Don't use fudge sauce - it is gooey, meant to stay liquid, and made for ice cream not doughnuts.

Ganache will set as a firm shell and not run all over after it is set. It has to be chilled to make this happen. Chop the 8oz chocolate finely (I prefer bittersweet), bring 1C cream to just under a boil and pour it over the chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Do not touch it for 5 minutes, then stir or whisk it to incorporate but don't beat in any air, for @2 minutes, not less, even though it may look OK at 1 minute. Let it sit a few minutes or so to @70F) then pour very slowly over the doughnuts with a wire cake rack under it to catch the drips. Slide a spatula underneath (and a chopstick through the top) and put the stack on a plate. Refrigerate to set @1-2 hours.I don't know how many stacks you want to do but any number close together but not touching makes a nice presentation. Maybe a sprinkling of candied violets, sprinkles, or whipping cream in a can at the last minute might work, or even some shaved white and dark chocolate curls (that can be made ahead and refrigerated separately than the "cake").

Make it the morning of the event, it really doesn't take very long, and keep refrigerated, but hopefully less than 4 hours. If you make it the day before the doughnuts will get soggy. Bring it out about 15 minutes before serving just to take off the chill, but if not it will still taste good by the time it gets to the guest's plates. I am assuming that you are using cake doughnuts. If he wants glazed then the whole deal is off and you'd get gooey all the way through. Tasty, but sticky gooey and it will never be firm because the glazed doughnuts aren't.

Nancy

Thanks sooz.

To answer your question, you are right i am making the whole cake. I have a 6 tier square cake stand to stack the doughnuts on,and have done endless Google searches to find pictures. He definitely wants the chocolate drizzle. So I guess I'll experiment with the amount of cream in the ganache. I am also going to have to work strawberries into it,per his request.(Sigh)When I was presented with all these odd demands, I told him I was going to make a strawberry fire on the top tier with a doughnut cauldron over it pouring melted chocolate down over the cake. I was trying to be a smart alec,but he loved the idea. I don't think I can pull that off, but I can stick the odd strawberry here and there on the cake.....

Thank you nancy.

Unfortunately I won't have access to a fridge at the venue either,and as the cake stand I'm using has to be put together as one piece beforehand,it won't fit into my fridge,as it is almost 2 ft tall and even wider than that at the bottom. It is held together by a bar going down the center of it, and I won't be able to assemble it with the doughnuts on them,unless I want them all over the floor. He does want the glazed doughnuts,but I am going to get the glazed, some filled ones and some cake cruellers to add variety to the look of it. I am going to stack them (artfully) on the cake stand,and then drizzle the chocolate on them. Soggy is ok,according to him and the bride. As long as it looks good and is delicious.

I don't really need it to set to a hard shell. It's okay if it's still a little gooey, I just don't want it to ooze all over the tablecloth. His idea is for people to just go up and grab a doughnut,not to slice the cake. The wedding cake itself is not a cake at all, but cupcakes,so this grab one and go thing seems to be the idea of the day.

15 years ago when we got married I made a ton of cupcakes and brownies, put them on a three tiered oval stand that DH made and had a small black forest cake on top for our 1st year anniversary layer. My MIL was horrified that there wasn't a yucky tasting fondant on 5 tiers like a "real" wedding cake. The guests loved it because the kids didn't get messy and no one had to wait for cake - grab and go. I guess I was way ahead of my time but since then lots of wedding cakes haven't been nearly as traditional. Maybe I was the one who started the trend??? But, your doughnuts with ganache I would really enjoy and be totally fun. My apologies to my dear DIL - the cake decorator. Her cakes are glorious works of art and the cakes themselves are absolutely delicious, as long as you don't eat the art. I truly think she should be working in clay, making masterpieces because neither are edible.

Nancy

Oh goodness! A strawberry fire with a doughnut cauldron that has chocolate pouring down over the cake! That's so very creative, even if you were being a smarty!

Here are 2 photos of easy-to-do chocolate-covered strawberries that you can mass produce in your kitchen (not sure if you wanted to do this kind of thing, or just use the fresh fruit in its pristine condition). I have to admit it's not the prettiest drizzle I've ever done.

Just remember that the closer to "serve-time" you can make these, the better, because of the nature of strawberries and their *ooze* factor--and don't put them in the fridge. I usually make chocolate covered strawberries the night before an event.

