
AHi,
I'm also new to cake decorating. I've read a few posts about freezing mud cakes but my question is once you take it out of the freezer and start to thaw on the bench, can you fill and crumb coat with ganache while the cake is still semi frozen or do you wait until completely thawed? I'm wondering whether the chocolate would go funny if the condensation from the thawing is trapped inside the crumb coat.
Any help would be appreciated as I'm going to have a go at making a cake for my dads 60th!
Thanks jess

You need your mudcake to be fully room temp when applying the ganache or it will set up as you are trying to smooth it and will ruin the nice finish you are trying to achieve with the ganache.

AI disagree, my mud cakes are always frozen/semi frozen when I ganache them. So long as you apply a rough coat quickly then scrape off, you'll have a good base to work with. Add thin top coats and scrape until perfect, easy peasy! All the moisture is sealed inside and makes for a yummy cake!

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I disagree, my mud cakes are always frozen/semi frozen when I ganache them. So long as you apply a rough coat quickly then scrape off, you'll have a good base to work with. Add thin top coats and scrape until perfect, easy peasy! All the moisture is sealed inside and makes for a yummy cake!
You may have been lucky - perhaps your UK climate played a part.
The quickest way to get a massive blowout is to ganache a COLD mudcake. when the cake comes back to room temperature it causes air to want to be expelled and the ganache forms such a good seal it is like a balloon self inflating under there!
I am with Chellescakes on ths - always ganache a room temp cake.
Besides I can't see how you are getting a smooth coat with the ganache - it must set almost instantly - not even giving you time to smooth
Are you using 2:1 ratio and letting it firm to penaut butter consistency prior to using? or are you using a different technique?

I only apply one coat , I don't have the time to apply multiple coats because the first one isn't perfect . So for me I still say room temp is best , particularly with the blow out factor .
My mudcakes are definitely not dry or tasteless either because I ganache at room temp.

It doesn't take that long for the cake to thaw - I vote just wait. Apart from the ganache setting instantly, if your climate is humid, the condensation will now form on your ganache layer, and you have to wait for that to dry before you put your fondant on, or the condensation will form on your fondant, and that's really not good.

AThanks everyone for your help! Really appreciate it. I've never ganached before either. Thinking I'm definitely going to do a test run first.

AI guess climate has something to do with it then as I've never had a blow out and I ganache all my cakes. You can see from my pics and see that I get them very smooth. I've attached my most recent cake which was a chocolate mudcake with dark chocolate ganache 2:1 ratio. [ATTACHMENT=1390]image.jpg (599k. jpg file)[/ATTACHMENT]
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