how o how do you stop getting the icing ridge around layers after they are stacked? i have read & applied everything known to man that i could find & STILL come out with that dumb icing ridge. s frustrating. 1) i have used thickened icing to make that wall of icing that holds the filling in... 2) i've let the cake set for the required time while gravity takes effect and the cake 'rests/settles' after filling & crumb coating (usually overnight), then applying the final coat of buttercream. JUST stumped on this. Any help will gladly be tried. Also, this is not happening during transport (so it's not because of hitting train tracks, potholes etc.) as it looks like this before the transport.

Are you also using a support system?

Could it be a support problem? The tiers looked like that before i added dowels. used 'poly dowels' underneath the top tier, since it was a dummy tier. Used those standard plastic, hollow dowel rods by wilton on the remaining tiers. Cardboard &/or foamcore boards. Nothing special. I leave the dowels slightly above the top of each tier so the cake is noe resting completely on the tier below. Also travel to destination with tiers apart & put together on site. (this buldge is there before i even leave, or stack.) Thank you. There are some great support pieces out there, however, until now, i just keep it as simple as possible, pretty '101.' I use dense type cakes to help eliminate the problem Don't know what else can be done. Thank you! I'll look into those.

I would make your icing stiffer, and DON'T pipe it right on the edge of the cake. I dam at least 1/4 inch in. Your icing should be so stiff that it can be molded with your fingers. Stiffer than 'Wilton rose" icing. Also, don't overfill. Just bring the icing right up to the top. it should be flush with the dam, not doming over it. I use SPS or sometimes the hollow plastic dowels from Wilton. The large smoothie straws from Panera Bread are also good to use.

Do you weight the cake during the settling process?

Nope. The icing holds everything in, and then the extra quarter inch just gets filled in with icing when I crumb coat. I also never usually let my cakes settle but that's because I am the queen of procrastination, so I don't give them time to settle.

Nope, no bulge when you leave yourself the quarter inch. But I will say to make sure you fill the gap in completely with your crumb coat, or you might have an air bubble explosion. Had that happen once when I didn't take the extra step to insure it was filled in all the way. I do this by using a piping bag to apply my crumb coat. I place my tip right on the cake at the joining and fill it up completely before covering the rest of the cake with the crumb coat. The joining just disappears and all is well. I hope that makes sense. I weight and settle my cakes too, but usually only for a short time. I don't usually have the time let them rest overnight as some suggest. So I fill a layer, then cover it with plastic wrap and place a book slightly larger than the cake on top. I like to check for level at this point too. I would hate to squish my cake into an unlevel state before I even frost it!!!! Then I move on to the next layer and repeat. Then when I am done with the levels I go back to the first and frost, moving down the line. This system seems to work for me. I personally think the thick dam is the key here.

http://www.cakeboss.com/PreventBulging.aspx

thank youmom2twogirls, AnnieCahill & leah_s! will be trying the weight too! can't wait to give this all a try. (i use a level on ea. tier too after figuring out that if your dowels are even a little off, there goes the cake!) another one of those small details that make all the difference crystal18_corpus is there info on cakeboss re: this topic? thank yall again

Weighting the cakes while they settle works for me. I use SMBC, so I don't work with different consistencies of buttercream. It's all the same with SMBC. Weighting really works. I just fill and crumb coat, then weight it down with a cake circle and cake pans stacked on top for a few hours. Then I go back give it a finish coat of buttercream. Give it a try, it really works.

have never tried smbc. always concerned over the egg whites. have been happy w/the recipe i've been using, but sure worth looking into & trying if it will help stop the prob. thank you, i will try 'weighting.' thank you for describing process! do you have a problem with the crumb coat being destroyed after you put the cake board (or whatever you use as the 1st layer) directly onto the crumb coat? we have soooo much humidity, can imagine that, here at least, a real problem with it sticking & destroying the crumb coat. i know it can be re-done if it does stick. just wondered. (does the smbc crust?) THANK YOU ALL so much! going to give all suggestions a try! incl. smbc.

I put a little waxed paper down before the cake circle. It pulls a little bit on the buttercream up off the top, but not much, and since I am finish coating right afterwards. it hasn't mattered to me.

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