Need Help With Strawberries On Wedding Cake
Decorating By Classycakes Updated 27 May 2008 , 10:47pm by Classycakes
I have a bride who wants fresh strawberries on her wedding cake. Will the strawberries discolour the buttercream icing? How should I prepare them? I know I can dip the bottoms in white chocolate but she really wants them plain. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Beware! If you cut the strawberries, such as to do a fan or even potentially cutting the tops off, strawberries bleed after a while and leak liquid all over your cake. It happened with the Mother's Day cake I made a few years ago (in my gallery). It seemed like such a great idea. I put it in the center of the table while we ate dinner. The smell was heavenly, but it started bleeding all down the sides and I kept mopping at it with a napkin.
I think if you don't cut them and dry them REALLY well before placing on the cake, you might be ok, but hopefully someone who has more experience with them can tell you for sure.
maybe you can put a toothpick in the strawberry then stick it on the cake so it's not touching all the way. I'm not sure but sounds like an ok idea
Thanks for your advice Hawkette. I think they look nice with the little bit of green showing on the tops so I'd rather leave them whole. I've seen so many cake pictures with strawberries and the cake looks gorgeous with not a hint of stain. A wedding cake has to sit for hours before it's actually cut but I'd hate to have big ole red stains seeping down the sides just when the bride is getting ready to cut. Maybe I'll use plastic strawberries !!! Boy, the bride will get a fright then when she tries to bite into one! lol
I was thinking about your toothpick idea Karema but I'm thinking that once the toothpick pierces the berry, the juice will run down. But I won't know til I try - thank you!
I'm guessing that decorators must glaze them or something. There's got to be some little trick to it! I make strawberry shortcakes for my family during the summer but usually the cake is eaten so fast, there's no time for the juice to run.
hmmmm.....strawberry shortcake.......must have some........
I've never had luck with it! Even when they are chocolate covered, once strawberries hit room temp, they tend to bleed some.
Just make sure you don't use any that have any hint of a bruise; use ones in only perfect condition. I've done it a few times without any issue, and no staining resulted. Of course, wash them, and dry, dry, dry them before putting on the cake.
I have a cake in my gallery that has fresh blueberries and raspberries on it, the cake was set up about 4 hours before the reception and I had no problem with it, just be certain that the berries are dry before you put them on the cake. The one in my pics is the red/white/blue with celitic sugar knots and mickky/minnie caketopper.
I've always had trouble with mine bleeding, although I haven't used them very often. Can someone tell me why sugaring the berries makes them bleed like crazy?? Does it draw the moisture out or something??
Looks yummy tygre!
To get more information, I've also googled this strawberry issue. From what I can see, everything points to what karen has said ---- the fruit has to be REALLY, REALLY dry.
So the secret is.....dry, dry, dry, perfect condition, very firm strawberries!
I think I'll do a small test run beforehand just for curiousity sake to see how long it will take for the strawberries to bleed on a buttercream cake. (Though how I'm going to keep a cake untouched in this house is beyond me!)
Thanks to everyone for advice - I appreciate your help. I feel much more confident about this whole thing now!
You're the best!!!
I NEVER have luck with fruit, period. The sugar seems to just draw out the water. I put sliced strawberries in a cake once and it just ran right through the dams and bariers of buttercream and gels...
Do you think the bride would mind if you used a fruit glaze on them? I use it a lot and never have a problem with the fruit bleeding. Or maybe you could just glaze the bottom half? I don't know, but the glaze adds a nice shine to the berries and makes for better pics
Lightningale, what is a fruit glaze? Is this something you make yourself or is it something you buy already prepared? Does it dry hard like a wax?
I did a wedding cake with fresh strawberries, but I also used strawberry sauce. Check out my gallery. It was was really easy, but the ones on top kept falling off. It wasn't until after the wedding I realized I should have secured them in with tooth picks.
Hope this helps.
I would glaze them. Use very firm, slightly under ripe berries, and once they are really dry, brush them with melted and slightly cooled strawberry or currant jelly. Then let that dry again. Warning: I haven't tried that on fondant or crusting buttercream, but on SMBC or custard fillings (as in a tart) the glazed berries don't bleed. HTH
I use a clear glaze by Bakemark, although once in a while i make my own, works just as well (starch, glucose or white corn syrup and water)
The Bakemark glaze is a little thicker, and can be microwaved and thinned out with water.
Thank you for the glaze tips Lightningale & luddroth. I'll definitely give that a try!
Since you can't keep a cake untouched long enough to test it out, you could probably just put a couple strawberries on a blob of bc in a saucer and see how it does.
Since you can't keep a cake untouched long enough to test it out, you could probably just put a couple strawberries on a blob of bc in a saucer and see how it does.
That really is a good idea jammjenks - it's a quick & easy way to test out how long the strawberries can sit in buttercream before they start to stain. I'll put out two dishes of buttercream and put plain strawberries in one and glazed in the other. Thanks!
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