Air Bubbles With Fondant Over Imbc
Decorating By SweetTater Updated 26 Feb 2011 , 4:06am by SweetTater
Can anyone give me some tips as to why this happened and how to prevent it? I filled and stacked the cake, let it rest overnight in the fridge and then iced it smooth with IMBC. Then I stuck it back in the fridge to harden the IMBC for a few hours. Then took it out and covered it with fondant. I put it back in the fridge overnight - the party was the next afternoon. The cake looked great when I took it out the next day and was fine for several hours. But as the cake probably came to room temperature, maybe about 4-5 hours after being out, a few large air bubbles developed under the surface of the fondant on top of the cake.
Now I know I could pop them with a pin and smooth out. But how can I prevent this in the first place? I'm doing my first wedding cake in July and will deliver the cake around 10am - the reception is at 2pm. I'm worried about this happening again.
Here's another question - is it okay for IMBC to sit under the fondant for 24 hours +/- without being in the fridge?
TIA!
I filled and stacked the cake, let it rest overnight in the fridge and then iced it smooth with IMBC.
Good, although you would have been better freezing it then letting it come back to room temp before icing it.
Then I stuck it back in the fridge to harden the IMBC for a few hours.
This may have been where you went wrong. Refrigeration makes the cake shrink/expand. You would have been better off icing then sticking in the freezer for 15 minutes to only firm up the IMBC, not refrigerate the whole thing.
Then took it out and covered it with fondant. I put it back in the fridge overnight - Here's another question - is it okay for IMBC to sit under the fondant for 24 hours +/- without being in the fridge?
Why wouldn't it be? I only refrigerate my frosted buttercream cakes to protect the moisture of the cake, not because of the buttercream (I use SMBC). If I fondant cover I leave them out.
European buttercreams are just as safe as crusting buttercreams.
Good luck for next time!
Jen
Thanks for your response. Why freeze the cake after you fill & stack? Freeze for how long? Just wondering what this does over just putting it in the fridge. Thanks.
I just wasn't sure about keeping the IMBC unrefridgerated because of the eggs.
Thanks for your response. Why freeze the cake after you fill & stack? Freeze for how long? Just wondering what this does over just putting it in the fridge. Thanks.
I just wasn't sure about keeping the IMBC unrefridgerated because of the eggs.
I freeze after I fill and stack to scrape the buttercream to make my corners sharp. If you don't chill it makes your cake really hard to cover with fondant and keep it's shape. Anyway, If you only pop it in the freezer for about 15 minutes it's enough to shock the buttercream and make it firm enough to scrape/cover, but doesn't "chill" the cake and make anything shrink/expand with the changing temps.
Egg question has been answered, yeah? You'd be shocked to know that raw egg whites used to be used as a natural preservative. Now we watch the news and get mass hysteria over something that has about the same chance of making us sick as we have getting struck by lightening.
I'm not joking 
.
Jen
I like my cakes to sit overnight after I fill and stack them so that they settle and reduces bulging around the middle. This is before I put the IMBC over the cake. I understand about popping it in the freezer for 15 min. after I've iced it and before the fondant. But what about the period of time after I fill/stack and before I ice it with IMBC? Were you suggesting leaving them in the freezer overnight during this time? Or do you not let your cakes rest before icing them?
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