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Hi can anyone advise please – I’m making Paul’s cake with the little dog for my daughters birthday, I’ve never used ganache before and due to time constraints as I can only de orate when she’s at school I need to know how far in advance I can make it and how to store I between decorating..

Her birthday is on the Friday so I will carve and fill on the Wednesday and then start and complete the decorating Thursday and Friday. Will this work? and Is it ok to store in a cardbox box or does it need to be in the fridge?

Also is the ganache filling soft to eat like butter cream as I gather the outside sets rock hard which I can’t think would be very nice inside the cake?

Thank you all in advance.

Hi Taniajf

First and foremost, if you haven’t already done so, you will greatly increase your knowledge of ganache by watching Paul’s free lessons on ganache here:
http://www.cakeflix.com/free-cake-decorating-courses/using-ganache-overview
The lessons will give you the foundations of how to work with this medium and are a must watch.
There is a blog and chart to help with ganache quantities here:
http://www.cakeflix.com/blog/how-to-ganache-cakes-without-gnashing-your-teeth
To understand a little about how to store and extend the shelf life of ganache here:
http://www.cakeflix.com/blog/the-shelf-life-of-ganache-by-madeitwithlove
And how to fix split ganache have a peek here:

Oily ganache!!!

Your suggested timeline is fine, keep the cake in a cardboard cake box and place it in a cool room. The ganache on the outside does go very hard. It also can do inside depending on the type of chocolate you use.
For a softer eating ganache remove approx 25% of freshly made ganache into another bowl and add to it 50g of butter. Mix gently, until thoroughly incorporated. Place cling film on the surface of the ganache to prevent a film forming and to protect it from bacteria. Reserve until required in a very cool room or refrigerate. Warm ganache very gently in the microwave when you need to use it. Choose the low setting and warm in 20 second bursts, mix gently after each warming until the ganache is spreadable again. If your microwave is very powerful keep a constant check on the ganache. Mix gently after checking, vigerous or over mixing will make ganache grainy and unpalatable. The filling will remain soft once inside the cake because of the added butter.

If you need more information on ganache just type in the search box ‘ganache’ and you’ll see hundreds of useful and informative Q & A s from other members. If you can’t find what you want please post again.