I did a cake this weekend and my filling was buldging. I put a double dam of icing and then filled the cake with chocolate ganache.

Single dam stiff bc icing then make sure not to overfill the filling. Go a bit below the level of the dam. Assemble the cake, crumb coat and then let it sit for about an 30 min-1 hour. This gives the cake time to settle and you an opportunity to see if you will have any problems spots!

hth!

I always give the layer a really firm push to settle it into place, so that any of the icing dam that does smoosh out (that's the technical term!) is scraped away when I do my crumb coat.

I am always afraid that I won't put enough filling in the cake. That's why I double the dam so I can get more filling in. I will try putting stiffer icing in and put less filling in. Maybe that will help. thanks

You could try letting your dam set a little to firm up before adding the filling and the top layer. I found putting it in the refrigerator for a little bit helps it to stiffen up.

i make the dam using stiff icing about a quarter to half inch from the outer edge of the cake put on the top layer use a #10 tip to fill in any gaps and then put a pan the same size as the cake layer on top of the cake and put a couple of 1 lb boxes of confect sugar on top of that - all tips that i picked up here and it works like a charm

All of the above but also I find it helps to dig a small trench just inside where the dam will go. I put a thin icing layer then pipe the dam and fill. THe trench gives the filling a place to bulge to and the cake settles with no bulging.

Here's some info JanH gave me when I had the same question!!
Thread on leaky fillings and bulging layers:

http://cakecentral.com/c.....3481-.html

HTH

I've come to almost prefer torting my cakes lately. I use less filling and I do love how they look when cut. When I tort I don't have to dam to fill. I just put on a thinner layer of icing/filling add the next layer and press it down slightly to seat it then fill again etc. I also have started to spackle the sides and top, chill a few minutes then do a thin layer of icing and chill again before I actually ice the cake. It's more steps but I am so much happier with the result. I spend much less time fighting the crumbs this way. One day soon I'm going to make Toba's spackling paste using the crumbled dome of the cake. She says it's very flavorful and some people even think it's a nutty filling.

Ooooh! I completely forgot about the spackling stuff! I'll have to pull out my book and read that again!

For all my talk about Toba's book (The Well Decorated Cake) I have yet to get on the ball and order it. Someplace online I saw where I could order her cookie book too and it was a pretty good combo price. Yes, that spackling paste sounds very interesting. I do love the affect I get since I've added this step. Much nicer sides I think.

Wow thanks for all of the tips. I definitely will use these tips.