Stigmata? I dont' think it's a sign since it tastes like strawberry filling, but it certainly is demoralizing to see a pretty white cake oozing filling while the sides bulge out. Luckily, I made this on a whim one afternoon as a trial run/very supportive mother's birthday.
I baked a doctored white cake mix and made fresh buttercream frosting. I also made for the first time the fresh strawberry filling from the CC home page. Then, I let the layers cool for about an hour, leveled and frosted a light base layer onto the bottom cake. I piped a dam along the edge of the bottom layer, spread the filling in, and frosted a light spread of frosting on the bottom of the top layer. Then, I put the top layer on...as I frosted the sides, I noticed that the filling was coming out a little bit. So, I piped another edge around the "seam" of the entire cake to try to stop the leak. After frosting it lightly (I didn't crumb coat since it was for after dinner tonight), i noticed that it was starting to poke out through the buttercream. An hour later, and it's still settling and bulging out the side. I'm pretty bummed since I was doing it for my mom, but she's supportive of my experiments.
Are there any hints or tips out there? Please help...I'm afraid to make this for a friend's birthday. i would like to perfect it, since i don't want to always have frosting inside the cake. Thank you in advance!

Maybe the cakes were not full cooled enough - sometimes the edges might seem cool, but the insides might not have been. Even slightly warm = filling that wills tart to melt and run. Try cooling your cakes overnight and/or freezing them - even freezing for 2 hours will tighten the crumb and make them firmer.

My only guess is that the bc for the dam was either too soft or not tall enough. You can beat extra powdered sugar into a small batch of bc that will be used for the dam to make it stiffe. Be extra careful not to overfill on the filling or it will seep out over the dam.

HTH
Kristy

1. make sure your cakes are completely cooled.

2. Your dam should be 1/2 inch from the edge of the cake. (some prefer 1/4 inch) I like 1/2 inch for fillings.

3. Once you fill your cake, let it settle over night, or as some CC members do, put a sheet of waxpaper down and then place a book or something on top of the cake. It helps it settle.

4. The next day. scrape off the excess (oozed out) filling/icing and then do the final icing and decorating.

Thank you for the help! I will try it again soon with all your input. I also think now that I didn't let the filling thicken completely. it was basically the consistency of loose jam. Does this make sense? Is it supposed to be a jam or jelly like consistency? Or is it supposed to be runnier than that?

I know someone had suggested mixing cake scraps in with your dam frosting to firm it up a bit.

I had a cake do that not too long ago. I stuck my piping bag right into the side of the cake where it was oozing and began squeezing out icing. An hour later, the other side of the cake was oozing and I did the same thing. And it worked. I just cleaned up the bc on the outside and I was good to go.

I just had the same thing happen to me!! Edna De LeCruz, (Design me a cake) suggested that I probably had too much filling between the layers!!

I live very close to Country Kitchen, Sweet Art....they sell a product called "icing fruits".... it's basically a super concentrated mixture of strawberries, or raspberries, other flavors too, but it's so concentrated that when it's mixed with buttercream, it doesn't change the consistency of the buttercream. I've used the strawberry flavor, and it worked like wonders, I use the raspberry flavor pretty often and I love it! I even used it in the cake batter to make the cake flavored... the raspberry icing friuts mixed into the wasc cake is unbelievable!

Next time you want to make a fruit flavored filling, I highly recommend this stuff!!
http://www.countrykitchensa.com/catalog/product.aspx?productId=619093