Wedding Cakes: Fondant Coating a Cake

Fondant covering a square cake: knead the fondant with a little corn starch on the table. Make sure there are no dry bits of fondant on the table when you roll it out. Dust off the excess starch with a dry pastry brush. Roll out more than you need. Roll onto pin and unroll over the cake. Skirt out all at corners and sides; work quickly but carefully. Press corners in first- this is where the most tension is, smooth out the sides.

Covering round cake: skirt out and smooth down sides a little at a time

Wedding Cakes: Frosting a Square Cake

Italian Buttercream
8 oz egg whites
16 oz sugar
3 oz water
24 oz butter





The water and sugar are brought to 240 degrees and the meringue is whipped on high speed until it is cool, this can take 10-15 minutes. The butter needs to be at room temperature and can be microwaved to bring to temperature. It should be added once the meringue is completely cooled, if added before the solids will melt and the final buttercream will be yellow in color. You want it a nice bright white.

“Silkening” the buttercream- let the mixer run on the lowest speed for about 20 minutes; this breaks down air bubbles and gets super smooth and fluffy, and will give the buttercream a nice sheen. This is then used for the final/ finishing coat of the cakes.



Important when icing the cake that it be level and the right height


To bring the cake to the desired heights we use multiple cardboard cakeboards under the cake. Using masking tape or scotch tape, stack the boards and tape them together and frost them as if they were part of the cake. The stacked boards add to the illusion. They also support the cake and help give a straight edge.

When frosting use a little butter cream on the bottom of the cake to “glue” it to the board, and a wet paper towel underneath to keep it from moving while on the cake stand.

Make sure each layer is even and frosted level

The crumb coat should be a thin layer

For a square cake, over extend the corners on the side. If have divots on the top corners, spread more buttercream to fill them in

Chocolate: Final Exam

30 Caramels -Turtles

40 Polycarbonate Molds- Amaretto ganache

50 Piped ganache- Coffee ganache pyramids

50 Framed ganache- Hazelnut Latte- Praline and Coffee Ganaches

Amaretto Ganache

150 g cream

50 g glucose

40 g almond paste

450 g milk chocolate, unmelted, tempered, chopped

40 g amaretto liquor

-combine cream, glucose, and almond paste in pan- bring to a boil- stir to break up almond paste
-pour cream mixture over unmelted, chopped, tempered chocolate and let sit for a minute allowing chocolate to melt
-stir with spatula from center out

-stream in liquor and stir until fully combined

-let set up or table depending on when going to pipe
-pipe into molds

Coffee Ganache

180 g heavy cream

10 g coffee beans

milk as needed

60 g glucose

400 g dark chocolate, tempered, chopped, unmelted

40 g soft butter

40 g coffee liquor

-combine cream and roughly chopped coffee beans
-bring to boil, remove from heat, and cover with plastic, let steep at least 5 minutes
-pass cream through moistened cheese cloth; replace any missing cream with milk to bring it to desired weight
-add glucose to cream and bring to boil
-pour hot cream over chopped, unmelted, tempered chocolate
-let sit a minute to allow chocolate to melt
-stir with spatula from center outwards until all chocolate melted
-stir in softened butter until no lumps remain
-stream in coffee liquor until mixture is homogenous

Chocolate: PB + J

Pate de Fruit
300 g raspberry puree
30 g sugar
8 g pectin
300 g sugar
60 g glucose
4.6- 5 g tartaric acid

-mix small amount of sugar and pectin together, breaking up any clumps of pectin
-whisk into warm puree on stove
-add sugar gradually, in 4 stages, so granules dissolve fully
-bring to boil
-acid sets pectin- makes it gel- add at very end
-once boiling add glucose

-cook to 225 degrees
-whisk really well when add the acid- want evenly dispersed
-pour immediately into lined quarter sheet pan


Gianduja
450 g milk chocolate tempered to 86 degrees
250 g praline paste or peanut butter

-add nut paste to tempered chocolate and stir to combine well

-table to cool down slightly

-pour over pate de fruit layer in sheet pan

-let set up
-spread thin layer of tempered chocolate on top to serve as base when cut

Chocolate: Practical Exam

15 Mendiants
15 Trois Freres
15 Dipped Trois Freres
15 Pipped Ganache Truffles- Apricot Butter Ganache

Apricot Butter Ganache
160 g soft butter
80 g apricot jam
430 g milk chocolate, melted, tempered at 86 degrees
40 g apricot brandy

-mix butter and jam until combined and no lumps remain
-add chocolate to butter, stir
-add brandy and mix until homogenous
-table ganache to cool until good working consistency
-pipe into small balls
-let set up
-roll into balls with gloved hands
-let set in cooler, re-roll
-give pre-coat to truffle by wiping tempered chocolate on it, this helps for dipping
-dip and garnish accordingly

Chocolate: Caramels

Caramelized Nuts
-similar to the super saturation of rock sugar- same thought
-take sugar and water to 220 degrees, add nuts

-use untoasted nuts- the caramelizing process cooks them

-stir- added a contaminant – sugar crystallizing
-looks sandy

-sugar will melt then caramelize- this part toasts the nuts
-can use cereal to make caramelized/ croquant to add crunch to a dessert
-can add salt or spices once caramelizes

-to make dragees, coat nuts in tempered chocolate and then toss in powdered sugar




Fleur de Sel Chewy Caramel
1 1/3 c /9.8 oz heavy cream
10.5 oz granulated sugar
½ c / 5.5 oz corn syrup
1/3 c / 3.8 oz honey
6 T / 3 oz soft butter
1 t vanilla paste
2 t salt

-bring cream to a boil; add sugar, corn syrup, and honey

-bring back to boil and stir constantly with wooden spoon until boils- don’t want to incorporate air so don’t need to whisk, don’t want dairy to scorch, constant stirring encourages even evaporation

-rigorous stir is best
-cook to 257 degrees- it wont get that dark
-remove from heat and add butter, vanilla, and salt

-pour into silpat between bars or quarter sheet pan lined with parchment and lightly sprayed

-spread thin layer of tempered chocolate on top; this will serve as the base when dipping the caramels
-cut into 1" squares
-dip into tempered chocolate

Turtles
12 oz sugar
3 oz water
2 oz glucose
9 oz cream
pecans/ cashews as needed

-toast nuts and position on silpat in little 1” clusters

-cook sugar, glucose, and water to an amber caramel
-add the cream

-cook to 245 degrees
-remove from heat and let cool slightly

-spoon onto nut piles

-let the caramel set up a bit then form the cluster into a cohesive mass/flattened out ball
-let cool fully
-dip in tempered chocolate, let set on silpat
-garnish accordingly