hi there! I had a customer order chocolate cake with cherry filling.  All my cakes are covered in fondant and I usually do many variations of buttercream filings, because I know bc is stable under fondant.  She does not want BC and specifically asking for cherry filling.  Help? would it be stable enough? The cakes are not large, 6", 8" and a dummy 10", so not a ton of weight, but totally new territory for me. 

Would you share your opinions and experiences with fruit fillings? And if you have a cherry filling recipe, I'd love it!

thank you!!

I've never done a cherry filling, but I have done a chunky strawberry filling.  I would highly recommend you fill, crumb coat and let your cakes settle for a good period of time.  Anything chunky like that will have lots of air and that air is gonna want to come out the side of your cake.  

I believe it would be easier if you did like a jam consistency than a pie filling consistency.

Be sure to pipe a dam of stiff buttercream around the edge to keep the filling in. I agree that jam would be better.

thank you! What if i took the pie filling and chopped fresh cherries into it to make it stiffer? would that work with a buttercream dam?

You could do that .  I would cook it down and maybe puree it a little.  If you're working under Cottage Food Laws, you cannot use fresh fruit only cooked anyway.  

Do not put a big thick layer of filling as that will cause you issues also.

Just remember that stiff dam and let the cake settle A LOT or seriously, you will have issues with bulging.  

Jinkies, how would you go about letting it settle? refrigerate (freeze ok?) after it's filled before the final coat of buttercream and then fondant? Or a different process?

I would use a cooked filling so it does not have to be refrigerated (and also cuz I work under cottage food laws).  I would fill (you don't even have to crumb coat yet, either way),making sure to press the layers down firmly,  then Poke a hole through the top all the way to the bottom with a skewer or lolly stick to make a passage for air, cover with saran wrap and let sit on the counter all night.

You can also weigh it down with a small book or something for several hours but I feel better letting it settle overnight if time permits.  The point is that the cake will settle and the air around the filling will escape out the sides or through the hole on top.  Then you can finish up the next morning with your (crumb coat if needed) final buttercream coat and fondant.

If for some reason, after you cover with fondant you start to bulge on the sides, just re-poke that hole.  The air will take the path of least resistance and go out the top.  You can always hide it with decoration later.

And, don't forget your dam :)

I actually pipe the outer dam, then move in a couple inches and add another, and then perhaps another smaller than that, depending on the cake size.  I then fill the spaces between the multiple rings of icing with my filling.  That helps to support the added layers better for me.

Hmmm, that sounds like a great idea!  I think i may try that :)

Jeff, I would maybe have done that on a larger cake, but my tiers are only 6 and 8" (an a 10" dummy to make it look like a decorated 3-tier cake), so barely even room for one dam :) The customer specifically didn't want buttercream, so I feel like the dam and then one coat under fondant is all i can get away with, in this instance :)