White Chocolate Mud Cake question for you ladies.... I've got a last minute order for a White Choc & Champagne mud cake (for Easter). I usually use Lorann Champagne Oil in my recipe, as it doesn't effect the quantity of the other ingredients in the recipe. But of course there are only 2 postal days left before Easter, so I cannot order any oil from the suppliers (I do live remotely, back of the black stump kind of thing).
But, I do have 2 bottles of Champagne ... errr.... method champenoise ....err sparkling plonk in my pantry.
Do I just substitute champagne for all of the water in the recipe? Recipe says 270ml of water for the 9" cake.
Any other tips??? thanks in advance
I would probably reduce the volume of the champange by cooking it down first , I would reduce it by half to a third so you have a stronger flavour.
Thanks Mim - yes I was thinking of a champagne reduction. Do you reckon a whole 270ml of reduction?
Hello Aussi bakers and cake artists!
How many of you are planning to attend the Cake Bake and Sweets show in Sydney or Melbourne? (or both)?
What do you hope to get out of the convention when you go? Info? Products? New ideas?
Thanks for your responses. :-)
Quote by @Magic Mouthfuls on 5 hours ago
Thanks Mim - yes I was thinking of a champagne reduction. Do you reckon a whole 270ml of reduction?
By the time i got this notifications i am guessing your cakes are already cooked :/ ...But i would of used the whole 270 ml and then reduced... Hope t all turned out well for you MM
Thanks Bluehue - appreciate having everyone's input. My cakes are not baked yet, I will bake Saturday for a Tues morning delivery. Just wanted to get my head around it before I don on the apron.
Quote by @CupcakeCali on 5 hours ago
Hello Aussi bakers and cake artists!
How many of you are planning to attend the Cake Bake and Sweets show in Sydney or Melbourne? (or both)?
CupcakeCali, I went to Sydney last year - a big effort because it involved 12 hours driving + accomm + meals + grandparents moved into my home with the kids + lots of $$. I went for the three days, arrived at opening, left after closing each day. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute and my mind was blown away (a bit of the little country girl in a big city thing hit tho). There was a good crowd on the Friday, but Saturday was 10 times larger - felt like 100,000 people. Many stalls ran out of show bags and stuff by mid morning Friday. Prices were standard, but some stores were offering a 10% show discount. Most stalls holders took eftpos/cards but a few only took cash. The complimentary show bag on entry was worth every cent of the ticket price. It contained jam, sugars, stencils, metallic paint, sprinkles, discount vouchers, cake tin, etc etc (or was that the ACDN showbag??)
Do not bring bored husband or baby in a pram. It's just not fair on them and they took up valuable space for us cake crazy sugar high women.
Thoroughly enjoyed seeing new products and techniques, some have changed my life, some are just good to keep in the back of your mind. There is so much on offer its hard to know which show/demo/talk to go to - some they repeat 3-4 times during the convention so you can eventually see everything.
Being able to study up-close the finer details of dessert tables and cake competition entries and take lots of photos was awesome.
Interestingly, I found the Aussie presenters ten times much more valuable than the internationals. The Aussies know the local ingredients, terminology, shop names, tax & licensing laws, customer trends etc etc. Our famous faces - Adriano Zumbo, Sharon Wee, Kirsten Tibballs, Janet O'Sullivan etc were just beautiful down to earth approachable people willing to share their knowledge without the sales pitch. The UK stars were likewise, but the USA stars were just being famous and I feel that perhaps it is their unseen staff that were the real talent rather than the celebrity.
I did a couple of 1/2 hour workshops - they were too fast-paced for my slow fingers. They often do product give-aways during the workshops and the people who yelled out their quiz answers the loudest always got the prize. Doh me for being shy.
I didnt get to do any 1/2 day lessons, as my budget was already stretched and I really felt I would miss out on the action in the big hall. This year I would consider a 1/2 or full day lesson but it would have to be a lesson I couldn't book elsewhere.
So, if you live nearby then it is worth every cent. If like me it costs $1000 just to get there before buying anything, then yes its worth it the first time, but it takes a jolly long time to recuperate that cost with customer orders.
Winniemog - Moet?.....you do realise I'm a poor cake decorator, not a millionaire dont you - lol!!!
Quote by @winniemog on 4 hours ago
But if the recipe requires 270ml of liquid, I would be tempted to reduce a whole bottle to 270ml. So long as you're not using Moët, it won't be too $$!!
I too would reduce the whole bottle of champers down to the 270 mls , most bottles are around 750mls so that is just down to around a third .
Thanks Winniemog,
Hey ladies, I quoted on a huge chocolate mud cake today for 285 serves. I quoted $800. The customer knocked me back and said everyone else was quoting $150. How are they doing that? I can't even buy the ingredients for that price.
I think we have to remember that just because someone tells us that "others" are quoting a certain price, doesn't mean that they are. I've asked who is quoting this price and I have usually gotten the "deer in the headlights" look because they're caught in a lie. Let's face it, everyone gets what they pay for!
Magic Mouthfulls , are you sure they weren't quoted $1500 cause my costing came out closer to that for 285 serves of mudcake.
$1500 would have been nice @mimimakescakes. But no definately $150. They were obviously getting a number of cakes made for various branches around the country. The email back said...
