ok, I am by no means a rookie anymore, but I still have problems with filling bulging out of my cakes. I have tried filling them less, and I have tried chilling them. Nothing has worked, and I have a wedding in October with a square cake that is four tiers high. Something I have never done before. My largest cake has been three tiers. If anyone can tell me a secret to making this stop please let me know. Oh, and the only filling I have used is BC.
Couple of things that work for me:
1. Pipe a dam, even if you're filling with the same BC. I use tip 12. IMPORTANT: Pipe the dam 1/4 inch from the edge of the cake. Then, fill in your usual way, making sure the filling is not higher than the dam.
2. When you put the next layer on top of your filling, use a cake board to press the layer down.
3. Let the filled cake rest at least 4 hours so everything can settle.
4. Crumb coat, making sure you press icing into the crevices between layers. If you start to see slight bulging after the crumb coat, spin the cake with one hand and use a finger on the other hand to swipe some icing from between the layers, leaving a slight indent. Ice the cake.
5. Be gentle with your tiers. Try not to 'drop' them too much when you move them around.
Hope this helps!
I could use help in this area also. My questions are on fruit/curd/mousse fillings.
How thick do you you put it?
I know you make a dam with frosting first, how thick?
Do you put the dam away from the edge of the cake so there is room for it to "mush"
Also if a cake is heavy/dense like a mud cake does this put too much pressure on the fillings?
Thanks!
Here you go -- this is a good post with another link as well!
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-386823-.html
I could use help in this area also. My questions are on fruit/curd/mousse fillings.
How thick do you you put it?
I know you make a dam with frosting first, how thick?
Do you put the dam away from the edge of the cake so there is room for it to "mush"
Also if a cake is heavy/dense like a mud cake does this put too much pressure on the fillings?
Thanks!
Fruit or "slippery" fillings should only be a smear. Generally, you should be able to see the cake through the layer of filling. I like to torte my layers so there's 3 layers of filling. Three 'smears' is better than one! If you make your slippery fillings too thick, there's risk of the layers sliding and, of course, bulging.
I like to use tip 12 for dams, no matter what kind of filling I use. The fruit filling should be noticeably lower than the dam. The ring of icing will form a 'seal' when you press the layers together. And yes, pipe your dam 1/4 inch from the edge of the cake to allow for 'mush'.
A heavy cake will compress the filling more, that's why it's so important to let your filled cakes rest or settle for several hours before icing. Hopefully, any possible bulging will happen during the resting period while you can still fix it.
Thanks for all those tips! I'm "watching this topic" for reference. One thing I remember a Wilton instructor saying was to take the dam filling & after your done tiering the cake, pipe more of the BC in the outside if needed. I like the idea of letting it sit for a couple of hours but since I'm a weekend decorator, I usually don't have time to wait. Another thing I find easier is piping the filling in. I just put it in a big swirl & that's easier for me.
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%