I've been doing this for several weeks, and it's working well, so I'm ready to share. It's my way to get rid of the dreaded bulge.
In culinary school we were taught to place a cardboard on top of the cake and push down hard - right to the point BEFORE the cake breaks. It takes a bit of experience. LOL. Then remove the cardboard of course.
This works better.
Put the cake on a board. Fill. Wrap in plastic wrap. Then put a ceramic tile on top. Wait 2 or 3 hours. The ceramic tile should be about the size of the cake. We have ceramic tile in our house, so there were leftover tiles that are now my cake "tools."
I used to fill wrap, put a paperback book on top and wait overnight. This works better.
Thanks for sharing this, leahs. I've been using someone's method (I'm thinking Sharon Z) of making a really thick buttercream for my dam and I've had a horrible time with bulging. Two wedding cakes in a month (I usually do one every two years or so) and they both ended up with a huge bulge. I wouldn't even take a picture of the last one and I filled & crumbcoated the night before. No bulge when I got through with the cake, but there was definitely one by the time I got to the wedding.
I'll definitely try the ceramic tile trick. I'd be scared to try the cake circle smoosh method. If this doesn't work, I'll just go back to my normal buttercream dam. Bulging wasn't a problem before I tried to do it the "right" way.
I have done this as well. also putting a cake board on top of cake and flip it over so the cakes own weight pushes down on the top of it, then let it sit for several hours and flip it back over and smooth any bulges. Sounds weird but works for me
So, the ceramic tile works because it's a large, even weight spead over the whole cake? Do you mean a 12x12" floor tile? (I only have 6x6" wall tiles, and can't imagine that having much impact!!)
Thanks for the tip!
Great tip!
If you don't have tiles, check with your local Home Depot or other hardware store that stocks tiles. They'll have some tiles that they sell individually and they're VERY inexpensive.
Oh - so glad I took a break before starting to trim, level & torte the wedding I am working on today!!! I too had 'bulging' troubles with my wedding cake last weekend -- I put the thick dam around the layers and filled with fruit filling - and the filling didn't leak - but it sure bulged. So my questions is - how do you make a dam when the filling if fruit and it does make a thick layer - (not as tall as the dam) - I know this was my issue - but I didn't know how to resolve it?
But I will be trying your tile method today -- of to work so that I can have them all finished by the time I have to take a 2 - 3 hour break this afternoon for an appointment!! won't this be perfect timing if I can get in gear!!LOL!!
thanks again leahs -- oh - and talk to you tonight on the FNCC!!
Suze
Hmmm, I wonder if this would work on the 'bulge' cause by eating the cake! I will have to try that tonight. I can hear my husband now, " um honey, why are you sleeping with a ceramic tile on your stomach?" rofl !!!!!!!
Anyway, thanks leahs for the great tip, just wish I had a tile around the house to use now.
suzycakes, I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one with the bulge issues -- on my cakes! I used fruit filling and my dam was higher than the filling ... might this have been my problem? I really thought that having it sit overnight before I iced the cake would have taken care of any bulge problem, but that definitely didn't happen.
I was supposed to do another wedding cake for the same family in July - haven't heard another word so my bulge might have convinced them to look elsewhere. Since I don't charge and weddings are terribly stressful for me, that is not necessarily a bad thing.
I do the same thing and have been very pleased with the results. I don't even bother with a thick dam because after all that squishing, nothing is going to come out!
I always push down on each layer, torted or not, with a board. I don't have tiles. I just pile nesting cake pans on top of each cake while it rests.
Thanks for sharing! I wil definitely try this out! The old owners of our house left us tons of tiles in our basement- all different sizes, so at least I will have a use for them now
awesome awesome awesome.....thank you so much.Being the novice that I am I thought the buldging had to do with how I layed the fondant. DUmb me.
THanks soooooooooooooooo much !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
thanks, I will try this. I haven't had much trouble with bulges, I push dow hard on the top with my hands and I usually let the cake sit overnight with the filling to settle it. I also don't put the dam right to the edge of the cake, I go about 1/2 inch in from the edge then fill, top and push down.
Oh man, now we're gonna get craters where the cake is puffing back up--lol
Good idea!
Hmmm, I wonder if this would work on the 'bulge' cause by eating the cake! I will have to try that tonight. I can hear my husband now, " um honey, why are you sleeping with a ceramic tile on your stomach?" rofl !!!!!!!
Anyway, thanks leahs for the great tip, just wish I had a tile around the house to use now.
Good one....! Think I could try the same thing to eliminate my "muffin tops"...those pesky rolls over my jeans waistband?
P.S. Thanks leahs - this is GREAT tip.
oh i really hope i don't sound pathetic i'm just having trouble picturing this mentally. at sometime when you have time, would you be able to post pics like a step by step?
i do appologize for my brain cramp tonight lol
Srsly, you do NOT need a step by step. Do whatever you normally do - torte or not, put filling in as normal. Put some plastic wrap over the cake. Place a ceramic tile on top. wait.
Maybe a silly question, but how do you keep all the filling from squishing out with all that mashing on the cake?
The mashing is gentle, but constant. That's what distributes the filling evenly and squeezes out all the air.
You guys ROCK!
I am super new at this, and have never even pushed down on my cakes. Have always been so gentle with them, now I know the proper way to fix them up :0)
This won't help the 2 cakes on my counter now, but next weekends cakes are going to be bulge free!
Interesting. Never heard of such. I crumb coat and let sit over night and not had problems.
Ok I am glad as I continued readding this was all explained! I never new you were supposed to 'squish' your cake!!!! Makes sense though!
Now I don't have any tiles what else could I use? Anything heavy? Like a dictionary or a phone book?Or what about a pan filled with something heavy like flour or sugar so that the weight is uniform? Would any of those work???
Oh and thanks leahs, as usual, for filling me in on the subject, 'Things I Have No Clue About'!!!!
You could purchase a single 12x12 tile at Lowe's or Home Depot and they are not very expensive, depending on the type you purchase.
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