I am about to bake my first test cake.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

The frosting needs to be able to be frozen on the cake and to travel well.

Thank you!

Question:  Am I able to make the dreamy creamy frosting brown to match the cake by adding cocoa or milk chocolate?

Hi, FG!

Any ganache or buttercream (including dreamy creamy) will freeze fine.

I’m not sure about making the dreamy creamy with milk chocolate.  I think you could, but some people don’t like the taste of chocolate and cream cheese together (I do).  I think you could use milk chocolate—white and milk have about the same amount of sugar & cocoa butter & milk solids.  You could also add cocoa powder to taste, which would also stiffen it a bit (but not make it too stiff, by any means).

The only frosting I wouldn’t use is the Milk Chocolate Buttercream (just milk chocoalte and butter) because it stays hard once it gets hard—i.e, it’s really not either refrigeratable or freezable.

—ak

Anne in NC - 25 April 2012 12:52 PM

The only frosting I wouldn’t use is the Milk Chocolate Buttercream

It figures! That is the frosting I wanted to use. I bought all the chocolate for it but I remember you saying that on the other thread.

I once traveled with a container of ganache in my luggage (wrapped in many layers of plastic and a towel). If I have to do that again, I will.

I have the cake cooling now.  I think I’ll try the variation to dreamy creamy, sift the cocoa and sugar together. I’m thinking 15 grams of cocoa???

Hi, FG!

You could just bring that chocolate with you and make the milk chocoalte buttercream there—it is so simple, and so delicious!!!  It’s amazing how incredibly fuffly and pillow-like it is.  Your grandson might grab the bowl and run, though, and you might never see it again!

I don’t know how much cocoa powder to use.  Milk chocoalte is about 33%, so maybe start with 33% of the weight of the sugar?  This is a total guess.  You can always set aside 1/4 cup of sugar or so in case you find you need to add more.  I’ve added cocoa powder directly to frostings, though, without incident, but you’re a tad more particular than I am about perfection, which is probably a good thing!!!  Also, if you need to add more, you could simply sift it directly into the frosting and mix lightly until it’s combined then sift more.

Let us know how it comes out!

—ak

Anne, they don’t have a thing in that house for baking. I’m lucky they have an oven! Before they had kids, they ate out or called in every night. Now they cook Mon-Thurs and eat out the other nights.

I could, though, carry the frosting with me just like the ganache, couldn’t I? It can be without refrigeration for 3 days.

Today I am going to make the dreamy creamy variation adding cocoa instead of the milk chocolate buttercream because that is a lot of chocolate and very $$$ to spend on a test. I’ll go by your guidelines, considering ratio.

Thank you so much. 

Pictures to follow

I’ve never made this combo, but what about sour cream ganache and the domingo?—both have s/cream in them…or I’m also thinking a caramel silk meringue buttercream—I made a modified version of this and it was very good!  The domingo is rich, rich, rich so maybe something ligher like the chocolate egg white buttercream?  Light whipped ganache is always good—let’s face it, anything will be fine!!!

Oh, yes, the sour cream ganache is wonderful!!!!  It’s just chocoalte and sour cream, but it can be refrigerated—or frozen—with no problem!!  Great idea, Sherrie!!!!

Light whipped ganache!!!  Mmmmmmmm!  This also freezes great and is soooo wonderful!

And agreed—you can’t go wrong!!

FG, if you still go with the milk chocolate buttercream, you could take it in a container if it does have that 3-day shelf life.  But if you refrigerate the cake, it will harden like a helmet—it’s like a cross beween hard butter and milk chocolate—you have to put a bit of pressure on the knife to cut it, and it sort of dissolves in your mouth like a candy bar or cold butter does—it stays this way, even if you let the cake sit on the counter a while. Even if you take a hair dryer to it.

Sherrie - 25 April 2012 03:00 PM

I’ve never made this combo, but what about sour cream ganache and the domingo?—both have s/cream in them…or I’m also thinking a caramel silk meringue buttercream—I made a modified version of this and it was very good!  The domingo is rich, rich, rich so maybe something ligher like the chocolate egg white buttercream?  Light whipped ganache is always good—let’s face it, anything will be fine!!!

Thanks Sherrie! I will look into those frostings. I’ve made the sour cream ganache but the caramel silk meringue sounds very interesting.

I have to admit I have never made a meringue frosting.  I think it’s time to try.

Thank you!

