Tweety69bird

From my experience, you have to be very gentle when mixing in the alcohol or flavouring into your ganache. Mix slowly, carefully and not too much. Good luck. Edited to add to comment.

I just ordered my whisk! YAY!

Is it possible that you made dulce de leche out of the can that was stored in your cupboard and forgot about it?

Maybe the student over mixed the ganache and caused it to seize up a bit, but didn't realize?

I generally turn my chiffon cake pans upside down onto the regular cooling rack I use for other things. I had never heard of this toothpick method, and although it does sound interesting, I worry about the "slant" factor - ie, if the toothpicks slant a bit and the pan leans one way and collapses then I'm sure the cake would be damaged, as you mentioned.

I say yes, you could absolutely add in some puree or jam, but keep in mind that jam will sweeten up the BC much more than pure puree. Also, you may want to add in some red food colouring to turn what probably will be a pink BC into more of a reddish one. Keep in mind too, that you don't want to add in too much moisture, so if you're goign to go with either jam or puree, you could cook it down a bit to reduce the moisture.

I would suggest to keep beating it for a while, and see if it comes together... I find that when I add vanilla into my BC is starts to do that whole spinning thing because it seems that the vanilla forms a coat between the BC and the bowl - making everything spin around, but if you keep beating it it'll come together... good luck!!

Beautiful work! Anyone would be so pleased to receive these as gifts!

What a beautiful cake! And this was your first? Woah!

I appreciate your input. Thanks!!

I like the answers so far.... just what I wanted to hear. I won't feel nearly as bad cutting up a 10$ mat to fit my microwave!

I still conside myself 'new' at the wedding cake game, but I'm learning with each cake that I do, and I know exactly where you're coming from. For myself, what I do to make it easier on me is to cut the dowels just ever so slightly higher than the cake... by that, I mean maybe enough of a height to be able to slip the spatula out from underneath without touching the layer of cake underneath. I find that this way makes it so much easier to stack. And it helps the bottom layer to not stick to the top. Also, I thought I would mention that I place my dowel in the cake in the middle, and then remove it and cut all my dowels according to that measurement, not individually as I place them in the cake, so that all the dowels are exactly the same height, and therefore I'm sure my top layer will be straight.

Lauren, Your links are not working... hurry, I can't wait to see your pictures!! Um... ok, I see that you removed your links... guess you figured it out! OK, go to Photobucket.com, open yourself up an account, then upload your pics there, and then copy the URL to the space provided when you hit the IMG button above. Make sure your pics aren't too big. And, thanks to another EGulleter, I can pass this info on to you!

Here is information that was sent to me from Dow Corning when I inquired about silicone for molds. I also have a chart that I'd be happy to send to you. PM me your email address if you'd like it. ----------------------------------------------------------------- I've attached a brochure for your perusal. Ice, chocolate, other candy and specialty foods can be cast or molded into specialty decorative shapes by using silicone rubber moldmaking materials. Silastic® E, Silastic® J, Silastic® L, Silastic® M and Silastic® M-2 silicone rubbers are recommended for these applications because of the food-contact status. These rubbers, when properly cured and cleansed, are acceptable for food contact in accordance with the requirements of FDA Regulation 21 CFR 177.2600, subject to end-user compliance with any applicable total extractives limitations. This regulation covers rubber articles intended for repeated use. This FDA regulation is valid for the US only; local regulatory requirements should be taken into consideration for Europe and Asia Thank you for your interest in Dow Corning ® products and services. Pete Houck Product and Services Facilitator Lubricants/ Mold-Making/ RTV Rubbers Dow Corning Corporation "We Help You Invent the Future" industrial@dowcorning.com www.dowcorning.com www.molykote.com NOTICE: (Please Read Carefully): Dow Corning believes that any product use recommendation or product information presented is an accurate description of the typical characteristics or uses of the product, but it is your responsibility to thoroughly test the product in your specific application to determine its performance, efficacy, and safety under your conditions of use. Suggestions of uses should not be taken as inducements to infringe any patent. Unless Dow Corning provides you with a specific written warranty of fitness for a particular use, Dow Corning's sole warranty is that the product as supplied will meet Dow Corning's then current sales specifications. DOW CORNING SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS ANY OTHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTY, INCLUDING THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND OF FITNESS FOR PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Your exclusive remedy and Dow Corning's sole liability for breach of warranty is limited to refund of the purchase price or replacement of any product shown to be other than as warranted, and Dow Corning expressly disclaims any liability for incidental and consequential damages. Good News!! Many Dow Corning technical data sheets as well as Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) are now available online! Just visit our site:www.dowcorning.com <http://www.dowcorning.com> You may search under the product name or number, product family or industry. Some of this information is also available in several languages - just choose which country and language you want.

