First of all, a long time follower of CC but haven't posted a lot because of my poor english (not at all my main language) ...
I need some advice because I have to do a cake for my nieces but they are allergic to everything with milk-protein (and soya milk, ... ) so no buttercream, no ganache, ... They have also to avoid maximum eggs (I'll have some in the recipe ) ... not easy...
I saw the recipe for modeling chocolate and i did a batch last night (thought it was ruined because very oily but this morning it was ok..) Anyway, my question is :
- can you cover a cake with a sheet of modeling chocolate ?
- if so will it work in one piece or should I do it in two (like cover the sides then the top?)
- what do I put under so it sticks to the cake?
- Or any other idea of what I could use to cover a cake ( knowing that where I live it's quite hard to get some of the ingredients you use... 
)
Thank you very much for your responses!
Questions: do the nieces have to avoid egg whites or yolks or both? There are good cake recipes that use just yolks. Or you can look for wartime recipes that used oil and no dairy or eggs.
Other substitutes for milk are almond milk and coconut milk (from Thailand is best type for baking). Thai coconut "milk" is so creamy that will make very good ganache.
You can make an american style frosting with a combination of clarified (milk-protein-free) butter and vegetable shortening, adding powdered sugar and liquid (UK style golden syrup or fruit juice concentrate). Might not sound too good but it makes a good undercoat for your modelling chocolate.
You can add the modelling chocolate in one sheet or two, depending on how big the cake is and you would like it to look. Look at UK cake books in the public library to see how these look, if necessary.
Thnak you bakingIrene for your response!
They have to normally avoid the whole egg but can bare with a little. I ordered on the internet vegan cupcake and cookie cookbooks to have recipes like you said that uses oil instead of butter and eggs and uses non-dairy milk (but there I have to be carefull because even in the non-dairy milks there are some they cannot have... They are missing some enzyms wich makes them highly intolerant/ allergic...)
I hadn't though of coconut milk that is a good idea like you say it's quite creamy. Thanks!
Unfortunatly here we don't have shortening or clarified butter we just have good old butter and margarine...
And also here these type of cakes aren't at all a hit for the moment so there are no cookbook about them (have to order them on the internet and so I can't see whats in them and have had some disapointements,...) not many cake tools (to do all those wonderfull stuff you guys do) , no special supplies...I have to do everything from scratch...
Like I said I tried a batch of modeling chocolate but unfortunatly I have very hot hands and it just becomes too soft and greasy and is impossible to model anything with it (it drops down... (don't know if that's how you say it ) What can I do?
Hi there,
I cover cakes with sheets of modeling chocolate often like the one in the attached photo. The MC just sticks to the finish coat of buttercream like velcro. For the last few years, Ive been using it exclusively in place of fondant. I love it. It is definitely more heat sensitive and tricky to work with but well worth it for taste and other effects.
Also, I am allergic to eggs so here is my no-egg trick for baked goods. I use 1 T ground flax seed + 3 T warm water for each egg in the recipe. Then I add a touch more leavening to the formula since flax doesnt contribute to the rise like an egg would.
You can try wrapping your cake with chocolate
http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-599861.html
HTH 
You can make your buttercream with the margerine, it will give it a more yellow color, but it is oil and water.
I have hot hands myself!!!! I melt everything I touch!!!!! My way around this is to keep a bowl of ice with me at the table. I place cling wrap on top of the ice so that I can put my hands on top of the ice as they warm up without getting my hands wet.
Have you thought about doing a RKT cake instead of actual cake? I hate cake, eating wise, so my mom would make a large rice krispie treat in a cake pan and then ice that like a cake.
Unfortunatly here we don't have shortening or clarified butter we just have good old butter and margarine...
And also here these type of cakes aren't at all a hit for the moment so there are no cookbook about them...
Like I said I tried a batch of modeling chocolate but unfortunatly I have very hot hands and it just becomes too soft and greasy and is impossible to model anything with it (it drops down... (don't know if that's how you say it ) What can I do?
You make clarified butter yourself: melt a half kilo of butter in a tall narrowish container like a glass litre measure, and let it sit until all the milk solids and water are at the bottom. Then you carefully spoon off the top 3/4 of the clear butterfat so that you do not catch any of the stuff from the bottom. This clear butterfat when chilled will make good buttercream and can be used for baking also. The rest of the butter and liquid can be used in sauces or other recipes for people who can have milk protein.
