My cakes are bulging out in the middle after putting buttercream on them. I hate buttercream! Why does it do that and why does it start to droop, my cakes are not warm and my icing it just right not too thin either. Please help because when I put the fondant over it after an hour you can see it bulging out. How do you get those perfect buttercream tier cakes that are so smooth they literally look like their covered in fondant and beautiful. Is it crusting buttercream or what else? I need major orientation.

I am no expert, but, are you putting a dam of firm icing on each of the layers?

I am but somehow after about an hour or two it just starts to bulge.

Well I am no BC Queen -- but I have watched Sugarshacks DVD on buttercream -- She uses the absolute stiffest buttercream for her dam that I have ever seen. I now keep a batch of BC marked 'dam' just for that reason. It is so thick I can not use it for anything else.

Then after the layers 'rest' a while she takes a long knive and cuts around the out side of the tiers to even them up and it helps smooth out where the dam is/layers meet. This trick works real well. I don't cover much in fondant -- but it sure makes my sides of the cakes nice and straight with no bulge.

HTH

Suze

I use a really thick dam. Then I kinda put a bit of pressue on the top of the cake to help everything. I also wrap tightly with saran wrap and let it sit in the fridge for an hour at least. Sometimes over night.

It helps give the filling time to settle. Then I wipe away whatever has buldged out.

I hope this helps. i'm not the best at explanations.

Sounds to me like you are using too much of a dam/filling. Generally, I don't exceed 1/4", then let it sit for at least 10-15 minutes before icing to allow time for it to settle. Rarely have bulging issues anymore (only when I do strawberry filling - love that stuff and tend to overdo it!)