Wedding Cake Icing Options

[17september 2005]

HELP!!!!!
My wedding is in 3 weeks and I was going to get a friend to ice my wedding cake for me- 3 round tiers choc mud from ch#@seca#k shop but I dont think she is very reliable so was wondering how I go about icing it properly with the help of my mum (the proper icing like what people use for fruit cakes).
Can any one help me????

[Megy]

Sounds like you want marzipan icing. I've never used it, but apparently it takes a bit of practise to get it all smooth with no imperfections. You might want to have a few practise cakes lined up.....

[court]

At an open day I went to recently, the cake maker hadn't smoothed out the icing. It was just placed on without going to the heartache of making it perfectly flact. It looked really effective, especially with flowers on top. Good luck.

[~*~]

Why not use ganache icing?, it goes perfectly with mud cake as it's a mixture of cream and chocolate (can be white or brown depending on the colour chocolate you use) . It is pretty easy to spread and has a lovely smooth finish to it.

P.S. I don't know if traditional fruit cake icing (marzipan and royal icing) go terribly well with mud cake and as previously mentioned it is an art to get it looking perfect

[Renee`]

If you are having traditional and want the marzipan look why dont you go with fondant? Itll taste better...

I like the Ganache looks, i think it looks fantastic and as a matter of af act and getting it for my birthday cake!

I would definately get your self some practice cakes this weekend!

[Jessica]

Ive done a bit of cake decorating in the past, the marzipan that you buy from the supermarket is easy to work with, or making your own isnt to hard. Making your own means that if you dont like that almond taste you dont have to add almond essence.

There are some great books out there to help you along, Just remember if you do ice the cake with marzipan you have to brush it with apricot jam syrup PM me if you want details,

Good Luck

Jess

[Rogue]

The white icing is called "plastic icing". It can be quite tricky to use if you havent experimented before. Used with mudcakes its common to place a layer of ganache under the rolled icing.

Plastic icing can be quite heavy and will become pitted when rolled out too thin or when it comes into contact with moisture. You can not cover a cold cake out of the fridge.

Ganache looks and tastes great on mud and can be made to look modern (slapped on) or smoothed out nicely. You can always ask at your local cake decorating shop - someone might be willing to cover the cakes for you at a minimal cost then you are free to decorate yourself with flowers etc.

I have done several wedding cakes and mud cake can be tedious to cover. Once crumb in the white icing and its ruined. You only get one chance at placing it on the cake - as lifting will tear the soft cake underneath. Check with the cheesec@ke shop they may be able to cover it in ganache also

[camdenlass]

Hi,
I'd also recommend the ganache frosting.
one thing to consider is as previously mentioned you cannot ice a cold mud cake, and you can't put fondant (plastic) icing, royal icing or marzipan in the fridge at all.
this will limit your storage options and the time you can store the mud cakes for.
I also think mud cake is quite rich enough without a sickly heavy icing such as fondant or marzipan,
and while ganache ir still rich it complements the cake well.

if you want a more elaborate look than straight ganache then I would cover cakes in ganache and then line with chocolate 'walls' which are super easy to make, just melt choc, pour onto silicone paper in a very shallow tin/biscuit tray and when set cut into strips with a hot knife and arrange around the sides of cake.
fancy choc roses are made in the same way and curled by scrapping the choc (semi set) with an icecream scoop. (great for the top of cake)

Penny