Okay Ive been doing this for a while now and I still dont understand why sometimes I get the airbubbles coming out on the sides of some of my cakes. Did I not let them set long enough before icing them? Was there air between the layers.......Its the never answered question....LOL Why or Why? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks
So many things can be involved, but the normal thing that causes it is not letting it settle long enough.
But temperature and humidity can also cause problems.
Sharon Zambito has the most fascinating way to avoid it, by putting it into a bag and sucking the air out and letting it sit overnight. I haven't tried it yet, but it looked fascinating.
Most people just let it site over night or 5 hours or so.
Hopefully more people will answer.
If you search for air bubbles you will find many posts about this, here is one of them with a remedy:
http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopicp-7211503-.html&sid=4e8534ee12f85b5a8c4939519ce28c27
HTH 
Bulges in between the layers are caused by settling, but air bubbles or blow outs are usually caused by icing a cake that is frozen or still partially frozen because the air is trying to escape.
I don't freeze my cakes. Well, not normally, anyway. And although I can't find the photo with the blowout, here's a pic of the cake I made a year ago. Here is the crumbcoat. After I let it set for 8ish hours, I put the final coat on. By the next morning, I had a huge blowout! It was a crack almost from top to bottom. So I tried to smooth it out, hoping all the air had escaped. But to my frustration, after I put the fondant on, the bubble grew again. so I pin pricked it and tried to flatten it. Luckily no one else noticed. =)
But luckily, since then, I haven't had such bad blowouts. 
So it's still somewhat of a mystery to me too. =)
Here is the crumbcoat. After I let it set for 8ish hours, I put the final coat on. By the next morning, I had a huge blowout!
I think most people let the cake settle after filling (wrapped in plastic wrap, and with weight on it) but before crumbcoating. Do you place some weight on top?
Here's the "trick" thread about bulges from leah_s:
http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=633571&highlight=trick
I think I did. But I'm not 100% sure. I know I've done it for the majority of my cakes. But I do know that I've filled, put weight on top, and then crumbcoated and frosted, and put fondant on, and still got that nasty air bubble under the fondant on the side. But I think most of them were in 2010. (So actually, now that we're in 2012, that one cake was almost 2 years ago...crazy.)
So perhaps, now that I've been doing it for a while is why I don't really have a problem anymore. I dunno. But I am happy it doesn't really happen to me anymore. =)
so do most of you let them settle in the fridge or at room temperture?
so do most of you let them settle in the fridge or at room temperture?
They won't settle in the refrigerator while cold.
(Well, let me clarify... I guess it could IF you had more than the usual amount of weight.)
What I find interesting, is that bubbles and bulges only happen to me if I'm using American buttercream. When I use my IMBC recipe it never happens.
The only time I get the bubbles is when I have iced a partially frozen or very cold cake. And it's only during warm weather. I believe it has something to do with condensation when the cake thaws. To avoid bulges, make sure your dam is very stiff. I make mine so stiff that I have to use extreme force to get it out of the bag.
Thanks everyone for the replies. I believe it appens because I ice right out of the fridge, Im gonna let
set at room tempaturen. Happy Decorating
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%