Italian Merinque/cream cheese xpert advice needed!

A meringue of any type is NOT SUITABLE FOR FILLING A TIERED CAKE. Not unless you stabilize it with gelatin. But gelatin will not hold for the time your plan states.

Italian and Swiss and American meringues as such (I'm not talking about meringue buttercream) are suitable for DESSERTS not TIERED CAKES.

Desserts are stored cold and served by wait staff who know how to maintain the correct serving temperature and holding requirements. They include shortcakes, cheesecakes, trifles, Bavarian creams, fruit salads, and many other kinds of perishable goods. They include meringue toppings that must be precooked or baked (including at the last minute before serving baked Alaska).

There are far too many posts on Cake Central from bakers who don't know the difference and who agree to include goods such as sliced bananas in strawberry preserves to fill a cake...which they need to have sitting on a counter for the three days that it will take them to decorate. It's not just the bananas turning brown, it's about the mess that will result from the banana juice diluting the preserves into a runny consistency when it's sitting inside cake layers that may even be stacked...

Please learn what is suitable for the timeline/temperature you are required to satisfy BEFORE you agree to a cake contract. YOU are the professional who should know what happens when you pile 30 pounds of weight onto layers of fluffy meringue between cakes...and YOU are the one who needs to educate your customers about what food can be required to do. YOU are required to provide something that is not only made to the appearance ordered, but which is also food safe and stable enough to look like something edible on the plate.

Love your answer. My daughter was married in April and we had 3 flavors, Almond WASC with almond IMBC filling, Orange WASC with grand marnier IMBC filling and chocolate cake with chocolate flavored IMBC. All covered in fondant. The cake was set up at noon, ceremony wasn't till 4:00 and cake cutting was done at 7:00 and set out to serve at 10:00 with tea and coffee. Everybody enjoyed the cake, and we took home leftovers and ate them for the next 3 days. (just my experience of course)

I think BakingIrene misunderstood you when you said "Italian Meringue Cream cheese filling". I'm sure you meant cream cheese IMBC, correct?

The issue you can run into with CCIMBC is that it can deflate, get a strange spongy texture, get goopy, or get a strange skin on it if left out too long. I don't offer it in my large tiered cakes because I don't trust it, and the last thing I need is a layer to slightly deflate 1/8" and make the cake fall over, buldge, or just look janky. But I know plenty of bakers that do use it. Just make sure you dam it like you would a curd or jam.

It will be fine left out the length of time you need.

tal, you wrote, "Italian meringue filling". This is one of the three methods referring to meringues, Italian, French, and Swiss. It is not stable as a filling for very long. I left a Swiss meringue out for about an hour and it deflated. But I found it did whip right back up. It was the meringue on top of a lemon meringue pie.

What you must have been referring to was Italian meringue buttercream, which is a completely different product.

I use only Italian Meringue buttercream,( I Iive in a dry climate)it's fabulous. As long as your room is air conditioned , 2 hours is fine. It's one of the more stable "frostings".