My cousin is celebrating her 50th birthday and I am making her cake.
She requested fresh strawberries in the middle of her cake, but I am very worried about them "juicing" and getting everything soggy. I have seached the topic, but only find recipes on how to make strawberries in a glaze. She wants just strawberries. Has anyone used fresh strawberries? Did it work? Did you have to do anything to them?

I have used fresh strawberries in layers but I had bavarian cream under them. They made the cake a little moist but not soggy.

But if it's just strawberries without the bavarian cream, I'd be afraid of the making the cake soggy, too. And if you're doing any kind of stacking, I think they might make the cake unstable. Would you have time to experiment with a smaller cake before the date? Because the idea sounds totally delicious.

I just had this issue a couple of weeks ago. I spread a thin layer of BC, then layered thinly sliced strawberries over it as filling. After sitting overnight, the strawberries leaked A LOT of juice out and it was running over the edge of the cake board at the bottom of the cake!!! I'd even taken a couple of precautions...I sliced the strawberries thinly and spread them out on paper towels for about an hour, hoping to let them drain a little. Nope...still leaked out a lot of juice.

But I know bakeries/other ppl use fresh s'berries all the time. The only thing I can think of is that I put too many. I put a couple of layers of them because they were sliced pretty thin. Maybe only one layer?

I wish I could help you in figuring out how to do it with no leaking and maybe someone else will come along with a solution lol . I'd love to know how to do it myself!

I've used them. No worries in a dense cake. In one that is already moist, you have to put a smear of BC on the bottom and top layers just to keep it in. Make sure you use a good dam.

I have to do the same thing for my brothers cake this Friday. I made a bridal shower cake for my cousin where I put a layer of my vanilla mousse and one layer of sliced strawberries on top. They loved it . The only problem was the longer they had cake leftovers the soggy the strawberries got. It works fine for a day or two but after that you will be picking off the berries. The cake was a two tier stacked cake and I had not problems with stability. The mousse I use is easy to make and great for stability. One pint whipping cream one small box instant vanilla pudding. Whip until peaks form. Make sure you let the berries drain on a paper towel after slicing them. I also place a paper towel on the top and press down gently to remove more of the juice.

Just a tip -
When you wash your strawberries - wash them and pat them dry with paper towell with the hulls still intact.

Otherwise the strawberries will soak up alot of water....and then will release all that moisture when cut and laying on the cake or a few hours.
Even if strawbeeries aren't cut - they will still release the moisture taken up when washing.

When dusted with sugar - this too will create syrup and they will release that also, after sitting for a while.


Bluehue..

I use a layer of butter cream and then pipe a well of butter cream and fill in the cut strawberries have a second layer of BC on top.
But You cant make this cake in advance I pretty much make it one day before
HTH

I recently did a cake with a smear of buttercream, then whipped cream and a layer of sliced strawberries. The berries did not seep out, but when cut, the cake wanted to separate into its layers where the berries were. I was not happy with how it sliced or looked on the plate, although I did weigh it down before icing it. I thought maybe next time I would mix the berries and whipped cream, but now, after reading the preceeding posts, I am not so sure.

When I did fresh strawberries with bavarian cream I washed and dried the berries and then sliced them.Then I put them in an airtight container overnight to release most the juice,patted them dry and then layered them in the cake.

I would think strawberries on buttercream would not work, as buttercream is greasy & would not absorb the strawberry juice. The bakery I used to work at did strawberry & whipped cream filling all the time with no problems, it was very popular especially in summer. Obviously it needs to be made fresh though, the day before or day of.