Sticking the strawberries all over the doughnut cake might be a tiny bit problematic, but it would make for a dramatic presentation!

Wow, so Nancy IS the person who started that trend! :O) I always wondered, and now I know!

Sooz

Those look AMAZING! I don't know how I'm going to do the strawberries. I'm not very good at meticulous fiddle faddle. If i tried to do that i would probably end up covered in chocolate and scrubbing strawberry shrapnel of the ceiling. I love to cook, but baking and cake decorating and stuff that requires a lot of detail like this is NOT my favorite thing. I am still not sure why he asked me to do this,and can only attribute the fact that I agreed to it to the fact that I'm insane. I think I'll get some skewers,and some of those florist foam things,and hide them behind the doughnuts and stick the strawberries in that way. I hope that works.

Amylou, your plan sounds just fine, with the skewers and such! Your brother is going to get an awesome and delicious cake! Maybe another time you'll want to try doing the strawberries as pictured above--it's really easy and you get a lot of compliments for something that's even more simple than Fiddle Faddle!

Please post a photo of the chocolate goodness you'll be making!

Smiles,

Sooz

amylou, I love the "bride and groom" strawberries and the donut tower looks delicious to me. Congratulations to the newlyweds and I've got my fingers crossed that your doughnuts hold up until time for serving!

Annie

It looks like a marvellous cake. Hope everything went very well for you.

Thanks annie. The strawberries were a little difficult and nerve-racking since I have never made them before. But I'm glad to report that the tower made it to the reception, and would have made it to the official cake cutting had it not been for a little unsupervised rugrat who couldnt have been older than 3 or 4 , who ran by me as dinner was being served, a donut in each hand and one in her mouth. (Definitely from the brides side of the family) lol. O well, at least she snitched them from the back of the cake, so they still got some nice pictures with it before it was devoured. I was surprised at how many donuts I used. 9 dozen, and that only covered 3 tiers. I was grateful that I thought to grab some donut holes for that 4th tier on the way to pay for them,or I would have been in trouble. I also made WAY to many strawberries. I had about 3 dozen left, and the wedding planner was adamantly against me setting up a separate platter for them, so I just took them home before the reception started. Funnily enough they were the first thing to go and the guests were asking if there were any more. Oh well. They will probably end up in the trash,but it was a learning experience. I learned not to wear what you plan to wear to the party when you are making a donut cake, especially if what youre wearing is light pink,because you will be covered in chocolate and will have to go change. I also learned that donuts officially beat out cupcakes in dessert preference,especially for kiddos. And I learned not to ask for a to go box, because the restaurant staff will look at you funny,even if you are the favorite sister of the groom,a now expert donut cake maker,and electric slide queen. Yes, definitely bringing my own tupperware to the next one. Lol.

Dang, girl! That looks like a Tower of Awesome Goodness to me, and *love* the Bride and Groom strawberries on the top! Very creative!!! Thanks for posting the photos and letting us all know how things went--so do you have a YouTube video of your doing the electric slide?? :O)

Smiles,

Sooz

Sooz I have no doubt that a video of me completly owning that electric slide will end up on YouTube. Or at least on someones fb page. It's times like this that I'm glad I'm not on fb. ;) People actually asked me if I had been hitting up the open bar, which I hadnt. :P

You'll have to post a link so we can all see you doing the electric slide! :O)

That's a beautiful doughnut tower!!! and such a shame about the extra strawberries. :( Great job and good lessons learned!

Beautiful cake......and I would have strolled through the crowd with my tupper of chocolate dipped strawberries....and showed that wedding planner what's what!!

You may have a new carreer!

Love it! And the tiered tower. (need that for my spring rolls).

What is it with party planners and their opinions? We hosted a wedding ceremony, pre-party i did the apps and the ceremony on our farm, but we needed a place for the dinner and a back-up if bad weather... we all wanted the honky-tonk roadside VFW hall being just a few miles up the road and right in the middle of the motels and guest houses where everyone was staying...The caterer, aka 'party planner', convinced the bride that the faux Italianite dance hall would be much better...only because she liked the kitchen.

Mediocre food. The groom and all could not sway the spell put on the bride by the caterer. We wanted the fantastic top-notch bbq guys in the area that do all the events for the boy scout fund that we look forward to every year...still a memorable wedding.