My first handbag cake

[ozgirl42]

This cake is a fondant covered dark chocolate mud cake. The design came from Paris Cutler's Planet Cake book.
I love the way it looked as if you could actually unzip it! The client was absolutely thrilled and she had to stop people trying to pick it up to have a look at the "handbag" she got for her birthday. LOL

[ozgirl42]

I am sooooo luvin' the whole ganache thing. It makes is so much easier and holds it's shape better. I had a cake that I used buttercream underneath and it went all soft with the weather and my fondant castle began to slide to one side - and I didn't use a great slather of buttercream! That doesn't happen with the ganache.

I'm not a white chocolate fan and I haven't had a request for white chocolate cake yet, but I feel that I will be experimenting with it a bit too.

[cindmesum]

Wow! Nice job! It does look real. How'd you dry the handles to that shape? And I love the swirls that you put into the board! Well done!

[Jazz2U]

Very nice!!!!

[Amanda]

That is so cute!! Great job!!

[ozgirl42]

Originally Posted by cindmesum

Wow! Nice job! It does look real. How'd you dry the handles to that shape? And I love the swirls that you put into the board! Well done!

Thanks.
The handles are 30cm long pices of clear plastic tubing. It's 1cm diameter. You stick 10cm lengths of dowel in the end then push them into foam 15cm apart. THEN you cover with black fondant using piping gel to stick it to the tubing and allow them to dry.
The swirls are a rolling pin from Wilton.
The person who commissioned this cake added a pair of sunglasses and a key ring and then told me she had to stop three different people trying to pick the "bag" up. LOL

[LadyDZA]

So good!!

[keeganluvscake]

Great cake!!!

[Captain Cocoa]

So nice!! The knots at the bottom of the handles are a cute touch.

I agree, the ganache is fantastic for the odd-shaped cakes -- really adds some sturdiness to them, and is the perfect surface for fondant. I'd like to start using it for all of my fondant-covered cakes -- even the standard shapes -- if my customers will agree to it.

[Captain Cocoa]

I agree, Jeri -- I'm not too wild about white chocolate, either. I was pleasantly surprised by how nicely it blended in with the other flavors of the cake -- the buttercream that was between the layers, the fondant, and the cake itself. I really couldn't notice the individual taste of the white ganache! I was sold right then, lol.