So, after the almost disaster last night, I was able to finish the cake tonight.  Per request, it was covered in fondant to look like a gift box.  I am glad this is only 9x12.  Not so easy rolling a big sheet of fondant.  Below is a couple of shots.  I think it’s okay.  But I need a lot of practice.

The cake is the chocolate butter cake (based on master chart in the wedding section of TCB) filled with caramel mousseline, crumb coated with mousseline with a little kahlua.  The cake, as I described my ordeal from last night, was syruped with caramel ganache in a technique similar to the Deep Passion Chocolate cake from RHC.  I used 53% chocolate with the heavy cream.

I am crossing my fingers that the cake holds up until tomorrow afternoon.

Jess

Very nice cake - looks so professional. The fondant looks so smooth and I love the bow!

Pretty cake jess! It’s not easy to cover a square cake with fondant and you got the corners so smooth, great job.

I’d love a taste of that caramel ganache!  I think your cake looks great - especially the bow.  Really nice job jess.

That looks great!  I am starting mine today…for the shower tomorrow…I hope it comes out as good as that!

The cake looks great Jess. I love the bow.

Jess, that is one beautiful cake!  I love the bow, too, just like everyone else.  And the caramel ganache sounds wonderful with chocolate cake and ganache syrup.  A ganache lover’s dream!

A lovely cake! I think you have done the bow perfect. She is sure to be thrilled with this cake.
I do like the sound of the caramel and Kahlua mousseline!

Thanks, everyone!  Just a correction, the cake had a caramel mousseline filling and was syruped with the ganache syrup using 53% chocolate not caramel ganache.  But now that you guys mentioned it, I may try that for a cake I am preparing for next week.  I have some leftover caramel and I may play around with incorporating that with a light ganache to use for syruping a chocolate cake.

Yeah, square and rectangular cakes are not easy to cover with fondant.  Good thing I have a great instructor in school and she taught us the trick to get it smooth.

I appreciate all the comments!

Jess

How did you make the caramel mousseline?

I’ve always wondered if it would work to caramelize sugar, then add water, then take it back up to 248F to make a caramel mousseline.  But the problem is, a caramelized sugar syrup would probably have the right proportion of water at a different temp than 248F (similar to how brown sugar goes through the stages at different temps than refined white).

Julie - 13 November 2009 09:30 AM

How did you make the caramel mousseline?

I’ve always wondered if it would work to caramelize sugar, then add water, then take it back up to 248F to make a caramel mousseline.  But the problem is, a caramelized sugar syrup would probably have the right proportion of water at a different temp than 248F (similar to how brown sugar goes through the stages at different temps than refined white).

Julie,

I thought about doing it the way you mentioned but I wasn’t sure it was going to work.  Instead, I made caramel using sugar and heavy cream, then I set that aside to cool to room temperature.  I then made the mousseline, with no additional liqueur or flavoring.  I made two batches of the mousseline (about 9 cups).  I then stirred in about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of the cooled caramel (I put on ice water bath since it was still a tad warm; I wanted to make sure it was the same temperature as mousseline).  I don’t have the exact amount of caramel that I added because I forgot to measure, but I think it’s roughly about 3/4 cup; I kept adding until I got the right taste I was going for.  I was worried that it may make the buttercream too sweet, but since mousseline is a lot less sweeter than other buttercreams, I think it came out just right.  It tastes similar to the caramel SMBC but a little less richer since it has no yolks.  But it’s a good alternative if you’ll have the cake sit out a lot longer in room temperature.

Jess

Okay?  Um, no!  It looks fantastic!  That bow is incredible.  Nice work!

Julie - 13 November 2009 09:30 AM

How did you make the caramel mousseline?

I’ve always wondered if it would work to caramelize sugar, then add water, then take it back up to 248F to make a caramel mousseline.  But the problem is, a caramelized sugar syrup would probably have the right proportion of water at a different temp than 248F (similar to how brown sugar goes through the stages at different temps than refined white).

Good point, Julie! Maybe you could use the old-fashioned way of finding out—drop a bit of the syrup into cold water. I forget what stage 248F is—hard ball? Anyway, you could look it up.

Since some of the sugar has been broken down into other compounds when you caramelize, you might need to add a little more sugar as well as water once you start making the final caramel-flavored syrup.

If you ever try it, please let us know what happens.

I have tons of extra egg whites in the freezer—but no time for baking experiments until after New Years. Maybe then…

And before I get distracted again—great cake, Jess! Congratulations!

Thanks!  By the way, here is the update.  The cake held up pretty well.  No bulging leaking or whatever.  Even my worry about the cake falling apart because of the other night’s mishap didn’t happen.  Everyone really enjoyed it.  I am glad they actually loved the cake and buttercream not just the look of the cake (they really liked the presentation because they thought it looked like a present).

The ganache syruping technique really does make the cake moist and richer in taste.  I was worried about it getting too sweet or wet but that wasn’t the case.  The cake really absorbed the ganache.  I used up almost 4 cups of the ganache to syrup the cake.  And it just made for a really nice moist chocolate cake.  The caramel mousseline was also well received.  All thanks to Rose and her books!

Jess

Thanks for the update Jess. I’m glad everyone like it.