I make a red velvet cake that is super moist and dense and it is the one that farted on me this past weekend. My ginger lavender is lighter (but not sponge light) and when I made a six tier one 3 of the tiers farted while 3 did not. All 6 were handled in the same way.

I just remembered that in pastry school we talked about gases in cake while baking and cooling. The gasses contract as you cool. Therefore, if a cake is really cold, any left over gasses will expand as the cake warms. So, in theory, and taking into consideration everyones experiences, let your cake come to room temp before putting on any fondant. Poking small holes in the fondant makes sense, especially in summer when things might get hot. I am going to try all of this on next weekends wedding cakes. Wish me luck!

Absolutely--Best baking & caking.

But here are some further thoughts~~I think the 'brush with jelly' will help the poke hole idea because then if the icing adheres uniformly, the air can hopefully find and escape out the hole better.

Because I have seen air bubbles growing on cakes that have the holes in place---it reduces them but doesn't eliminate them 100%.

But here's another thought of mine--I've always wondered why the cake buddies across the pond use marzipan and/or royal plus fondant covering on one cake--they slather the strained apricot preserves onto everything so I'm wondering if this was started to thwart 'the vapours'.

Well, dyrinella, you shot my theory full of holes, pin-sized or otherwise. But what I really got stuck on was the mention of that ginger/lavender cake! Boy does that sound good! Your own invention? (Sorry for off-topic post -- couldn't resist.)

Well yes slather was used more for poetic license than accuracy.

So another potential theory busted but now I get the chronology of the marzipan etc.

Thanks

I seem to have better luck when I put fondant on my cake before the buttercream has a chance to crust. If I wait too long the cake is dry and my fondant won't adhere well and is more susceptible to bubbling.

Well I can't decide if I am going to do just room temp or room temp and jelly this week. I think the jelly will be worth a shot. I will report back to everyone.

And yes, the ginger lavender is a personal creation. Many of my combinations are, such as, my cinnamon hazelnut filling.

dyrinella -- those do sound like "cakes to die for"!

I have found that part of the air bubble problem is your fondant not adhering to your icing. I make sure I dampen my cake before applying fondant. I use a damp paper towel. Don't get me wrong, I still get an air bubble now and then, but they are not as bad as they used to be.

this tip wont help if you use a powdered sugar buttercream, but if you've done your cake construction correctly, you just crumbcoat the cake, chill it ( I use the blast freezer, but that is just for speed ) then take your clean hand and smooth all the little edges where you lifted the spatula etc. those tiny airbubles grow as the cake warms...et volia...cake fart. the other advantage to a little cake massage is that it warms the outermost bit of buttercream making a really good seal easier to achieve.

Sorry that I am late in getting back to this, but I do have the results of my test.

I took a cold and carved cake and gave it a light buttercream coating. I then let it sit overnight at room temp. The next day I coated it in apricot jam and applied the fondant. The jam was fantastic and it was one of the best fondant application experiences I have had. I then went on to decorate the cake. I did not put any air holes in the fondant. The next day when I delivered the cake I noticed a small gas bubble on one tier that I was able to fix it easily.

So I am not totally convinced that having the cake at room temp helped. It is possible that the area where the fondant bubbled was lacking some jam but I really doubt that as I was pretty thorough.

I don't have any more fondant covered cakes for another 2 weeks and then I have two in a row. I will try the air hole idea next time and see if the results are different.

Thanks again all for the ideas and advice.

~Dy

I just had my first blow out yesterday. I had a cake I needed help doing scroll work on so I kept it in the fridge over night then took it out to come to room temp and then put it in the car and took it to my friends. I sat it down on the counter and went to put my purse down and she says "Uhhh I think you have a blow out here". The bottom of the cake where I had put a wide fondant band had blown right open. AND IT HAD TO HAPPEN WHEN SHE WAS THERE!!!. She told me that she takes a large hat pin and pricks every cake she does all around the paremeter of the cake even if it is BC then applies her border.

I used the same chocolate WASC cake I allways use the only thing I had done differently is that I miixed my BC stiffer than I normally do. I think it had to do with the BC crusting to long before applying the fondant.

DON'T, just DON'T google 'Cake Farts' and follow where it leads you.

I'm not kidding. (porno site)

Thanks for all these tips, BTW. Am trying so hard to improve, and not getting very far.

I am curious if any of you have had reviews back from your clients whom you made these cakes for? I just spoke to the client that I did mine for and she told me that although the cake was "AWESOME" it gave everyone gas!. I have never had this cake do that to anyone and it is my most requested recipe. I have never had an issue with blowouts untill this cake. Do you feel that it may be an ingredient issue and that some recipies need to be allowed to off gas for a longer period of time? The cake I made was the AMAZING chocolate wasc cake. It is made with the Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge mix and has 16 oz of sour cream in it. I also used cream cheese butter cream which again is my standard and most requested icing. It just seems odd that the clients had the same issue as the cake. Just putting this out there.

It did not make them "ill" It gave them gas. AND they all went back for more! This was a 3 layer cake. I allways use real cream cheese in the butter cream and it was kept chilled and pulled out to come to room temp the morning of the shower which was at 2. I have left that butter cream sitting out overnight and have never had any issue with it EVER. I told her that I think they probably ate to much of it and that it is a very rich cake. Se was not not upset as a matter of fact they were laughing about it.

I am willing to bet that it was not the cake. You did nothing that was not totally safe. Maybe several of them have dairy issues or they had something else to eat that causes gas. I really think you are in the clear here. I have never heard of a cake giving anyone gas unless they have a dairy allergy.

I wasn't there. I have no idea what happened.

Once cream cheese is made into icing it may or may not be a different deal but the health department calls cream cheese a hazardous food.

Cream cheese is 'allowed' out of refrigeration for a total of four hours by the safeguards put out by the health department. Once you get it off the shelf at the store, the timer starts--maybe 30 mins to drive it around in your grocery cart and then drive it home and get it friged. So you got 3 hours 30 minutes left.

I have bad tummy issues. If I get gas I am ill. For people in good health it might be just a nuisance.

I've worked for places that do not frige their cream cheese iced cakes.

K8,
I did not mean to sound like I was upset. I just wanted to ensure that people did not think I gave an entire room of people food poisoning. Like I said, I have left that same icing out all day with absolutely no issues. As a matter of fact I leave the cream cheese out for several hours to come to room temp prior to using it.

Their innards were just so excited about your fabulous cake, it was jumping for joy... hence the gas!

Gas in China is a compliment!

LOL, I will keep that in mind.

When you let the cake settle, is it filled and torted?

I'd just read this week a post from Cicco Cakes and he puts three small escape holes on his tiered cakes (in addition to his bubble tea straws).  This way, the air has place to escape if needed.  Hope this helps.

Just a tip. I almost only ever use marshmallow fondant, and I find that fixing a bubble is always easier with it then regular fondant. I doesn't get as hard for me as the regular, so its much easier to pop a double with a pin and smooth it out when needed. Its never gets hard on me to were I cant smooth it out. (so a commercial fondant like fondarific that doesn't set hard like the others would also be easier to fix.)