There's no trick to it. It firms up on its own as it cools. I've had success by nuking frosting at 50% in 5 second increments until it's just barely just liquified. I test by stirring. It only needs to be warm enough to be dip-able. In my mind, (your mileage may vary) warming the frosting in a shallow, flat-bottomed container, barely bigger than your cubes, would be less messy than pouring... you could dip one side at a time, and if you worked quickly, your finger marks in the frozen cake would fall out as it cooled. I learned this trick from an awesome book I bought my niece and nephew for Christmas. They describe the technique on pages 18 & 19, which you can see by clicking on the "search inside this book" link, entering the work "microwave" in the search pane, selecting the second search result, and turning to page 19 with the right hand arrow. (For the record, the book is way fun!) I tried this dipping technique with cupcake frosting and the results were so flawless that the ladies I served them to assumed I'd done something very difficult and fancy. The punchline was that it took less time to dip (from scratch) cupcakes into warmed white Duncan Heinz frosting (with a bit of yellow food coloring and lemon extract added) than it would have taken to frost by the traditional method. The frosting firmed up a bit and they looked beautiful. This book also demonstrates a stupid-simple technique of drawing a design on a paper template, slipping the template on wax paper, melting some colored wafers, spooning them into a ziploc, cutting a tiny hole in the corner, and drawing on the wax paper. To see an example, enter the word "monarch" in the search pane and see pages 77-79. Or just buy the book. It's a fun jumping-off point for the imagination.

Congratulations, Annie! ! ! And welcome to the world, Madison. Annie, the cake is great, And the cupcake roses are beautiful! You do a really good job on them! I want so bad to try them, But no one here cares much for icing, so it would all get scraped off into the trash. And I hate to waste good ingredients! Oh, and congratulations to the new Mommy & Daddy, too! Rusty

Gorgeous piece Tom!! You should be very proud-I'm sure it will be treasured! Can I give you a tip? We have a dresser that has been passed down the generations. We got name plates engraved with the babies name and birthday and lined them up in order of use on the inside of one door. My daughters are numbers 6 and 7! 3 generations and hopefully my girls can use it one day and continue the tradition! Might be nice if you could do something like that too?

Marilyn, that's such a pretty cake. I've only made once before, but this one is completely covered with the glaze (it's a recipe I tried from Bon Appetit). You're right - they're not difficult at all to make, but they sure do have a "wow" factor to them, don't they?! For cake 12 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces 6 large eggs, separated 12 tablespoons sugar 2 teaspoons vanilla extract For glaze 1/2 cup whipping cream 1/2 cup dark corn syrup 9 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped Chocolate shavings Make cake: Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 9-inch-diameter springform pan. Line bottom of pan with parchment paper or waxed paper; butter paper. Wrap outside of pan with foil. Stir chocolate and butter in heavy medium saucepan over low heat until melted and smooth. Remove from heat. Cool to lukewarm, stirring often. Using electric mixer, beat egg yolks and 6 tablespoons sugar in large bowl until mixture is very thick and pale, about 3 minutes. Fold lukewarm chocolate mixture into yolk mixture, then fold in vanilla extract. Using clean dry beaters, beat egg whites in another large bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining 6 tablespoons sugar, beating until medium-firm peaks form. Fold whites into chocolate mixture in 3 additions. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake cake until top is puffed and cracked and tester inserted into center comes out with some moist crumbs attached, about 50 minutes. Cool cake in pan on rack (cake will fall). Gently press down crusty top to make evenly thick cake. Using small knife, cut around pan sides to loosen cake. Remove pan sides. Place 9-inch-diameter tart pan bottom or cardboard round atop cake. Invert cake onto tart pan bottom. Peel off parchment paper. Make glaze: Bring cream and corn syrup to simmer in medium saucepan. Remove from heat. Add chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth. Place cake on rack set over baking sheet. Spread 1/2 cup glaze smoothly over top and sides of cake. Freeze until almost set, about 3 minutes. Pour remaining glaze over cake; smooth sides and top. Place cake on platter. Chill until glaze is firm, about 1 hour. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover with cake dome; store at room temperature.) Garnish with chocolate shavings or leaves. Serve at room temperature. Serves 10 to 12. Bon Appétit January 1999 Lori