"Thank you for your quote. The price is beyond our budget as our other cake makers are charging us $150 for everything"
(I assume 'everything' meant delivery + candles). I'm trying to think... can a "bread" bakery or Costco make cakes for this cheap? Definitely not real Australian mud cake filled with ganache, maybe packet mix chocolate sponge with mock cream whipped up in their 40L floor mounted mixer by the 16 year old apprentice? The image supplied was of their major anniversary 5 years earlier. The logo was hand cut from fondant, and it had skilled piping along top edge & bottom edge + message in hand-piped icing. I can't get my head around $150. Even a crappy mud cake in Woolies is more than 50c a serve and they are (probably) made on a conveyor belt in a factory in a 3rd world country.
Oh well, I'll politely exit the competition and wait for a quality customer to fill the date.
Magic Mouthfulls, That just aint worth turning on your oven for. My minimum is $150 . That is for a six or seven inch cake. It is a shame it was by email cause I would have laughed out loud at them over the phone.
Well our branch demonstration day , is done and dusted for another three years. It seemed to go really well and I had lots of lovely feedback that it was a great day. I demmed my rose people , I even managed to slip in a mention of Addison's disease that I suffer from. The blue butterfly represents the Addison's.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152767895563657&l=963a8d7ca8
Gorgeous rose person ! thanks for sharing
Quote by @Magic Mouthfuls on 2 days ago
Thanks Winniemog,
Hey ladies, I quoted on a huge chocolate mud cake today for 285 serves. I quoted $800. The customer knocked me back and said everyone else was quoting $150. How are they doing that? I can't even buy the ingredients for that price.
Oh that is hysterical = $150.00 !!!! for a cake to feed 285 people.
That works out at roughly 52.6 cents a serve.
If it wasn't so funny one could cry Good grief, they couldn't even get a cake that size at Woollies after 4.30pm on a Saturday afternoon......... haaaaaaaaa
Honestly MM, you dodged a bullet there. I wouldn't even begin to contemplate getting out of bed to do that ;) .................... let alone set the alarm clock to wake me up :) :) :)
Yep - you surely dodged a bullet
QUESTION:
Never had the need to make those chocolate coated mini Oreos before - until this week -
Finally found the mini moulds...............................and mini Oreos
Anybody able to advise how long in advance one should/can make them please
Thank you
Blue :)
Quote by @Bluehue on 12 hours ago
QUESTION:
Never had the need to make those chocolate coated mini Oreos before - until this week -
Finally found the mini moulds...............................and mini Oreos
Anybody able to advise how long in advance one should/can make them please
Thank you
Blue :)
I saw someone doing them in a tutorial on youtube the other day. I think it was Elyse from my cupcake addiction. I will have a look and see if I can find it for you
I just realised that doesn't really answer your question. I didn't read your post properly sorry.
Oh thank you Mimi - that was nice of you to go find for me. I did watch. I probably would of put some melted chocolate in the mould then popped the mini Oreo in straight after - :/ So it was useful to watch. Thinking if i make them tomorrow or Wednesday and leave them in the fridge - they will be good for Sunday - Just got a lot on my plate this week - so thought if i could get some of the little things done ahead of time - that would help.
Again - THANK YOU
Blue :)
I've never made them... but when you think about other 'biscuit' bases dipped in chocolate (ie kit kats, twix, tim tams, mint slice) the cookie bit does not go soft or soggy even after years on the supermarket shelf. So I think making a week ahead should be totally fine :-)
Oreos...tut tut. You're not turning American on us are you Bluehue?
Fellow Aussies....What recipe do you use for White Chocolate Mud cake? I've been using Planet Cake's recipe, but I'm really not happy with it. It has nothing on the dark choc mud version.
I would like to find a nicer recipe if anybody has one to share :-)
Quote by @CupcakeCali on 31 Mar 2015 , 8:56am
Hello Aussi bakers and cake artists!
How many of you are planning to attend the Cake Bake and Sweets show in Sydney or Melbourne? (or both)?
What do you hope to get out of the convention when you go? Info? Products? New ideas?
Thanks for your responses. :-)
I got my tickets to go to the Cake Bake Sweets show in Sydney, I was away last year so wasn't able to go. I know a few people who went last year and I cant wait.
GRUMBLE GRUMBLE!
Cadbury has struck again (and I'm not talking about Freddo Frogs). I love to use the Cadbury's Melts for mud cake, ganache and cake pops because it is couverture chocolate (rather than Nestle which is compound).
Just came back from the shops where Woolies are now stocking new packaging which is larger in size, but 10% less in weight (was 250g, now 225g) than the original packaging - but of course, same price. My Coles store has their old packaging Melts on 'Reduced For Quick Sale' - I wondered why when the 'best before' date was still 9 months away. Now I know - they wanna get rid of the old packaging, so they can restock with the new packaging.
Grumbling not just over secret price rise, but also because 225g bags makes it harder to calculate in my head how many bags to buy to get to required quantity (which is usually in the 2-4kg range).
If you have room in your freezer MM - race back to the supermarket and buy as many of the older style packets as you can - and freeze the chocolate - at least that way - you can get more for your money - unless of course you would use all they have on their shelves before the 9 months is up.
Trying to member what we bought the other day that had changed gram size amounts.
I picked the *new packaging* up and thought - ohhhh, getting with the times and showcasing a more modern look - but then on closer inspection - i too found that the actual weight was less.
Thinking it was either Bathroom Soap or Shampoo - something for the bathroom anyway...that i do know/remember :)
And like you - the price was the same :/
Guessing the manufactures will think we will just be swept away with the new wrapping - and not notice the amount -
They nearly got me - but I DID NOTICE. :)
Yes, that's exactly what I did. I went back to Coles and bought a heap of white choc (tried to think what orders I had coming up) for a stockpile but all the dark choc had gone already (sad face).
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