Yes, I've had no problems baking on the silicone mats - with the exeption that the first few times you bake, there is an odd scent that comes from the mat, but the cookies I made were perfectly fine and had no aftertaste of the smell that came from the mat. You can find them in all different colours - blue, orange, grey... with blue being the most commonly seen. I'm in Montreal, and I have seen the silicone mats (all about $10-$12) at Canadian Tire, and a local grocery store that is also selling home wares. I would think that Walmart should carry them also, but haven't checked there. Good luck finding them!!

Cool, thanks for the reply. I think I'm going to test out one of my silicone mats by pouring some sugar on it and see what happens. I just feel that there has to be more of an explanation of the difference between the two items. It just doesn't make sense that there is such a huge difference in price.

I've been thinking that it's time to invest in some Silpats, but with those colourful 10$ silicone mats popping up all over the place, and at a fraction of the price of a Silpat, I'm wondering if I can get away with using those silicone mats for all my needs. I already do have a few of them, and I've used them to bake with fine results, but I'm thinking more towards sugar work and the like. Has anyone tried it? Opinions?

OK, here is a picture of the cake: It was 3 chocolate layers. For the filling, I made a mix of nutella, milk chocolate and pailette feulletine (you know what I mean...) and spread it on a cookie sheet to harden, and then whizzed it up in my food processor and mixed that into dark chocolate gananche. The icing on top that started this thread is RLB's Classic Egg White Chocolate Buttercream and then milk chocolate gananche to do trim. The flowers were done with Magyfleur, which are brass 'molds' that you freeze and then dip into chocolate. They make such a fantastic impression, I love using them. The 50 was done on a fondant base that I rolled and let harden and then a very helpful friend of mine coloured it in for me with edible and non-toxic markers. And here is a picture of the buffet table with all the stuff I made... and all the fruit that my dad cut up. The pictures are looking very small to me, but I won't be able to modify them for a while...

haha alanamoana types faster than me!!

Perhaps you can suggest to the bride that if she does want enough cake to serve her 700 guests, you can make a decent sized tiered cake - lets say for 350 people. Then, supply the kitchen with sheet cakes that they can just cut and serve for the balance of the 350 people.

It went really well! She was totally surprised!! I will be uploading pics later on today, and will post. Thanks for asking!!

Well, it seems that all is going to be all right with my cake. My friend tasted it and I asked her to be completely honest, without having told her what my concern was. The first word out of her mouth to describe the icing was SWEET!!!! So, after her review, I explained the issue and she tasted again, looking for salt this time, and still said it was great, so I left the cake as is. There are going to be many more choices for dessert along with the cake, as my stepmother is a chocolaholic, and my gift to her is this chocolate dessert buffet, so if the guests do happen to find the icing salty, they can have something else. Thank you to everyone again!!

I want to thank you all again for the great replies. It's so nice to get answers that are all across the board, and to know that I'm not alone. Stopped freaking out for now, and the plan is to see what my friend thinks and go from there. At least I'll be sure to have the ingredients on hand to make another batch of icing.

Thank you for saying that! I was on the phone with my mom as I read that and she agrees also. It's probably just in my head. I feel much better now. Thanks to everyone!!

No, the recipe didn't call for salt. Unfortunately, I'm at work, so the cake will have to wait for me till I get outta here. The only ingredients in the recipe were chocolate, egg whites, butter and sugar. That's it.