Covering a cake in chocolate

Maryb11

Hi, i'm making a one tier, chocolate biscuit cake, wedding cake. I'd usually cover in fondant and decorate but the client does not like fondant and would like it covered in chocolate if possible. Does anyone know how to smoothly cover a cake in melted chocolate, or what to add to melted chocolate so it will smooth over a cake? Thanks!

phormium

How about the chocolate cigarellos around it? They give a lovely finish.

Other than that you could use a ganache to get a smooth finish. There is a good tutorial here http://www.threelittleblackbirds.com/2012/10/simply-ganache-a-tutorial/, not made with chocolate biscuit but that shouldn't make any difference.

Pigwidgeon

You could also try doing some mirror glaze. Looks amazing and is very easy to cover a cake with.

sdp

Or a chocolate glaze. make about 375ml

375g plain chocolate
250g unsalted butter, ( mind you I use the salted butter, and cheaper)
2 tablespoons corn syrup

place all in a bowl over simmering water, heat till butter and chocolate melts
stirring often
pour through a fine sieve,
cool to thicken, and pour over cake,
(put tray under cake and wire rack to catch drips, that can be reheated and used

Animord

Chocolate sugarpaste?

It is fondant/sugarpaste but I have done it before and it tastes good and chocolatey.

Maryb11

Thanks a lot i appreciate the advice, it's not until May so i will try out these different methods and see how it goes

Liana*

I covered a CBC with chocolate fondant, this one http://www.stuff4cakes.ie/product_info.php?cPath=34_267&products_id=4396, it tastes great too. I did need to put a layer of ganache between the CBC and icing to fill in the gaps and have a smooth cake.

or you could try decorating something like this, with chocolate biscuit cake instead of chocolate cake
http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/chocolate_creation_12531

Ms.Sunshine

Sorry to open an old thread again but i have a question regarding Icing the CBC.. do you HAVE to put a coating of Icing underneath the fondant? If so can I use chocolate buttercream?? I hate making Ganache

Pigwidgeon

If you want a smooth finish, you'd need to put a coating of something on the CBC. I've done it with buttercream before and it was lovely. I find as well that the icing helps to stick the fondant onto the cake too.

Ms.Sunshine

Pigwidgeon wrote: »

If you want a smooth finish, you'd need to put a coating of something on the CBC. I've done it with buttercream before and it was lovely. I find as well that the icing helps to stick the fondant onto the cake too.

Brilliant - thanks for the reply. when lining my tin do I grease it and then put cling film in it?

phormium

I line with baking parchment and if you can get a smooth enough basic cake there is no need to put anything on it before the sugarpaste. I take it out of the fridge about an hour before covering it and the condensation as it comes back to room temperature is sufficient to stick the sugarpaste on. I usually keep back a little of the mix before I add the biscuits so that I can use that instead of ganache if I need to fill any small holes.

BTW what's to hate about making ganache? Much easier than buttercream! I nearly always have a bit of ganache frozen too which is handy for small patching jobs if needed.