I made this 3 tier cake, with the cardboard and dowls in each layer. I used a raspberry filling in the middle of each layer.over the course of a few hours squished out the sides and made my fondant bow in the middle!! Luckily it didnt bust through the fondant but looked REALLY bad!! Can I not use that type of filling? How can I make this NOT happen?? Grrr...

You have to let the cake settle before you decorate.

The cake itself? or do you mean the cake needs to settle with the filling in it? The cakes were cold and, I filled them and put them in the freezer for about half an hour, was that where I went wrong? I thought maybe my filling wasnt thick enough?

http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-633571-trick.html

There's NO reason to put the cakes in the freezer after you fill them.

You need to pipe a dam around the cake with stiff buttercream and then fill the dam with whatever filling. The filling should not reach the surface of the buttercream wall otherwise it will also ooze out when you place the top layer. The cakes should then be left a couple of hours to settle before covering. I normally just put a crumb coat on the cake so it doesn't dry. I am inexperienced when it comes to fondant but I've never had a problem with filling oozing out using this method. HTH

Do what's already been told here and for the little bubble on the top cake, prick it with a pin and rub the air out. I hate to do fondant because mine wants to do what your bottom one did settle to the bottom and look like there is too much fondant there. Was it homemade fondant? I can NOT get homemade right , I love the satin ice but can't afford the shipping on it. Problems I know hahahahahahha............ I don't do much needless to say fondant cakes. All in all the cake was BEAUTIFUL and I love the color choice and the branches. Don't give up!!!!!!!! Oh I just remembered , someone told me for when the cake like the bottom one settles down (the fondant) after you place the fondant on it put the cake on a coffee can or something and let the gravity pull the fondant tight to the bottom then trim off excess. HTH

After you put ioa dam and fill the cakes place the cake tin upside down ontop of your cake with a can of veg or something ontop. this will speed up the settling and anything that will ooze out will do so before you decorate. HTH

I agree with leah u have to let the cake settle and also you need to do your crumb coating and Norm Davis said the let the cake rest after you crum coat for at least 3-4 hours... after u do your dam... add the filing... when u crumb coat... kinda spackle the part where the dam is at... I hope I make sense here... he kinda goes a little thicker where the dam is (the part that shows around the cake) to seal in and fill any gaps the dam left... (the dam is done with a coupler or the large round tip so it's not flush with the top and bottom of the cake)....

HTH

Thank you all so much, sound like I need to have some more patience before decorating! Thanks all!