Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A

Hi everyone,
a friend has asked me to make them a handbag cake and I’ve baked a 10 inch vanilla sponge and am going to make it in the shape of Paul’s polkadot handbag cake but they want it filled with buttercream and jam not ganache. My question is do i cut and fill it as in this tutorial ( 1 horizontal cut then stand up) or as in the chanel bag tutorial ( a couple of horizontal cuts when stood up?) Or totally different? I’m so worried about it collapsing any advice would be greatly appreciated and any suggestions on how to make it sturdy? I also then have to transport it 120 miles so it needs to be sturdy!!

Thank you so very much in advance x

Hi Suzanne2401,

Please don’t worry about it it’s not your fault! I appreciate you sharing your experience.

Thanks x

🙂 xx

Hi
I recently made the polka dot handbag and filled it with buttercream and lemon curd. I made 1 horizontal cut and then stood it up. It held up fine 🙂 x

Thanks so much Suzanne 2401 I really appreciate your help I will do the same. Thank you xx

You’re welcome, have fun! x

Hi,
I made the handbag cake with buttercream and although it originally seemed sturdy by the time we arrived (after a 2 hour journey) it had fallen over!! 🙁
Should I have secured it to the board with something other than buttercream? Or put a dowel through it? Would this have been less likely if I used ganache?
It was my first handbag and it’s seriously knocked my confidence. I refrigerated before the sugar paste but not after as I’ve heard you shouldn’t put sugar paste in the fridge?! Would Swiss meringue buttercream be more stable?
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated thanks.

Oh no fi28 🙁 🙁
I honestly found it sturdy enough, and the journey to deliver involved travelling down a cobbled lane eek!
So sorry, I hope someone can offer some suggestions to you x

Hi fi28

It’s always best to secure cakes to the board with either royal icing, ganache or melted chocolate. Buttercream will slip and slide during a long journey especially if the heaters are on in the car.
The actual structure of the cake would have been stronger if ganache had been used. However buttercream can also be strudy if a crusting type is used. The polka dot handbag doesn’t need a dowel through it, the structure is stable enough to sit without falling over. Don’t let it knock your confidence! This was your first handbag so use this incident as a learning curve. A few tips for the future:

1: Ganache will make a much strudier crumbcoat than buttercream. If you prefer buttercream, use a crusting type or give it more structure. Take a look at the buttercream tutorials in the free section.
2: To prevent the cake from shifting or falling secure the cake to the board with either royal icing, ganache or melted chocolate. Buttercream isn’t strong enough because it will soften in the warm environment of a vehicle and make the cake shift or fall over.
3: Travel the cake in it’s box, sitting on a non slip mat in the boot of the cake. Further protect the box by wedging it with bubble wrap or with any other soft fabric.

Have a peek here for crusting buttercream recipe:

Rustic Wedding Cake

Paul’s tutorial on giving buttercream more structure is here:
http://www.cakeflix.com/using-buttercream-giving-buttercream-more-structure
If you need help with ganache quantities have a peek here:
http://www.cakeflix.com/blog/how-to-ganache-cakes-without-gnashing-your-teeth
There is lots of information on the site about ganache. To view comments,tips, questions and answers just type in the searchbox ‘ganache’

Meringue buttercream would not have been any stronger and you did the right thing by not refrigerating an iced cake.

Hope some of the above information helps. I know you’ve had a wobble on this cake but you’ll be fine next time.
We’ve all been there and learned from the wobble. ox

Hi madeitwithlove,

Thank you so much for all your help and advice I will look at all of these things. I think I’ll have another go at another one using these techniques and just drive round with it in my boot just to reassure myself!

Big learning curves all the time but still enjoyable and it was at least still edible!

Thanks x

At least you haven’t lost your sense of humour! I’ll never forget my teddy cake losing his head, hahaha, I can laugh about it now but it sure wasn’t funny at the time. Everyone has different experiences and it’s brilliant that we can all share here. The teddy wasn’t the only one so now I always take a repair kit each time I deliver a cake. I should have mentioned that earlier. Good luck next time, I’m sure everything will be fine. x