Wartime recipes: look for them on the internet using google. American versions are called "dump cake" or "war cake" or "miracle cake" there is nothing to buy...
Your modelling chocolate just needs to sit overnight and your problem will go away.
Thank you all for your tips and recipe, your help was greatly appreciated! No to put all that too good use...
WickedGoodies, that cake is beautiful, unfortunately i'm not able to have such a perfect finish...
And for the ground flax seed, i'll have to try and find some...
Cupcations, I'll try that (when i find those sheets) for a more fancy cake
Punkillicious, it's good to hear that I'm not the only one... I'll give a go at the ice solution (my hands will be very often in there 
)
Unfortunately my nieces LOVE cake... and like me not a huge fan of RKT (used to do that when I was a child and found it too sweet but my brothers loved it)
BakingIrene, Thanks a lot that sounds quite simple and with no waste... I'll check also for the dump cake recipes. My modeling chocolate even after sitting overnight as soon as I touched it to model something the oil juste came out and it was very soggy... But I'll try some other time to make a new batch to test it again...
When you make your modeling chocolate, decrease the amount of glucose/corn syrup you put in. As soon as it's cool enough to handle, knead as much of the oil out as you can. Then let it set overnight. If that doesn't help enough, you can add fondant or gumpaste to it to help stiffen it up so the heat from your hands won't make so much of a difference.
I don't know if this will help or not. When I pull sugar I use silk gloves with latex gloves over top of them. I live in Montana where silk gloves are used under regular winter gloves to keep warm just like long underwear under ski pants works. Used for sugar they help insulate my hands from the heat of the sugar. They are not heat proof but they do make it a lot more comfortable. I have to wear the latex gloves over them to keep the sugar from sticking to the silk. I had a friend who forgot the latex and you should have seen her trying to pick the sugar out of the silk gloves, not pretty. Anyway, long story short (too late ) they may work the opposite way and allow you to handle the modeling chocolate easier.
I just wanted to add for those reading this thread that margarine is NOT dairy free. I contains whey, which is a milk product (and maybe something else? I can't remember now). Also, like a previous poster mentioned, chocolate can contain milk, so be careful about that as well.
Again thank you all for your tips!
JGifford, Yes I think that that was the problem, I put too much corn syrup in it (I put the quantity asked for in the recipe but I think it depends on the ratio of cocoa butter contained in the chocolate) . It was fine at first but after it had cooled a bit and I kneaded it a bit it became very oily I melted a bit more chocolate to add and I left it to rest for almost a whole day but every time I tried to work whith it, the model elephant I made was drooping (?) and wouldn't hold in place... I finally ended up mixing a bit of fondant to it and cmc and left it to rest again whole day. If i worked with it too much (like to model the head of the elephant, I had to try it two or three times to get a figure I liked) it still wouldn't hold ... Like you said next time I think I will add less corn syrup.
And thank you for my english... 
It is hard sometimes to find the right words, so I change my phrase and make it much simpler and I'm sometimes "ashamed" I'm trying to improve it and my spelling...
rr2sweet, I used white chocolate and checked it out first to see that it wasn't written that it could contain traces of milk... Here it's not that easy to find a box of cake mix (I would love to try the wasc recipe I see CCers using.. ) The can of soda (any sort?) you use is it in replacement of the oil you have to add, or do you add all the ingredients asked for plus the soda?
tbkimber, maybe it could act like a shield against the warmth of my hand... I'll give it a go as well.. Like you said, must have not been a pretty sight to take all that sugar out of the gloves but at least now she'll never forget it again
traci_doodle, thanks for that info on margerine, I thought so as well that it had something dairy to it but wasn't sure, but that is why I hadn't bought it
I always use the wicky wacky cake recipe for egg free cakes and it tastes the same as normal cakes to my family and friends
http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,196,138179-239203,00.html
I think its known as war time cake as well so sorry if I am repeating this.
I am VERY new to cake decorating so bear with me But can you not make a icing with peanut butter to 'glue' the modelling chocoalte to the cake?
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