Cookaholics Bulletin Board

Hey Mary. Obviously I'm late to the party but figured I'd chime in anyway. Becky's of course right -- it's risky to do it in advance if you're whipping the cream with only powdered sugar per the recipe. But it actually can be frosted and ganached (making up that word ) a day ahead if you have access to whipped cream stabilizer like Whip It. I've assembled the entire cake a day (or even two) ahead and it is good as new as long as it's been kept in the fridge. But -- it doesn't hold up nearly as long as without the stabilizer.

Actually I try to always keep one or two tux layers in the freezer because then it's so easy to pull them out and assemble if I need a cake in a hurry. And Ganache freezes really well too. Also, surprisingly, the assembled cake freezes well too. However I don't think I've ever done it without using the Whip It.

Oh, and one more thing. I made a tux cake a few weeks ago for a birthday and put sprinkles on the top. (The little round disc kind, not the skinny ones like on the top of a doughnut.) It was really pretty cute and surprisingly didn't change the taste/texture!

Emilie

Thanks both of you. The layers are in the freezer. I made 2 8 " and the rest into cupcakes. I need to go buy the stabilizer, it was on my mental list but did not make it to the physical one. I am going to put some white chocolate shavings on this one and found a deer candle... birthday cake for a hunter.
First I have to make my stuffing. I am following Kenji's directions to do adapt it for the crockpot. Fingers crossed.

Mary

So no sprinkles?

Good luck with everything, Mary!

I stabilize my own whipped cream - a trick I learned in one of Maida Heatter's books many years ago.

1/2 tsp unflavored gelatine dissolved in 1Tbsp warm water, then cooled to room temp.
Add to 1 cup of cream, and flavor, sweeten & whip as you normally would.

I did remember to take a photo! I grated some white chocolate over it. The whipped cream held up well. I think the recipe with gelatin would be more stable as the packaged one I bought was based on corn starch. I will try that next time!

As I only used 2 layers (only, hah, this cake was still huge) I had tons of whipped cream left over. I piped it onto parchment paper and froze them. I plan to use them for hot drink and dessert topping.

Mary

Does your recipe use Lyle's golden syrup? I could just drizzle that stuff right into the ol' pie hole.

Karen

It does but I used corn syrup because I didn't have to go hunt for it.

That cake is beautiful, Mary. Bravo! And I'm glad to know that freezing some dollops of cream works. My MIL gave me a page from a woman's mag recently with that tip on it, but I was a tad bit suspicious of the source . And thanks for that recipe for stabilizer, Silver Sage. Whip-It is fortunately readily available in my area but the price has been going up so I'd be glad to have an alternative.

And Karen, I put Lyle's in every ganache I make, regardless of what it's going on! In fact they probably think I'm a hoarder at Fresh Market. They put it on sale for $3.99 every once in a while and I buy like 8 at a time!

Emilie