Well, I spent a whole day yesterday on this cake:

1. made strawberry and blackberry jam
2. made fondant
3. made buttercream icing
4. made delicious chocolate cake
5. sliced strawberries for filling-this i think is where i went wrong

Last night i proceeded to assemble cake. One layer of cake, one layer of jam, one layer of b/c icing, one layer of fresh strawberries, more b/c, another cake, another layer of filling, another cake.

i then proceed to crumb coat my cake, with plans to ice and decorate this AM - cake is due tonite. I am cleaning the kitchen when i see that my cake i not doing too good - the layers are slipping a bit and there is strawberry juice ALL OVER THE bottom of the cake and worst of all, the icing is melting into a puddle on the floor (ambient temperate was 65 degrees).

I've never had to use dowels on a cake but can see why this one needs it structurally. So, I cut some to size. But my cake is till bleeding strawberry juice. and the icing keeps melting.

I decided lsat night to cut my loses and removed the icing with a spatula. i figured i'd let the cake (and most importantly let ME) rest over night and then id come up with a strategy to decorate it. since the decorative choice i up to me, the client won't care what it looks like....but i do!! i want this to be as beautiful as it is delicious.

this morning the cake looks structurally fine...but there i yet another puddle of juice on the bottom. now i am thinking i should disable the pices, remove the filling and start over with only the jam a filling. BUT i am worried that now the cake is too moist from the juices to be able to take it apart and leave the cake layers intact.

HELP! i've never torted a cake with fresh fruit before and didn't realize this would happen! where do i go from here????

OY!

Fresh fruit is so juicy, it's going to play havoc with your cake unless you take some precautions. Making a dam with your buttercream before filling will help. Also, I would suggest using buttercream next to the cake layers and putting the jam & fruit between the buttercream, so that you're insulating the cake from the juice. (Layers go cake, buttercream, jam, fruit, buttercream cake, in other words.) Good luck!

thank you Ruth for your reply. i think i've averted the disaster. i've crumb coated the cake and i'm waiting for it to dry so that I can add the second layer of b/c. working on fondant accessories now. it won't be as elaborate as i had hoped...but it will look nice.

i really appreciate your reply.

Fresh strawberries interact w/sugar, releasing their juices. They just cannot be mixed

good thing I read this post!
My friend asked me to put strawberries between the layers of a white cake for dinner tomorrow. I completely forgot about the strawberries + sugar = juicy mess!
Maybe she'll be satisfied with a strawberry flavored filling instead. Hopefully I can find one at giant eagle! I'm making a lasagna as well and I don't have time to go running around

Although I may just do it anyway since the cake won't survive much more than half a day

Blmiller---It should be fine with the strawberries as long as you put a dam.

But Polaner's All-Fruit is so tasty, too!

if you want to make your own jam/fruit filling, it's super easy.

what I do:
put a bunch of berries (or other fruit) in a pot
add 1/3 frozen juice concentrate - apple of sweet jam; orange for tartness - and a bit of water so that the fruit won't stick at the beginning of the cooking process

simmer on med-low

once the berries are cooked and the sauce has reduced, add a teaspoon or two of instant-cooking tapioca (this will thicken the sauce). keep cooking for a bit until it's the right consistency.



additions for flavor - depending on what fruit you are cooking and the ultimate use of the sauce

vanilla
cinnamon
nutmeg
juice of one lemon
you name it!

I use fresh fruits in my cakes all the time, especially strawberries.

What I do is I chop up the strawberries and lightly blot it with a paper towel.
Then I add a layer of buttercream or stablized whipped cream prior to adding the strawberries.

Make sure it stays cold!