Anne in NC - 25 April 2012 03:10 PM

Oh, yes, the sour cream ganache is wonderful!!!!  It’s just chocoalte and sour cream, but it can be refrigerated—or frozen—with no problem!!  Great idea, Sherrie!!!!

Light whipped ganache!!!  Mmmmmmmm!  This also freezes great and is soooo wonderful!

And agreed—you can’t go wrong!!

FG, if you still go with the milk chocolate buttercream, you could take it in a container if it does have that 3-day shelf life.  But if you refrigerate the cake, it will harden like a helmet—it’s like a cross beween hard butter and milk chocolate—you have to put a bit of pressure on the knife to cut it, and it sort of dissolves in your mouth like a candy bar or cold butter does—it stays this way, even if you let the cake sit on the counter a while. Even if you take a hair dryer to it.

Light whipped ganache? I haven’t made that either. I will read-up on it too. And that one, I guess, can be taken in a container like other ganaches?

So true, there is no going wrong!

I’m going to forget about the milk chocolate buttercream.

If I take a ganache or frosting in a container, I can make it a fun experience for my grandchildren to frost with me.  That means I will have to travel with offset spatulas but I’ve be known to pack stranger things than that.

By the way, I tasted a crumb of the Domingo cake (it is now wrapped and waiting to be frosted) and it reminds me of Devil Dogs.

I’m not a 100% sure about the light whipped ganache—it can go on the cake and should be fine—but it’s a bit finnicky after it’s made so I think I’d suggest applying to the cake after it’s made rather than making it ahead and applying to the cake at a later time.  This may rule it out for you.  Ganache is temperature sensitive too—too warm and its runny, too cool and it’s hard—but if you can wait for it to warm up or carefully manipulate it, they are easy and generally keep well.  Buttercreams are fine with the exception that they need to be about 75 F when you rebeat—if you try and it’s too cold it will curdle and separate—if it happens, just warm up.  You may want to travel with a thermometer too

Hope I’m not throwing a wrench in at the last minute- my favorite frosting by far with the Domingo is hazelnut mousseline.  Basically, white chocolate mousseline with a little smooth hazelnut paste, it’s divine.  Or you could use Frangelico instead of the hazelnut paste, which would have a milder nut flavor but would leave your bc nice and pretty (pale). 

If you want something darker, perhaps a ganache made with dark milk chocolate (there are a few which are 40% cocoa solids or more, like Scharffenberger or Endangered Species) and a little hazelnut paste or Frangelico.

Can’t wait to see your succession of test cakes!

Julie

Holy moooooooooooooing Cow, Julie—Hazelnut mousseline—thanks for pointing that out!  I LOVE the white chocolate mousseline, and I have a can of hazelnut paste on hand just waiting for a perfect use!  Thank you for that!

FG

You can definitely frost, and then freeze and transport, a cake made with the light whipped ganache.  It is fabulous.  What Sherrie says is true—the whipped ganache stiffens considerably rather quickly (not instantaneously, but don’t leave the house and expect to find it spreadable when you get back), so it’s best to make it, use it, and then swoon!  But it freezes on the cake and thaws to a perfect eating consistency.

Re milk chocolate ganache, if you can’t find a high % milk chocolate (and I can say that the Endangered Species is really good), I suspect you can use some “regular” milk chocolate along with some dark chocolate to boost it a bit.

Looking forward to hearing about ALL THESE CAKES you are contemplating and testing!!!

I have made the chocolate neoclassic buttercream using lyles golden syrup for the chocolate domingo cake before and it was wonderful.  I think I added a couple extra ounces of chocolate than the recipe called for and the lyles golden syrup gave the buttercream a caramel undertone.  Just thought I would throw another option out to you FG.

Thank you Sherrie, Julie, Anne and Liza.  I have so many options I wish I had not frosted the cake already.

I don’t think my husband can handle eating more than 3 chocolate cakes or I would bake the Domingo again just to try another frosting.

If I don’t use these suggestions for the chocolate cake, I will use them on other cakes.  They all sound great.

Thank you!!

The results:

When my husband saw me making the frosting he said, with a frown,  “That looks very chocolate-y”.

Then when he tasted just the frosting he said, “That is very chocolate-y”.

Later he had a thin slice of the frosted cake.

He said it was “Very good, moist, not dry at all and the frosting is very good too”.

I made 1.5 recipes of the Dreamy Creamy variation using 45g cocoa powder.

The frosting was creamy and rich.

I tasted a small slice and I thought the cake and frosting was very good. I really like the cake and it was so easy to make.