I just did a simple cake, iced smooth with bc. Went out the door fine, but I saw the pics of the bday party later and the cake had air bubbles and looked horrible!! why would this happen? they had closed the lid (squished the border) and left in inside on a table on a humid day. Would this have happened if it was left in the fridge instead? I've done cakes for a few years now and have only seem this happen a couple times, but not that many bubbles on one cake. (i'll try to post the pic)

I also had HUGE problems with fondant air bubbles on the same day! My husband thought it was because I covered the cakes when they were cold, right out of the fridge, should let them get to room temperature first. It was a three tiered cake and all layers had the same problem and the fondant was so tacky! I mixed Dawn fondant and Satin Ice, don't usually have a problem with this combo. What fondant do most people use that don't have any problems with cracking (I find that with satin ice), too soft or bubbles. Thanks for your help. I have a bunch of cakes coming up and I am pretty discouraged.

Tammy[img][/img]

I can't seem to post the pic, but if you follow the profile link to my page, you can see the Diego cake. I posted 2 pics one with the air bubles and one without.

How do you get the text on the image?

Hi Tammy

Here is my experience with air bubbles.

I made a fondant covered cake, which never touched the refrigerator. It looked good the next morning, but I went to work and when I came home the air bubbles had gotten so big the fondant and split. I repeat, never went into the fridge, so that blows the theory it's while it comes back to room temperature.

When I make cakes which DO stay in the fridge, I don't have a single air bubble.... not one. When I leave them out... air bubbles.

Some people say that the right combination of things such as cornstarch, heat etc can cause a gas to develop which causes them, but I don't use corn startch. The only thing I do different between cakes that have bubbles and cakes that don't is refrigerate.

I do believe pretty much everyone has this problem, and you just need to deal with it. For example, I have a diabetic needle that I poke all around the cake at regular intervals which let's the air escape gradually. The diabetic needles are so tiny you can't see the holes.

zespri wrote: I have a diabetic needle that I poke all around the cake at regular intervals which let's the air escape gradually. The diabetic needles are so tiny you can't see the holes.

OMGosh! I thought I was the only one who did this??
Yep, everyone runs into this problem once in while... usually with no logical explanation. My advice...stock your cake supplies with some very small guage needles

The last two weekends I've had air bubbles on bc cakes. Every &^(* cake.

I've been running tests... keeping the cakes out of the fridge all together before icing, freezing and then icing while cold, freezing and letting come to temp before icing... it doesn't seem to matter what I do. Eventually, I get bubbles in most of the cakes. Its making me batty! It always ends up requiring surgery or fancy footwork that I don't have the patience to deal with. lol

I'm gonna have to try those diabetic needles!

thank you for the replies! I'm glad that I am not the only one having these problems. I will definitely try the needle poking during the process, what a great idea! thanks so much cc'ers!

Tammy

I'm experiencing the UNPOPABLE bubble today--I've pierced it about 10 times, and it just keeps re-inflating. While researching a few minutes ago I came across another forum where someone said that people who applied the frosting with a bag never had bubbles, and that spatula application was the problem. Can anyone confirm or deny this?? Here's the link: http://www.cheftalk.com/forum/thread/19793/fondant-bubbles

I've never had problems with bubbles, but suddenly the last few bc cakes I've done have been bitten by the Bubble Bug! On one cake, I scraped the icing off and started over and the bubble came back in the exact same spot when the cake was delivered. And the cake had been crumb coated the day before and set up overnight. Wish I had a definite answer!

I have problems with this occasionally also. They always seem to appear as the cake warms up...in the delivery proces. or in the decorating process if the cake is out a long time. I tell my girls to really make sure the center icing is filled to the edge, even if they have to fill in with piped icing and smooth down before icing a cake. Then I have them run a bead of icing under the bottom of the cake, because sometimes the cake edge does not quite touch the board or plate. I really think the bubbles are caused by trapped air. Then when icing the cake, make sure the icing is adhering everywhere. I think sometimes they ice the cakes so fast that they do not even realize that the icing has skimmed over and not adhered, especially in the center where the cakes join. I don't think there is ever an easy answer for this.
We are just always prepared to fix air bubbles during the delivery process.