Why doesn't someone write a book for Australian conditions?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Sandra on March 29, 2011 at 12:23am

Bettina, why don't you write the book. You have already found a hole in the market. Just do it.

I still can't come to grips with putting buttercream under fondant. I am from the old school when cakes were just fruit and had a layer of almond paste then the layer of fondant. royal icing for the decorations.

 

Sandra

 

Permalink Reply by Bettina Dwyer on March 29, 2011 at 12:54am

I keep thinking that I am not knowlegable enough to write one, there are so many others with more experience....sigh.

I know what you mean about the buttercream thing. In 1982 I had to make a decorated cake for Home Science (Food Tech they call it now) and we had to make the cake from scratch, cover it with marzipan (made from scratch-although I used a recipe that used desicated coconut instead of almond meal), cover it with fondant (again made from scratch) and then decorate it with royal icing ( did I mention scratch??) and ribbon. i made a couple of other cakes in the following years then left school and didn't make another one until I had kids. It was then I found one of Debbie Brown's books and I couldn't believe that you could do that with cake and icing!

I tend not to use buttercream now, I use ganache mainly because the majority of cakes I make aren't fruit cakes (have only been asked to make one in ten years!)

Permalink Reply by Kate Ketley on March 29, 2011 at 7:02am

Yes YES YES, look thought I was the only person who just cant get this buttercream under fondant. I struggle with buttercream, it having to be kept in the fridge when the cakes never taste as good, once chilled in the fridge. I live in the humidity of Queensland, buttercream lasts 20minutes in summer out of the fridge, and the cake takes a good hour to get back to room temperature. 

Sandra said:

Bettina, why don't you write the book. You have already found a hole in the market. Just do it.

I still can't come to grips with putting buttercream under fondant. I am from the old school when cakes were just fruit and had a layer of almond paste then the layer of fondant. royal icing for the decorations.

 

Sandra

 

Permalink Reply by Bettina Dwyer on March 29, 2011 at 8:02am

I know I know. I'm just south of Coffs Harbour and here over summer this year we've been in the 90's for humidity! It sucks! I don't have air con and I used to cover my cakes in the wee hours of the morning while the humidity was low.

I've found that if you use dark chocolate ganache under fondant - even if the fondant is white - it works perfectly. You must let the ganache set overnight though although at a pinch you can refrigerate it for 15minutes to let it firm up before you apply the fondant. I got the idea originally from the Planet Cake book and have just been tweaking for conditions here. I find it's incredibly stable under fondant even in hot weather. I can't say the same thing about white chocolate however. The combination of the dark chocolate and the fondant is such that the dark chocolate cuts the sweetness of the fondant so you don't feel overwhelmed by it.

Permalink Reply by Kate Ketley on March 29, 2011 at 8:26am

Bettina, thanks for that! Do you use a 50/50 cream, chocolate for the ganache?

never done that but wanted to make that my next "adventure"

I am making 90 sugar flowers for my daughter wedding cake so I;m hoping for cooler weather soon. She wanted a rich fruit cake, how lucky for me!

Bettina Dwyer said:

I know I know. I'm just south of Coffs Harbour and here over summer this year we've been in the 90's for humidity! It sucks! I don't have air con and I used to cover my cakes in the wee hours of the morning while the humidity was low.

I've found that if you use dark chocolate ganache under fondant - even if the fondant is white - it works perfectly. You must let the ganache set overnight though although at a pinch you can refrigerate it for 15minutes to let it firm up before you apply the fondant. I got the idea originally from the Planet Cake book and have just been tweaking for conditions here. I find it's incredibly stable under fondant even in hot weather. I can't say the same thing about white chocolate however. The combination of the dark chocolate and the fondant is such that the dark chocolate cuts the sweetness of the fondant so you don't feel overwhelmed by it.

Permalink Reply by Bettina Dwyer on March 29, 2011 at 5:41pm

The ratio for dark chocolate ganache is two parts chocolate to one part cream. So if you have 1.2kg chocolate you will need 600mls of cream. The best type of chocolate to use is a couveture chocolate with about a 53% - 65% cocoa content. I have used 'no frills' dark chocolate but it doesn't seem to firm up as nicely as the more expensive chocolate.

You'll find the 'good' chocolate in the cake baking section (Woolworths/Safeways).

To make it into ganache.

Break the chocolate into small pieces and place in a heatproof/microwave proof bowl.

Boil the cream for a minute. This removes a lot of the water content. Then pour over the chocolate. Let it sit for a few minutes then start stirring it. After a few moments you'll see it transform from a creamy, chocolate flecked liquid to a thick gorgeous brown.

Let it sit overnight and use the next day. It will be really thick and go onto the cake like spac filler. You're aiming for a coating about 1cm thick.

