Oh, I'm so frustrated! The last few cakes I've done have given me problems and I don't know why! I'm getting too much moisture in my cakes between the cake and the filling. So when I cover my cakes with fondant, I think this moisture is causing problems, then the fondant gets a bubble and cracks. I thought this was because I was refrigerating the cake during the process, but I've completely avoided the fridge and freezer this time (with the exception of step 1). Maybe if I go through my complete process, someone can find where I'm going wrong. I'd so appreciate it!

1. I use Supermoist cake mix (using only half the called for oil to make a denser cake). I bake my cake a few days in advance, wait for them to cool, wrap them in saran wrap, then freeze them.
2. I take the cakes out of the freezer and put them in the fridge to defrost. Then I take them from the fridge, unwrap them, leave them on the counter to come to room temperature. This last time I made sure that they were at room temperature and bone dry before I used them!
3. I make Indydeby's buttercream but add a 1/4 cup of flour and some salt to cut the sweetness a bit. (Could the flour be causing the problem? Sometimes after my bc sits for a bit, before I stir it, there's a bit of water on top. Do you guys get that too?)
4. I use a thick dam of stiff bc and then fill with bc. Everything is at room temperature, the cakes and the bc. I then cover the cake with saran and let settle on the counter for a day or so (with and without weight on top).
5. So the next day, the cake looks fine. There's a bulge of course, so I trim it away. This is when I notice the problem - that there's too much moisture between where the cake and the dam meet! Ahhh! Why?

Can someone help me? Pllleeeaase! I don't want to give up caking, but I'm so fed up of this. I haven't always had this problem, just in the last year or so. I've changed to many things in the last year though, to know where the problem is happening.

Can anyone help me?

Hi sugar..

You didn't say.. but do you coat you cake with a thin coat of BC and let it crust a bit, before applying the final coat. I would think that there wouldn't be a problem after the first thin coat was set.

No, I don't crumb coat first. I just apply a thin layer of buttercream then immediately put on the fondant.

Wow, I'm stumped on this one. I don't think I have ever had water collect on my buttercream, it sounds like its doing that after its filled too. I didn't see where you are from, could your climate be part of the problem. If its your buttercream, why not fill and ice with a whipped ganache before you apply your fondant, it works great. But why your buttercream is getting watery, i'm stumped, especially when you add flour, you would think it would be thicker. Sorry, I don't know, have you tried other recipes. I always take my cakes out the night before and let them sit on the counter to thaw, and my cakes are pretty moist too, I think freezing does that.

Thanks so much for both of your replies! One day I'll figure it out I hope.