Dumb question but what is an "Agbay" because finding an easier way to level would be awesome!=)
awesome, glad i dropped by today. have never pushed down on my cakes before, only had one filled cake bulge before-thought i was due to humidity! on my easter cake i will have a go....as soon as i get back from the hardware store!! thanks for the tip!
Leah_s, thanks for this tip! I saw you mention this a few days ago -- sounds perfect -- no super long waits. I have a cake coming up next weekend and plan to try this method on it.
Thanks, again! :0
Dumb question but what is an "Agbay" because finding an easier way to level would be awesome!=)
Agbay is THE best cake leveler ever made. (Not that I'm biased or anything) I can't live without mine!
I agree with Rylan.....Ganache rocks!!!!!! I got turned on to that by Sharon Z in one of her videos....sorry Sharon, I can't remember which one at this moment!! Old age brain cramp!!
Thank you for this great tip - I like some of the others just thought the "buldge" was from humidity. Even tho I pushed down - I obviously did not give it enough time to settle.
So this may not be the right place to ask this question....but I'm new and it came to mind while reading these posts.....how long will a cake stay fresh from being filled wrapped and settled to iced, covered and decorated to serving?? I keep seeing advice of not doing it all in one day but worry if I stretch it out the cake won't stay fresh. But also have heard that other than looking pretty that that is what fondant is for. I have a cake to take to a baby shower for Sunday...could I start today??
I've been doing this for several weeks, and it's working well, so I'm ready to share. It's my way to get rid of the dreaded bulge.
In culinary school we were taught to place a cardboard on top of the cake and push down hard - right to the point BEFORE the cake breaks. It takes a bit of experience. LOL. Then remove the cardboard of course.
This works better.
Put the cake on a board. Fill. Wrap in plastic wrap. Then put a ceramic tile on top. Wait 2 or 3 hours. The ceramic tile should be about the size of the cake. We have ceramic tile in our house, so there were leftover tiles that are now my cake "tools."
I used to fill wrap, put a paperback book on top and wait overnight. This works better.
Hi Leah...
? for you... I just did as you say here (well what I THOUGHT IT SAID )
I torted... filled... put a cake pan of the same size on top with 2 cans of beans for weigh and placed in on the fridge... it's been there for about 3 1/2 hrs.....
the fact that I didn't wrap it... is that going to cause me problems?
I just looked at the cake and it's still nice and shaped just like I left it....
is that right?
TIA Dalis
1. I didn't say anything about cake pans and cans of beans.
2. NEVER put a cake in the fridge unless it has a perishible filling.
3. Yes, always wrap in plastic wrap.
I know.... lol that's why I said what I TOUGHT u said... cause I had it wrong... but since I already did it that way.... I was just wondering if you think that will mess it up... so sorry to have bothered you.... I will see how I can save the cake... have a nice one....
Well, please get it out of the fridge. You might need to paint the outside edge with some simple syrup because, yes, it likely will have dried out bit. The cans may have been the right amount of weight, or may have been too much. The cake will certainly let you know.
Thanks... I did take it out.... and I just finished icing the cake and so far it looks good...
now I put it back so it can set before I fondant it....
Thanks again for your tips... this time I printed out your instructions so I don't goof up next time.....
I've been doing this for several weeks, and it's working well, so I'm ready to share. It's my way to get rid of the dreaded bulge.
In culinary school we were taught to place a cardboard on top of the cake and push down hard - right to the point BEFORE the cake breaks. It takes a bit of experience. LOL. Then remove the cardboard of course.
This works better.
Put the cake on a board. Fill. Wrap in plastic wrap. Then put a ceramic tile on top. Wait 2 or 3 hours. The ceramic tile should be about the size of the cake. We have ceramic tile in our house, so there were leftover tiles that are now my cake "tools."
I used to fill wrap, put a paperback book on top and wait overnight. This works better.
I've been doing much the same for quite some time, but I use a marble tile I bought in Lowes. The key is the 2-3 hour part... one really can't rush the settling!
Edited to add that I just read someone else mentioned using marble and the OP felt it might be too heavy. I've never had an issue with it being so. It works great every time --no cracking.
I am a very new beginner, so I hope this is not going to sound stupid.
I am just getting into the filling thing in cakes. In the past, I have just used the same frosting as I put on top of the cake. I plan on making two two-layer cakes this week.
Does this technique work for a tiered cake for wedding cakes? Do I need to use this technique if I am just making a simple two-layer cake with butter cream icing and no fondant?
Thanks in advance.
First whatever is in between the layers is filling, so you've been dong fillings all along.
Second, ALL cakes need to settle. Doesn't matter how they get decorated, bc or fondant, all cakes need to settle.
Leah ~ Well I guess I should have read a little further in the forum before I posted my question on the "bulge". I too was one of those dummys that thought it was do to the weather, etc.! Thank you so much for your tip.
Thanks Leah. I've been having "bulge issues" lately when I hadn't before. I thought I was putting too much bc filling....I wish I had read this earlier....oh well there's always another cake.
Thanks again for sharing!
Doesn't that just push all of the filling out??
It's going to settle eventually, with or without the tile, so if you put too much filling in between it's going to ooze out.
Your STIFF bc dam will determine the height of the filling. Any filling over the damn is going to come out sooner or later. We'd all prefer sooner when you can fix it. Filling should be slightly *below* the top of the dam.
Thanks so much Leah for posting this great tip. I'm very new to cake decorating and in the past have only ever used ganache under fopndant and never had issues with buldging. Until I started using buttercream....... and then came the bulge!!!!
For those who don't know this, here is something that can help. I make mosaic work for pools and other things. I go to tile distributors or warehouse and ask them if they have tiles that they are getting rid of, like display tiles and most of them are glad to give them to you so they don't have to dispose of them themselves. You can even get marble tiles. Just some info if you want to save some money. Hope that can help some of you. And Leah, thanks for that.. I have been having that bulging issue also and I am glad to know this.
I have never heard of anything like this! Thanks for the tip, both the display tiles and using them in the first place!
Thanks alot for the tip. Just made a wedding cake, and had the "bulge" appear on the bottom tier. It doesn't help that it is hot in south Texas just about all year long.
Leah,
I just bought 2 beautiful (but most inexpensive I could find $1.15 each) 12x12 tiles at Lowes. I'm so excited to try this technique. I'm doing a 8 inch and a 6 inch cake in a little while and I had a few questions.
1. Will that big of a tile be okay on the 6 inch cake? It seems very heavy and I don't want it to smoosh my cake.
2. I'm likely using a version of WASC, so is it too much weight to put on that soft of a cake? I've never really done anything with the WASC except cupcakes, so wasn't sure.
I had another question, but can't for the life of me remember what it was at this moment. Sorry if I have to ask another question later. Thank you so much!
That's a pretty big tile for the 6". Frankly I wouldn't do it. The problem with using a too big tile is that if it shifts a bit, the tile will smoosh the cake more on one side making it uneven - exactly the opposite of what you're trying to accomplish. I only use 12 X 12 tiles on 12" and 14" cakes.
Ditto, so glad I found Planet Cake a few years ago!
Rylan your cakes never have a buldge what is your trick???
Ganache is my only trick. I no longer dam, I no longer let it set...just ganache.
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