Vanilla Pudding For Filling In A Wedding Cake???

Decorating By thatslifeca Updated 25 Jun 2010 , 2:48am by arsen102506

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thatslifeca Posted 23 Jun 2010 , 5:23am
post #1 of 17

Hi everyone, I need some advice please. I'm a hobby baker and have done wedding cakes before, but this was a first for me. The bride would like me to do a 4 tiered cake in french vanilla, not bad right? Well, she would also like the filling to be vanilla pudding. Not home made vanilla filling, she wants those little cup puddings from major brands (get it...LOL...don't want to say name brands). She explained to me that she understand that would cost a lot of money to do, and that she will be more then happy to buy as many packs of this pudding I may need to fill the 4 tiers. Well, long story short, I'm not sure if this cake will hold up to tiering, especially that she only wants the cakes to be filling with this stuff. No other fillings. Has anybody done this? Does this tier without sagging? Oh and the cakes will be covered in fondant. I will take any kind of help. I haven't said I would do it, and I"m thinking I just might not. Just doing some research right now.

16 replies
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Katie1985 Posted 23 Jun 2010 , 5:28am
post #2 of 17

I don't know much about cakes as I am a newbie, however, I can't imagine that would hold up. I've seen single layer cakes that have slipped and cracked. What if you were to make your own pudding with whipping cream to stabilize it a little?

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Jeep_girl816 Posted 23 Jun 2010 , 5:41am
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It might not hold up. I think there was a thread on here a while back about using pudding as filling and it slides all over, then soaks into the cake and it has to be refrigerated. I'd try to persuade her into anything else. It has potential disaster written all over it.

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elvisb Posted 23 Jun 2010 , 6:10am
post #4 of 17

A Bostom cream pie is a cake with pudding in the center then frosting just on top. Would something like that be a better way to go? Do her display cake like you normally would, then have 8" layer cakes made up like a Boston creme pie. She still gets her pudding filled cake, and you don't have the stress of a disaster.

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step0nmi Posted 23 Jun 2010 , 6:17am
post #5 of 17

I've done cakes with a pudding filling, in the summer it CAN get a little messy because of the heat. The thing is that the filling should be able to stay in the center with a very thick dam of frosting around the inside edge. And when you stake your cakes they are not going to be resting on each other...your support system will do that.

She is not asking for too much of a stretch because there are cakes that you can put a pudding filling in the middle...but, if you are not confident this will work for you and your skill level then suggest Bavarian creme filling which is thicker and more stable for cake. icon_smile.gif

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tonedna Posted 23 Jun 2010 , 7:00am
post #6 of 17

Use a pastry filling, they will do a lot better out of the fridge for a wedding cake. You can find a really good bavarian creme. Look in Country kitchen website for them
Edna icon_smile.gif

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thatslifeca Posted 23 Jun 2010 , 1:18pm
post #7 of 17

Thanks for the comments everyone. Here is what I decided. I went shopping and bought some little cups of pudding (wow haven't done that in years...no kids left at home lol). Told my husband the folks at his work will be receiving a free 2 tiered cake and got started. I've baked the cakes and left them to cool. I'm doing a test run. If it works then I'll take her order and do her cake. If it starts to act up....I'll make some bavarian cream and let her taste it. If she likes the taste then we do the cake, if not, then I will tell her no. I may not do a lot of cakes for sale, but what I do sell I want to be perfect.

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mayo2222 Posted 23 Jun 2010 , 1:38pm
post #8 of 17

You may want to consider doing a small layer of BC before putting on the pudding to help prevent the cake from soaking up the pudding...maybe just try one of the practice teirs this way to see if there is a difference.

Also, you might want to simulate the conditions that you would have when you made the wedding cake, i.e. if you make/decorate the cake but don't deliver/serve it until 2 days later you might consider not giving your husband the cake until 2 days. You might want to be there or have pictures when the first piece is cut, just so you can see if the cake as been compromised in any way.

