So I made a little baby smash cake for a friend. She wanted it a day early so I made it tonight (Thur) and the party is on Saturday. I was dumb and thought I’d just throw some fresh sliced strawberries in the middle. As I’m frosting and refrigerating, I notice the leaking. I had no idea this was going to happen. I didn’t pat them dry (as I am now reading I should have done). My buttercream was soft because it’s hot out so I’m hoping refrigerating it will just seal everything and solve the issue. But I’m scared because their party is on Saturday and I don’t want it to be a huge mess with cracking soaked frosting! Ahhhhh so so mad at myself. I might get up super early tomorrow to make and frost a whole new cake 

strawberries are high in water content — I don’t know that patting them dry on Wednesday could stem that tide throughout four days — not to mention I don’t think that works — so yes a new cake or take this one apart and remove them —

another thing — if you want to strawberrify another filling you can whirl freeze dried strawberries in a blender then add that powder to your icing —

to use fresh strawberries — which I would not recommend for this project due to the four days in advance thing — I pipe a dam of icing around the top perimeter of the cake layer — spread a layer of well whipped whipped cream inside that perimeter — layer in cut strawberries tight like a mosaic— cut into smallish  pieces so the cake slices/serves well — with a very sharp knife which effectively reduces the weeping — no patting necessary — another layer of whipped cream on top of that — the whipped encases the berries in fat effectively holding it all together — then it is kept in the fridge until right before serving —

also — new members cannot “reply” within threads so please feel free to start a new one if you want to  continue the discussion 

If it's a smash cake and it looks fine, then what's the problem?  Isn't is going to end up in crumbs anyway?

cakefan — it’s peeing strawberry juice — out the sides i’m sure plus sitting in the fridge for all that time isn’t gonna present a nice  cake for the party — layers could slide apart when it’s moved/delivered

Patting them dry wouldn't make much of a difference.  The liquid isn't from water, it's from the strawberries.  They're basically macerating with the sugar from the cake and frosting and releasing their juices.  What are you frosting the outside of the cake with?  If you want to salvage it, scrape off the outside frosting and scrape about an half inch deep dam between the layers.  Fill that dam with a stiff buttercream or ganache and smooth it out.  That should seal in the juices and keep the cake layers from sliding, though they will add moisture and bleed into the cake.  This isn't necessarily a bad thing and won't affect the outside.  It just won't be as clean and pretty when cut.