I have had this problem a couple of times, so I thought maybe you guys could tell me what I'm doing wrong. I freeze my cakes, set out in the morning to be decorated in the evening, use an electric knife to cut my cakes so all the edges are flush, frost with butter cream, then cover in fondant. But sometimes it looks as though the cake settles and there's a bulge between the layers. Any suggestions?
Make sure you use a nice, stiff icing dam even if you're filling with buttercream. Since I've been doing this, I never have a problem with bulges. Make sure that you also let your cakes "settle" after filling. The weight of the top layer on the bottom layer can cause settling and buldging. Trim after your cakes have had time to settle -- at least a few hours.
You should allow your cakes to settle for a few hours (or overnight, which is what I do) after filling before putting on your final coat of frosting or fondant.
yep what pinkziab said. The cakes won't start to settle until they are fully thawed and it will take a number of hours for them to settle. Are you freezing them for time management? Because there is really no need to freeze cakes - I might do a flash freeze if I'm carving just to make the carving easier but that's about the only time I think freezing is a benefit.
I agree with everything...I just chill mine and that helps keep it instead of freezing. But I did notice that when it warms up it does settle and then my buttercream get a little crackly. So lesson learned....let it settle before your final frosting. also make sure you board and support for every 4 inches.
I'm going to preface my advice with I don't know what I'm doing.
I'm a home/hobby baker, I freeze all my cakes. If I need a cake on Saturday, I bake Wednesday and freeze it. This happens late, 10pm earliest. Thursday morning, pull the cake out and crumb coat, put back in freezer. Then start on the icings and go from there.
The only thing that ever saves me is keeping the cake cold.
I have also had this problem in the past. I bake on a Tuesday, put them all in the freezer, then take out on a Friday morning and ice in the evening for Saturday.
I have tried making the dam by doing a sturdy "sausage" and then filling, but I still get that slight bulge showing after icing. So, do you recommend I ice early evening and then finish off later the night??
Just to give you an idea of a typical time frame - bake on Thursday, cool, torte, fill and crumb coat let rest over night not frozen or refrigerated. Friday - final finish coat of BC or fondant and decorate for a Saturday delivery. Many times I will crumb coat in the morning and a final coat in the evening and then continue to rest over night before decorating the following day.
No freezing or refrigeration is necessary unless you are using a non stable filling. So my point is maybe you can defrost your cakes a little earlier to allow enough time for the settling. HTH
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