Never Using Bc Again Under Fondant
Decorating By MikeRowesHunny Updated 28 Aug 2016 , 4:27pm by yortma

Planetcake's cakes are freaking awesome. They are so gorgeous. Their cakes look like dummies because their corners and edges are so unbelieveably sharp!
I have browsed the book and was happy to see they gave their tips on covering a cake their way, but the cakes inside were not inspirational to me. From what I recall they were mostly kids cakes. Maybe that's what their market was focused on...dunno. All I know is their wedding cakes rock!


bonjovibabe
sorry I did not understand.. did you pour the ganache over the cake, or spread with a knife? If you did not pour, can I get smooth finish with just the spatula (probably not Viva towel). I would like to try this, without fondant, just white ganache. Would I ask to much if you make picture of the ganache cake which is sitting now?? No stress over me please!!! And at last, can I use white candy melt???

bonjovibabe, so that dust and bugs and ants can't get to them. thus is the life in the tropics
marjorie dawes rocks LOL

bonjovibabe
sorry I did not understand.. did you pour the ganache over the cake, or spread with a knife? If you did not pour, can I get smooth finish with just the spatula (probably not Viva towel). I would like to try this, without fondant, just white ganache. Would I ask to much if you make picture of the ganache cake which is sitting now?? No stress over me please!!! And at last, can I use white candy melt???
Here's your photo (the cakes are level, we have a bit of a sloping floor in that spot!). I would NOT use candy melts, if you are going to make ganache, use the real deal! The ganache spreads on with a spatula and then when it is just set, you go over it with a spatula dipped in boiling water (wiped dry) to get it ultra smooth, very easy!





OMG, AKA_cupcakeshoppe...all this time I thought I was seeing your pretty face! Just Googled Marjorie Dawes and see that it is HER pretty face I am seeing. LOL
I got my Planet Cake book in the mail today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Gonna pour a cup of coffee and tear myself away from Cake Central and Farm Town so I can do some reading (yes, I am addicted to that crazy fun Facebook application - if anyone else plays Farm Town, PM me so we can be neighbors LOL!!)!
I've done one ganache-under-fondant cake and it was great to work with!

Bonjovibabe.....................................this seems costly all that chocolate how do you price your cakes to cover the cost if you don't mind me asking. Thanks
No different than how I charge for any other cake - I price the ingredients & supplies & then charge an hourly rate for my time. I have charged the equivalent of $875 for this cake (serving 74), which might seem pricey to some of you, but as I know there are some bakeries in my neck of the woods that would have charged $1200 for the same cake - a bargain! I must add that this cake includes full diamante trims at the base of each tier and 100 handmade gumpaste roses separating each tier, so not exactly a cheap ($350 in ingredients & supplies!), or quick cake to make (I reckon around 45 hours total will have gone into this cake!).



I am a newbie.....so, I have a rather dumb question. How is the taste??
I made a cake one time, just for the family, and it was rather rich using the ganache....so that was why I was wondering.
Now, see that's what I love. I'd take rich over sickly sweet buttercream any day of the week!.
Amen to that!

Does the cake have to be refrigerated once the ganache is applied?



bonjovibabe
you said for you cake (10,8,6) you used 1.5 kg w.chocolate+500 ml cream. Would you give me a eye advice : for my cake 14,10,8 should I use the same amount - just for crumb coat covering, not filling.
I didn't use it to fill the cakes, I have whipped dark chocolate ganache with cointreau in one, limoncello infused lemon SMBC in another and kahlua infused tiramisu SMBC in the other! I have some ganache (about 1 1/2 cups) left over, so you probably could manage with the same amount for your cakes.
To simple baker - no it doesn't have to be refridgerated once on the cakes. I never put my fondant cakes in the fridge. Think fresh cream truffles (essentially ganache!), they are fine at room temp for a good week, so what's the difference with ganache on a cake?!

Just wanted to add that I made ganache using semi-sweet chocolate and hated the taste, so for the little helmet in my avatar I used a large Hershey's Symphony milk chocolate bar (read that tip on CC) + 1/4 cup of cream. It tasted so good and was a dream to smooth. I used boiling water and a spatula.
The dome part was especially smooth which was great.

Ganache is great! I made a three tier cake with each tier 7 inches tall, ganached the entire thing, covered with fondant, and stacked with lots of dowels. That cake, although obscenely heavy and 2 and a half feet tall with the topper, traveled for 3 hours beautifully. The ganache seems to add such stability to the cake.

bonjovibabe,
you are probably very busy lady now (decorating and answering Q), but you put a big bug in my head. I will try to limit my Q, and this should be hopefully last one
I don't want to use fondant over - so I was thinking why not pour the ganache over the cake instead of spreading with a spatula, I should have a smoother finish, is this Ganache pourable? Then I was going to put it in the fridge, and dowel and stack 3 tier. Now, my cake will be done in August - might be hot, will the white ganache kind of melt in the room, and the cake plates stick to the cake when stacked (it might look ugly when they put the cake apart). Just what do you think about all this? Maybe that's why they (and you) are putting the fondant over, to prevent this?????

I had some trouble using the white choc eating blocks of choc. Here's a link to the thread where I was getting some help: http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=628992&postdays=0&postorder=asc&&start=30 - the person I was talking to uses choc melts and my sister who has the Planet Cake book said it says to use cooking choc if you can't get couveture. For the dark and milk choc, eating choc worked beautifully (and was so delicious) but I just couldn't get the white to work.
The more choc you put in, the harder it sets. So if you wanted a softer finish, just bring down your ratio.
There have also been some really good threads about how to poor ganache. You start in the middle and just keep swirling out.

I want to try ganche so much - but it seems so scary.
I thought the same thing, but I just made it a few days ago for the first time and it was so easy, just boil cream, pour over the chocolate, let it melt for about a min then stir it all together till it's smooth. The hot cream melts the chocolate and it gets incredibly smooth and silky.
Then you just pop it in the fridge over night (don't cover with saran till completely cooled b/c it gets condensation that will drip into the ganache and create problems). I whipped mine before I used it and it went on and smoothed so much better than buttercream. I let the ganache set up on the cake overnight, misted it with a spray bottle of water and put my fondant over top, It was perfect and so much better than buttercream.
I used it on the cake in my avatar.



I'll definitely be trying this,i'm sure it's great.

This is wonderful! I kind of did this with my black/pink/sage box cake. I carved the sides down and they were so crumbly that I coated it with left my over truffle filling(basically the same as ganache) and then I put on some spackle and then the fondant. And I thought I was doing a major boo boo but boy was it to die for and sturdy! I have a small B-day cake I am taking on a cruise next month and I was already thinking I would have to do that again. This just sealed the deal for me! it does cost more but yeah oh soo good!

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