Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A

How long should a cake covered in ganache sit before applying fondant/does it need to be refrigerated to harden? Do you moisten with anything before adding fondant?
Thanks x

Hi Fairycakes09

Let the cake sit until the ganache is firm. It should just feel slightly tacky. If refrigerating let the cake come to room temperature or until the wet dew disperses. If the ganache dries out too much, brush or mist it with cooled boiled water to make it tacky. Please don’t over wet the ganache as it will give you problems when it is time for icing.

Hope this helps ?

Thank you x

Hi madeitwithlove
So ganache and ice the same day? I’m used to buttercream but want to give ganache a try.
Thank you

Yes you can do that easily with ganache. It’s up to you and weather conditions.

If weather conditions are very hot you may need to increase the chocolate to cream ratios. Normally dark chocolate is 2 parts chocolate and 1 part cream which you’d need to increase to 3 parts chocolate to 1 part cream.

White and milk chocolate is the most difficult to set. Normally the ratio is 3 parts chocolate to 1 part cream. In extremely hot weather you may need to increase the ratio to 4 parts chocolate to 1 part cream.

Please use the site’s ganache calculator to help you with quantities here:

Cake Calculators

If you need more information or help just post back and I’ll try my best to help you. 🙂