[PIC] What kind of topping/icing is that?

[Rana]

Hi everyone,

Can someone please tell me any idea of what the white topping up was done in this cake?

http://picturepush.com/public/12383416

Not the chocolate part drizziling over the cake but the part which was marbled. The marble effect clearly was done with caramel and the "marbling" itself I know is not hard and done it several times but what is that layer the marble is in? It was very smooth and not sticky at all but rather smooth and shiny.

Thanks you guys in advance

Rana

[Lisa Shock]

Might be poured fondant, like what is used on petit fours. If it is, it appears to be the white kind poured on, then some of the chocolate kind swirled into it. You can kind of tell that the swirling is unevenly done. I do not think the swirl is caramel (note the upper left where it's really thick), I think it's chocolate fondant thinning out in a lot of white fondant.

edited for completeness

Edited March 13, 2013 by Lisa Shock (log)

[Mjx]

When I've added a anything with a distinct colour to fondant (or any other icing), part way into the mixing process, before it's completely blended and even, it's had that marbled look.

[ChrisZ]

If it's not a fondant it could be a white chocolate ganache. A whipped ganache is more like buttercream than fondant, but if not and there's a higher ratio of cream to chocolate then it would look like the photo.

[Rana]

If it's not a fondant it could be a white chocolate ganache. A whipped ganache is more like buttercream than fondant, but if not and there's a higher ratio of cream to chocolate then it would look like the photo.

I don't think thats the case because when you touch it the surface is very smooth and not sticky at all.

The poured forndant is an intersting idea, would it be with this thickness? I saw some recipes for it and the poured fondant looks very thin coating, being a liquid.

[Rana]

I went all the way and bought it. I tried to make poured fondant at home (recipe I got from the internet, not sure if it was successful), If you see the cake you notice that the topping is a cover by itself and be removed as a blanket, would a poured fondant do that? The one I just made was denser and sticks to whats beneath.

[Lisa Shock]

I am leaning more towards a white chocolate ganache (with a swirl of dark) now, especially since the color isn't dead-white. Can you ask the bakery what they call the icing?

[Rana]

This is cafe so they don't know. Boy how easier it would have been if I could. Can you please a white chocolate ganache that is a separate layer (like a blanket) like this? If so, how?

[Lisa Shock]

Put a ring of acetate on the outside, or build up the frosting on the sides, pour the white ganache then swirl in melted dark chocolate and allow to set up.

[keychris]

was it kept in a fridge, or cool cabinet? It could just be rolled fondant, as Mjx describes, and it's absorbing moisture from the air because it's cold and getting soft and sticky. Here's a pic of a marbled cake I covered last year:

could it be something like that?

[stuartlikesstrudel]

I would think that the thicker you made a ganache, the more it would be a cohesive layer and would eventually get to the point where it could be peeled off "like a blanket", particularly since it was probably in a cold display (?) and the layer below (perhaps cake or mousse?) could be texturally quite different, so the ganache may not stick to it (or at least, wouldn't really bleed into it and bond strongly).

Chris, your cake looks pretty similar in many ways (and pretty cool, too!) but to me that picture above of the slice looks almost like the topping is getting a bit smeary/smooshy, which I don't really think of fondant doing even when it softens. YMMV though.

[Rana]

Can you believe that I have been keeping this cake for days in order to compare it with every attempt or suggestion I get?

I used to do the ganache with gelatine before but I don't think it would make it a blanket-like shape. It was in a cold display and this layer is really hmmm whats the word "independet?" it actually got upside down inside the box and my mobile kinda fell on it but this X layer was not affected. Check this out, I got it now out of the fridge and peeled it more.

What do you think?

[Mjx]

To me it looks like rolled fondant with chocolate worked into it very slightly before it was rolled out. But this should be easy to tell; pull off a bit, and taste it... how does it taste, what's the texture like? Fondant taste of sugar/corn syrup, and usually, little else (although there's no reason it shouldn't). White chocolate ganache would taste of cocoa butter/chocolate.

[Rana]

To me it looks like rolled fondant with chocolate worked into it very slightly before it was rolled out. But this should be easy to tell; pull off a bit, and taste it... how does it taste, what's the texture like? Fondant taste of sugar/corn syrup, and usually, little else (although there's no reason it shouldn't). White chocolate ganache would taste of cocoa butter/chocolate.

I just did and you know, I did taste white chocolate. I tasted it before but all I tasted was sweetness. Now i did again with this "examination" mood and I did get white chocolate. So basically this is not a fondant??? How can you make white chocolate ganache this "blanket-y" ????

[minas6907]

I would also bet on a white chocolate ganache, thats my first thought looking at the color. If it was fondant, I think it would have been left a nice bright white, rather then be tainted a pale yellow/off white, and the fact that you could taste the white chocolate. About how it can be 'blanket-y,' is the cake refrigerated? I'm inclined to think that a layer of ganache on a cake would peel back on a cake if it was cold.

[Lisa Shock]

It it just on top, or is it also on the sides?

[Panaderia Canadiense]

Another vote for marbled white chocolate ganache. If you make a thick enough ganache, it behaves exactly the way you're describing when it gets cold.

[ChrisZ]

It all comes down to the ratio of cream - chocolate, and if the ganache is left to set before it's used.

In terms of ratios, white chocolate seems to behave differently to milk and dark chocolate - which will make a setting ganache with higher ratios of cream. With white chocolate I find equal ratios, or slightly more chocolate than cream, to work better.

If the ganache is poured over the cake before it has set, so it effectively sets on the cake (which would allow marbling to be done directly on the cake) then the ganache will have more of a fondant style consistency, as opposed to a set ganache which is then scooped up and piped or spread. A white chocolate ganache that is left to set on the cake will end up looking more yellow than one which is left to set, and then piped or spread.

If you have some spare time it's not hard to set up an experiment. Buy some white chocolate and break it into small amounts, e.g. 20g or 50g. Them mix in cream in different ratios. If you count the chocolate as 100% weight, you could try 10 variations in 10% increments, from 50% weight of chocolate up to 150%. It wouldn't take too long to set up, and the chocolate and cream would cost less than $10 and it would give you a record you will have for ever. And if you wait for the ganaches to set, you can also experiment to see how well each one pipes, whips, spreads, tastes, etc etc, which will give you more records to keep.

[Alleguede]

Based on your image, I'm thinking this is a glaze with quite a lot of gelatine. Probably pâté a glacer, cream, white chocolate, cream, sugar,... Swirled with either dark r milk chocolate and worked with a spatula.

[Lisa Shock]

Here's a video of a woman frosting a cake with ganache you can see that it can be very thick, but also can be smoothed.

[hydrocolloidal]

Looks like its probably ganache made with a higher concentration of white chocolate and a bit of glucose syrup for thickening. Heated and poured over the cake?

BTW, first post here so hello everybody!