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Has anybody read through or made the cake. I have one in the oven presently, but this is the first time I have been asked to place the pans on a baking sheet. What does that do for the cake, and I don't know about everyone else but put the pans on a baking sheet will not allow me to place both pans on the same shelf.

Gee, thanks -- I'm glad people are getting some use out of this demo! ← Great demo and nice photos. I have made this item a few times and it comes out beautifully each time and I use it right away. Last week I made another batch and decided to place it in the refrig. and decorate the cake the next day. The IBC was hard and impossible to get back to the nice fluffy state. I nuked it for 20 secs. and used the paddle on it to no avail. So I dumped it and had to make another batch, so I've made a note to myself not to refrig. next time. ← That is curious -- I refrige this buttercream all the time (I even freeze it) with no ill effect. The key is to let it come back to room temp gradually, over several hours, on the counter before rebeating. The high butter content does render it pretty solid straight out of the fridge. ← Yes I think you are correct. I didn't let it come back to room temp, I just took it from the refrig. nuked it and then beat it.

Gee, thanks -- I'm glad people are getting some use out of this demo! ← Great demo and nice photos. I have made this item a few times and it comes out beautifully each time and I use it right away. Last week I made another batch and decided to place it in the refrig. and decorate the cake the next day. The IBC was hard and impossible to get back to the nice fluffy state. I nuked it for 20 secs. and used the paddle on it to no avail. So I dumped it and had to make another batch, so I've made a note to myself not to refrig. next time.

I've made Sara Phillips Cherry Layer Cake and a plain Italian buttercream but am not sure what flavour buttercream would compliment this cake. Any suggestions? Thanks

Thanks for bringing this back up again, I really enjoy the beautiful pictures and can just imagine the hard work making the desserts and setting up the display.

Patrick, I was wondering, I am going the Pave in a standard loaf pan, I wanted to know how far up do I fill the pan? I know I will have some batter left over. ← Oh, I don't know -- maybe half way or a little more. ← Thanks Patrick, without your help I might have overfilled it.

No, no beveling. The only "trick" really is inverting the loaf -- the top of the Pave is the bottom of the cocoa loaf, which is just rounded to the shape of the bottom of the loaf pan. Thanks so much for the kind words, everyone! I'll never be able to repay you all for the encouragement and motivation and warmth I've recieved. You all are truly the best! ← Patrick, I was wondering, I am going the Pave in a standard loaf pan, I wanted to know how far up do I fill the pan? I know I will have some batter left over.

The recipe you gave calls for 120°C which is 250°F, is that the correct temp? Thanks ← That's the correct temp in my oven, which runs pretty "hot". Really, there is so much variation between domestic ovens that you have to make a judgement call about your own. Fruit cakes are much more forgiving than lighter cakes, so err on the side of a lower temp as you dont want the outside to cook too quickly. I am sure some of the professionals can give you a more scientific guide! ← Thanks for that info. I did bake it for an 1.5 hrs and figured it should be done because the recipe said to bake for 1 hour. So I upped the temp. and baked it another 0.5 before taking it out of the oven. The wife of course said "you didn't read the rest of the sentence", and sure enough I realized my error. Nevertheless as you said its pretty forgiving and that it is. It came out just fine, the outside was not overly done and the innards were equal to the outside. Thanks

The recipe you gave calls for 120°C which is 250°F, is that the correct temp? Thanks

How do you know when your fruit cake is done? Is it the same way as any cake - when the tooth pick comes out clean?

I am making the chocolate alcohol Christmas cake, and it requires 2 C plain and 1 C self-raising flour. All I have in my pantry is all-purpose flour, cake flour and bread flour. I am not sure what to do in this case.

I don't understand, if I chop my pieces up, how will I still get the same size pieces in the cake? Are not traditional fruit cake with pieces of fruit that are the same size pieces as I will get with chopping? I am going with adding more chocolate, maybe even some Godiva liquor, and we'll see how it all works out come Xmas.

I am still marinating my fruit. I am wondering if I should chop some of my fruit, because there are large whole pieces. When you talk about the chocolate are you saying to use more than the recipe?

Wonderful job. I wish I had the time to do things like that. My mother made Hungarian strudel, but she said "just buy the store bought kind its too much work". I don't even think my Hungarian relatives even bother to make it. So my hats off to you, I bet it tastes great.

We are having a department dessert party and I usually make my standby pumpkin cheesecake, but I was curious as to what you guys might be planning? Maybe I might be diverted.

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Did you find you got a good price buying it from Whole Foods?

I have to say, looking over the Lang recipe, its pretty much the go to recipe. Throughout Hungary there are tweaks with it here and there, but by and large go can't go wrong with this recipe. Give it a shot and see how it goes. You might just love it as it is. Let us know how you like it. When I made my chestnuts we steamed them, I guess we just didn't have a fireplace, I just never asked about doing it another way, thats just the way my parents did it.

Ludja, are you processing your own chestnuts or buying it already prepared? I remember as a child cooking chestnuts that we picked up off the ground, and then shelling them, then putting them through our meat grinder and mixing it rum and sugar - YUM

I have seen recipes where the cake is made with breadcrumbs and I get the feeling that this cake would be very dry. Any suggestions for this cake? ← I will post mine when I get home, but it traditionally does not come with cherries.

If I don't have Vodka, can I use any other alcohol?

Gee, that was great idea of putting in on the inside as to my idea of using the outside. Thanks

I am going to replicate the Chocolate Stout Cake mentioned a while back with the bottle cap decoration. I would like to know that if I pour regular melted white chocolate over a bottle cap, then refrigerate it, will it separate from the metal cap without a problem? Any tips appreciated. I will have to visit a bar where there is supposed to be a bunch of tops so I can do them all at once instead of one at a time. Thanks

I have it (the recipe)saved on the side, so I can make it soon. Since you've made it, what do you think?