The Cake Was Not Cold Enough...still Proud Of It
Decorating By sberryp Updated 5 Jul 2010 , 4:39pm by CrumblesConfections
I made a cake today for a community picnic and it turned out great, but I had issues with the butter cream not being firm. Was my cake not cold enough? I did ice the cake the day of, so maybe that was the problem, but I really want to make sure that the cake had time to settle. It really does takes days to make a cake.
wow! I think it's a pretty cake!
it does look like there are places where the buttercream wasn't quite right. My steps usually go: bake, cool, fill/dirty ice, let settle, frost cake, let the cake get firm in the cool, decorate. Letting the cake settle after filling is the most important part because then you let the filling settle along with the cake and then it gives you time to fix any imperfections. Hope this helps
Thanks! I don't think I let it stay in the fridge long enough. I did let the cake settle without BC, but less than an hour after I iced it. I have only been baking and decorating for 3 months. I am very thankful for everyone on here.
I think it looks very nice. Cakes and heat don't mix, hard to find a perfect looking cake at an outdoor picnic on a hot day in July, just doesn't happen very often.
Only 3 mos???!!! You would think by your pic much longer than that! Great job! And yes, that settling is so important. The weather here is so hot and humid that I hold my breath hoping every cake doesn't melt. Probably tht had something to do with yours too. I'm sure yours was still the prettiest cake there!
Only 3 mos???!!! You would think by your pic much longer than that! Great job! And yes, that settling is so important. The weather here is so hot and humid that I hold my breath hoping every cake doesn't melt. Probably tht had something to do with yours too. I'm sure yours was still the prettiest cake there!
I was so happy that a lot of people took my cards. They thought that the cake looked great! I know that the heat did play a big issue because we were cooking out and people kept going in and out of the house and letting the air out.
How long should I let it sit in the fridge before I decorate it?
I would suggest not letting it "sit in the fridge" at all. I do what Sharon Z. (sugarshack) does. When I get ready to cover a cake with fondant I put it in the freezer for 15 minutes....Of course your cake doesn't freeze but it gets really cold and firm and only has to be in the freezer for 15 minutes.
How long should I let it sit in the fridge before I decorate it?
I would suggest not letting it "sit in the fridge" at all. I do what Sharon Z. (sugarshack) does. When I get ready to cover a cake with fondant I put it in the freezer for 15 minutes....Of course your cake doesn't freeze but it gets really cold and firm and only has to be in the freezer for 15 minutes.
Thanks for answering my question! I am going to try that butter cream recipe that you use this week. May have a new BC soon.
Ohh I didn't cover it in fondant. The top 2 tiers is where I had the problem with the butter cream. Can I still use this method with fondant accents?
Ohh I didn't cover it in fondant. The top 2 tiers is where I had the problem with the butter cream. Can I still use this method with fondant accents?
Probably...it gets your cake nice and firm without having to refrigerate. I would think that it would have made your cake nice and firm for that "pleating" that you did on the bottom tier.
How long should I let it sit in the fridge before I decorate it?
I would suggest not letting it "sit in the fridge" at all. I do what Sharon Z. (sugarshack) does. When I get ready to cover a cake with fondant I put it in the freezer for 15 minutes....Of course your cake doesn't freeze but it gets really cold and firm and only has to be in the freezer for 15 minutes.
You really can't give this advice without knowing where a person lives. It may be true in hot, humid climates, but where I live if I don't refrigerate fondant covered cakes, the fondant gets hard and dry. I need the humidity controlled climate of the fridge. I do not have the problems with "sweating" that you get in humid areas. In my climate, cakes just get too dry if they're left out.
For only having been decorating for 3 months, you did a fabulous job. You should be very pleased. Congratulations on a beautiful cake.
Can't comment on the other stuff as I don't have much experience with fondant but I wanted to say you made a very pretty cake.
I agree with you Ruth0209 it does depend on where you live. I'm on the west coast and we don't have humidity issues it's just plain hot. I always put my cakes in the fridge and I have never had a problem with sweating. I'm sure if I lived on the east coast or in the south then I would have a problem. We have a hot dry climate out here. Fondant does dry faster so I usually wipe a light layer of shortening over the fondant. Makes it shine and helps keep it from cracking.
If it's at all possible, let your filled/stacked cake settle overnight, or at least 12 hours or so. When I started doing that, my saggy BC problems disappeared. I bake, level, cool my cakes, then fill, stack, and ice just around the filling line, and any holes left by flower nails/heating cores. I then let my cake sit overnight in my cooled oven, or cake dome (if it'll fit). I ice/decorate the next day.
I used to think, "Ewwww, I don't want to bake that far in advance...I want my cake to be niiiiiice and fresh." Well, I was silly lol ! By giving the cake time to settle, I make sure that my fondant/BC won't sag, and that my stacked cakes won't settle/distort. And really, the extra day makes no noticeable difference...the icing/fondant will keep it fresh. HTH!
By the way, your cake looks WONDERFUL!
I had this issue the other day as well. I think it was caused because I was unable to give the cake time to settle, but thats what happens sometimes when u get a last minute order. I was able to fix it though.
Your cake looks Fabulous.
You may want to invest in Sharon's dvd's great teaching tool.
www.sugaredproductions.com
she even has a blog, I have all of her videos except the new baking one. and I am about to get it soon that's how good she is. (Just Saying).
So after I fill it and crumb coat let it sit for 12 hours? I did let the cake settle, but I didn't fill it until that morning and then it was in the fridge for about an hour or so. I really thought the problem was with the final coat of icing. I think that I should have let it sit in the fridge or freezer for longer before adding the flowers. I think the icing bulge because the weight of the cake and roses. The final coat was just not ready for it. I am going to try the multiple suggestions and see if I can fix this problem. Thanks for all of the nice comments and suggestions.
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