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Mama_Mias_Cakes Posted 23 Jun 2010 , 3:06pm
post #9 of 17

I have used those and they do not soak into the cake, well at least mine didn't. Use a stiff dam and do not over fill and they will hold up. The down thing to those is that it does require refrigeration. For a cake like a wedding cake, I do not like perishable fillings because the cake usually has to sit out for at least a few hours. I would use the commercial bavarian cream or vanilla. They taste like those pudding cups and no refrigeration is required.

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step0nmi Posted 23 Jun 2010 , 3:33pm
post #10 of 17

WHY do brides get these crazy ideas to use something like pudding in a cup when there is stuff out there that's WAAAY better!? icon_lol.gif (rhetorical question) icon_biggrin.gif

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juststarted Posted 23 Jun 2010 , 9:55pm
post #11 of 17

I'm sorry but I didn't think that the bride is crazy. It might be as simple as she always liked that pudding ever since she was a kid and wanted to incorporate that on her wedding cake. Now if a baker cannot achieve that due to technical issues and explains that she needs to find an alternative and the bride disagrees with the baker then she could be called 'crazy'.

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Kitagrl Posted 23 Jun 2010 , 10:08pm
post #12 of 17

Will she let you use the boxed pudding mix and then use cream instead of milk to make it more sturdy? The flavor would be similar....

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Kitagrl Posted 23 Jun 2010 , 10:10pm
post #13 of 17
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mama_Mias_Cakes

I have used those and they do not soak into the cake, well at least mine didn't. Use a stiff dam and do not over fill and they will hold up. The down thing to those is that it does require refrigeration. For a cake like a wedding cake, I do not like perishable fillings because the cake usually has to sit out for at least a few hours. I would use the commercial bavarian cream or vanilla. They taste like those pudding cups and no refrigeration is required.




If the cake starts out cold, its not going to come to room temp, even, for a good 2 hours or more. Add to that the time it would take to actually "spoil" you have a good 6-8 hours even a perishable cake is okay at a wedding venue, or longer. Of course it would shorten the "leftover" life of the cake....but assuming its all going to be served, even perishable fillings are perfectly safe.

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ChefSusanC Posted 23 Jun 2010 , 11:52pm
post #14 of 17

I have used the boxed pudding and have decreased the milk. I do a crumb coat on both cakes to prevent soaking in, a dam of buttercream and lots of support. Keep layers refridgerated and stack at reception. I do a popular version called a "princess cake", it has a layer of pudding, bananas, & strawberries as the filling.

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thatslifeca Posted 24 Jun 2010 , 4:31pm
post #15 of 17

Hi everyone, I've been caking away with my test cake and it's done. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, hubby taking cake into work Monday at 7am (early cake delivery lol). Here is what I did. I baked 8" and 6" french vanilla cakes. I torted them, but before I filled with pudding I double layered a nice thick dam and covered the bottoms with tiny bit of bc. The 8" took 5 little cups and a little bit, the 6" took 4. Since it was going to be an all white cake, I covered them in a vanilla chocolate ganache. Let them hang out on my counter for a while, and late last night I did the rest (fondant, and some simple decoration). This morning I woke thinking, I'm lucky if it's not on my kitchen floor, suprise suprise, it was just sitting there in all it's glory lol. I'm going to watch it today and see what happens. Hubby going to take picture of first slice and I'm keeping a pic diary of it. I'll post it if I every figure out how (no computer swavey here). THANK YOU ALL FOR ALL THE GREAT ADVICE. YOU ALL SURE CAN COME THRU FOR A PERSON. xo to all of you.

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sullymel13 Posted 24 Jun 2010 , 4:39pm
post #16 of 17

good luck!

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arsen102506 Posted 25 Jun 2010 , 2:48am
post #17 of 17

Im also a newbie here so i recommend to search for a threads on that kind of cake and maybe it can help you wit your problem. Forums are very big to explore indeed.

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