Hi,

I'm fairly new at making cakes and I've been asked to make a cake for a friend's wedding. Sponge cake filled with fresh strawberries (not jam or preserves and cream) all to be covered in fondant.

I'd love any tips you can give me on how to do the filling properly and the best cake sponge recipe to go with this please.

1.Do I have to worry about the strawberries moulding?
2. Any good recipes for the whipped cream?
3. Do I have to keep the cake refrigerated at all times?
4. How long is it okay to sit out at the wedding?

Thanks in advance for your help!

THAT is exactly what all the Italians here are asking for - sponge cake, whipped cream and strawberries. If somebody calls to order a fondant covered cake, I immediately say 'NO whipped cream' (bad experience), especially for wedding cake. I'm ok to do it WITHOUT FONDANT. Maybe somebody else will give you another reply. Good luck!

I do chopped up or sliced strawberries on the cake and then use non dairy pastry pride for the whipped cream(with a thick dam). When I do this filling I fill the day before and let settle in the fridge overnight. Pull it out and frost and deliver. Never had a problem. I wouldn't trust whip cream though, I'd be afraid it would just turn liquid. Maybe look up stabilized whipped cream fillings.

Okay - so what is my whip cream alternative? Butter cream? What is 'non-dairy pastry pride?' - I live in Ireland so if that's a brand name I'm sure we don't get it here!

If you really want to use some sort of 'whipped cream' and can get non-dairy or 'vegetable' whip cream, get it (usually based on vegetable oils, but some of the brands contain milk proteins also), I've seen it sold in the liquid and powder form - I can't use it here as nobody would eat it.

If you can convince your friend to use BC, it would be your safest option for a fondant cake. I use a lot of strawberry flavoured IMBC with freshly sliced strawberries and it's delicious.

Mix the berries with a meringue buttercream. To die for. One of my most requested fillings, when berries are in season.

I just make home made whipping cream and then dice up strawberries and put on top, then use a butter cream dam to hold it in. All my cakes are done in fondant and Iv never had any trouble! I would only do that tier/ cake one day in advance otherwise the strawberries thaw and ruien the whipping cream, but when I work on it I usually work for 2 hours and then put it back in the fridge. And as far as weddings I have had the cake sit out for 2 hours before the reception ( I delivered 45 min before it was supposed to start, but the wedding began an hour late) and the bride and everyone said it was perfectly fine.

Typically whipped cream and certain buttercream do not mix well together. Some buttercreams will cause the whipped cream to weep (a nice word for melting). I've used Swiss meringue buttercream and filled with strawberries and it is delicious. Also, where I work we make a strawberry mousse then top that with fresh strawberries. That is super divine as well. Any buttercream can be used for this one just make sure you create a dam for each layer to keep everything in!

If you are set on using whipped cream I would keep the cake in the fridge until you deliver it, deliver it as close to the event start time, and not keep the cake out longer than few hours on display. I would also make stabilized chantilly cream (whipped cream that has confectioners sugar and gelatin) to make a firmer cream. Stabilized cream can stay out for hours without weeping or breaking down. I've never covered a whipped cream cake with fondant. However if asked I would say no. It's too soft and I have very warm hands.

DO NOT cover a whipped cream covered cake in fondant. It will not hold and it will melt the whipped cream. Like someone said, the heat from your hand will be bad on the whip cream and as soft as whipped cream is, can you imagine rubbing the fondant sides and getting a smooth side. I suggest you use stabilized whipped cream, which has added gelatin to it. It needs to be kept cold, but can sit out much longer thena regular whipped cream cake.

I did this for my brothers wedding cake in June. What I do is slice the strawberries and lay them out on layers of paper towels to soak up as much juice as possible. Make sure you place paper towels on top of the sliced berries and gently press to remove the juice. For the cream I take 2 cups whipping cream and one small box of instant vanilla pudding. Sprinkle the pudding over the cream and whip until peaks form. Add a layer of vanilla mousse and top with the sliced strawberries. When using fresh strawberries try to assemble the cake as close to the day of delivery as possible. Strawberries will get mushy within a 24 hour time frame so try to decorate the cake the night before or the morning of. They loved it so much the entire three tiered cake was gone by the end of the wedding.