. I can keep my apartment at 70 degrees while frosting, and throughout the night. The frosting will be white chocolate, probably mixed with shredded coconut, and have simple borders at the top edges and bottom. Decorations on top will be fresh strawberries and chocolate words, drizzled chocolate and strawberry sauce and possibly shaved chocolate or pieces of chocolate. I may cut strawberries and put them on the sides of the cake, possibly using toothpicks to hold them in place.
If I put a crumb layer on the top of the bottom cakes, can I get away with putting a thin layer of strawberry puree on top of that (the layer between cakes)? Or can I use thinly sliced strawberries between the layers? It will sit for about 16 hours, 12 hours at 70 degrees and 4 or 5 in a warmer area. I am trying to tone down the sweetness, if possible, by using strawberry puree but I don't want the bottom layer of the cake to be sopping wet, like a sponge. Would adding a little bit of corn starch to the puree help? or gelatin?
The decorations don't have to be fancy, but I want it to look "clean", smooth, with nice lines, not unbalanced or uneven. I was thinking that by using dried coconut that I can get away with the top icing not being so smooth - will that work? Should I mix the coconut in with the frosting or sprinkle it on top? How do you manage the frosting on a cake this size? I have look at many youtube videos and they all talk about putting the cake in the freezer for 20-30 minutes to let that prior steps harden, but I don't have that option.
Finally, is there some way to dip the strawberries in a very light coat of chocolate so that the details of the strawberry are still visible? Rather than having a blob of chocolate that vaguely resembles the shape of the strawberry?
I will appreciate any advice that you have. I know that I am jumping in way over my head...but sometimes I find that I learn the best when I do that.
Uuggg I wrote a long message that got lost in cyber space I guess :( I can only say in some 30 yrs I never put a cake in the fzr or even the frig to harden up Use a crusting b’cream. I have posted a recipe on this site in “recipes” then click “frosting “ & search for “2of everything “ It’s a great recipe there is a “fix” at the end to make it crust
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