The best way  to ganache the cake is to cut a carboard cake board the size the cake is meant to be - cakes shrink slightly during baking - place the cake on the board and using the edge of the cake board to guide your scraper (I bought a plastic tile adhesive applicator from Bunnings; it has plain edges and crenulated edges so you can get a good right angle)apply the ganache. Gradually you build the layer up so it's parallel to the board. Let it set overnight. It should be as firm if not firmer than marzipan.  If it's too thick to spread just nuke it in the microwave for a minute and then see if it will spread.

Then you roll our the fondant thinner than you would normally (about 5mm) and cover the cake normally.

 

90 FLOWERS!!! OMG! You are crazy! LOL. The things we do for our kids!

I have only recently started to make flowers. The first ones I ever made were frangipannis and I thought I'd quit while I was ahead. But I secretly wanted to be able to make realistic flowers where people asked 'are they real?"

So I have had a few lessons from a retired cake maker and have made 7 blue stargazer lilies and currently making 20 white roses for a cake I have to do next month. It's the first time I have made roses that didn't look like cabbages. Ha ha!

Permalink Reply by Kate Ketley on March 30, 2011 at 1:44am

Oh thank you so much for that information, that really great. So please excuse my being thick but do you put the ganache in or out of the fridge overnight and how long does it keep on the cake for?

Because I just didn't know what to do with the icings I have kept to either fruit cakes or my carrot cake that must be kept kept in the fridge that I do with my cream cheese butter cream. 

I love the flower making, not any good at any other decorating, but could spend all days "playing' with flowers.

My daughters wedding cake is three tiers with white icing and huge bunches of daisy, rose, iris and lily, with a few blossoms (about 50) thrown in as well. The edges will have a double frill, so very old fashioned. Wish me luck, the wedding is in june, if i last that long.

Bettina Dwyer said:

The ratio for dark chocolate ganache is two parts chocolate to one part cream. So if you have 1.2kg chocolate you will need 600mls of cream. The best type of chocolate to use is a couveture chocolate with about a 53% - 65% cocoa content. I have used 'no frills' dark chocolate but it doesn't seem to firm up as nicely as the more expensive chocolate.

You'll find the 'good' chocolate in the cake baking section (Woolworths/Safeways).

To make it into ganache.

Break the chocolate into small pieces and place in a heatproof/microwave proof bowl.

Boil the cream for a minute. This removes a lot of the water content. Then pour over the chocolate. Let it sit for a few minutes then start stirring it. After a few moments you'll see it transform from a creamy, chocolate flecked liquid to a thick gorgeous brown.

Let it sit overnight and use the next day. It will be really thick and go onto the cake like spac filler. You're aiming for a coating about 1cm thick.

The best way  to ganache the cake is to cut a carboard cake board the size the cake is meant to be - cakes shrink slightly during baking - place the cake on the board and using the edge of the cake board to guide your scraper (I bought a plastic tile adhesive applicator from Bunnings; it has plain edges and crenulated edges so you can get a good right angle)apply the ganache. Gradually you build the layer up so it's parallel to the board. Let it set overnight. It should be as firm if not firmer than marzipan.  If it's too thick to spread just nuke it in the microwave for a minute and then see if it will spread.

Then you roll our the fondant thinner than you would normally (about 5mm) and cover the cake normally.

 

90 FLOWERS!!! OMG! You are crazy! LOL. The things we do for our kids!

I have only recently started to make flowers. The first ones I ever made were frangipannis and I thought I'd quit while I was ahead. But I secretly wanted to be able to make realistic flowers where people asked 'are they real?"

So I have had a few lessons from a retired cake maker and have made 7 blue stargazer lilies and currently making 20 white roses for a cake I have to do next month. It's the first time I have made roses that didn't look like cabbages. Ha ha!

Permalink Reply by Bettina Dwyer on March 30, 2011 at 3:08am

It will last on the bench for about a week, even in heat and humidity! If I cover a cake it will generally last a week once it's covered without refrigeration. I made a cake once, where the grandmother got the date wrong. She kept the finished cake in a cool dry place until the following week without a problem.

Ganache can be frozen and then thawed when you need it. Freeze it in small batches.

White chocolate ganache goes well with carrot cake instead of using cream cheese. I did this last weekend. It was a walnut and carrot cake covered with white chocolate ganache and a layer of fondant.

White chocolate ganache also goes incredibly well raspberries. I made white choc mud cake and a vanilla cake both with white choc ganache and raspberry coulis. The raspberries cut the sweetness of the the white chocolate and balances it all nicely.

Permalink Reply by Cakes at Hezzies House on December 6, 2011 at 11:09pm

Hi Bettina - long time no speak... just picked up this thread ... agree you should write that book ;)