Ganache And Clear Liquid Oozing Out From Underneath My Fondant Covered Cake
Decorating By emmc Updated 4 Apr 2014 , 9:59pm by ropalma
Hi everyone,
I'm new to cake decorating and this is also my first time here. I really need help on something which I have tried and failed twice:
I covered my cake with fondant last night, which had been iced with chocolate ganache (2:1 ratio as suggested by many websites), and left it at room temperature. This morning, when I woke up, I found ganache and some clear sticky liquid oozing out from underneath my cake!
Does anyone know what I have done wrong? Too much ganache? Humidity?
Currently the cake has gone back into the fridge since the decoration is already damaged. Here is a picture of the clear liquid I mentioned:
Ignore the ugly fondant as I tried flipping the cake over to try and find out what was wrong with it, hence the fingerprint indentations. Haha!
Thanks!
What kind chocolate was it that you used a 2:1 ration with. It kind of looks white? Also was the cake firm when you put the fondant on?
This happened to me once, but mine was in the fridge, with smbc... I blamed it on the fridge which was going though. it was my last cake to go in that fridge anyway. I threw it out and rebaked/decorated it.
That is unusual with ganache under fondant. It did happen to me once, however, on a day with 100% humidity (it was raining and foggy, and pretty warm out as well). A couple of questions: what is the weather where you are? I'm guessing since you mentioned humidity that it is a problem at the moment for you. Perhaps warmth is too. Did the ganache set up so that if you were to touch it gently with your finger, it wouldn't leave a big indent? Ganache does NOT need to be refrigerated, but cakes don't like hot, humid weather, so I suspect the weather is your issue. If your ganache hasn't become firm enough, then you should put the cake in a cooler place -- in the fridge if necessary. Ideally you want to keep the cake under around 75 degrees. Fondant also can be refrigerated; I do it all the time with no problem. Still, if the weather is really humid, a cake will sweat as soon as you take it out of the fridge, so try putting it in a box before placing it in the fridge, and keep it in the box as it warms up. Condensation will form on the box not on your cake. (You can test how humid it really is by taking an egg out of the fridge. If the egg starts to develop big beads of water on it, so will your cake. That's when the box becomes important.)
Sugar is hydrophilic, which means it attracts water, and will grab water molecules out of the air if the humidity is high. You should also consider getting some tylose (also called CMC) from a cake supply store and if it is very humid, mix in a bit of the tylose into your fondant. Tylose tends to make fondant dry out faster, so it will counteract some of the moisture trapping tendencies of the fondant.
Hope that helps.
What kind chocolate was it that you used a 2:1 ration with. It kind of looks white? Also was the cake firm when you put the fondant on?
I used a dark chocolate I bought from a bakery ingredients store. The liquid oozing out was white. I've actually frozen the cake before that, if this is what you mean firm, but then left it to room temperature again...
Did you let the ganache sit overnight to "weep" before using it and covering it with fondant? That was my thought.
Oh dear, maybe I did. After I applied the ganache on the de-frosted cake, I let it sit overnight, thinking this would help the ganache harden... am I wrong here?
That is unusual with ganache under fondant. It did happen to me once, however, on a day with 100% humidity (it was raining and foggy, and pretty warm out as well). A couple of questions: what is the weather where you are? I'm guessing since you mentioned humidity that it is a problem at the moment for you. Perhaps warmth is too. Did the ganache set up so that if you were to touch it gently with your finger, it wouldn't leave a big indent? Ganache does NOT need to be refrigerated, but cakes don't like hot, humid weather, so I suspect the weather is your issue. If your ganache hasn't become firm enough, then you should put the cake in a cooler place -- in the fridge if necessary. Ideally you want to keep the cake under around 75 degrees. Fondant also can be refrigerated; I do it all the time with no problem. Still, if the weather is really humid, a cake will sweat as soon as you take it out of the fridge, so try putting it in a box before placing it in the fridge, and keep it in the box as it warms up. Condensation will form on the box not on your cake. (You can test how humid it really is by taking an egg out of the fridge. If the egg starts to develop big beads of water on it, so will your cake. That's when the box becomes important.)
Sugar is hydrophilic, which means it attracts water, and will grab water molecules out of the air if the humidity is high. You should also consider getting some tylose (also called CMC) from a cake supply store and if it is very humid, mix in a bit of the tylose into your fondant. Tylose tends to make fondant dry out faster, so it will counteract some of the moisture trapping tendencies of the fondant.
Hope that helps.
Wow, thanks for the tips! I believe you are right. My eggs ALWAYS develop big beads of water once out of the fridge. So do my frosting on cupcakes! Oh btw, I'm in Malaysia, so it is humid most of the time. My ganache never set in this case. I left it in room temeprature for hours and when I checked on it again it still stuck to my fingers. Do you know what the problem is here?
I will try your tip on refrigerating the cake in a boz. Thank you so much!
Hi all,
Thank you so much for the responses. I didn't get any notifications so I didn't know there were responses. When I tried to google the same problem again, I found that you guys have left so many comments *touched*. I've been asked to bake a wedding gown cake soon, that is why I need to know before then. Once again, thank you so much! :)
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