Sunday, May 18, 2014

How-to Use Raspberry Filling in a Cake (without it running everywhere)

I'll Give you a hint.  This:


 is a bad idea.


Look closely at the picture.  Too much filling, no border, no nothing.  Oops I forgot that.  Easily fixed:



Meh.  Sorta.

In the end, I had to take out some of that amazing filling.  (and add it to another part of the cake!)

Here's how you fill a cake:

  1. apply your crumb coat!  After you slice a cake in half, put a thin later of icing on the inside of the cake.  Then refrigerate the cake or let it sit so that the icing hardens a little.  This will keep your cake from absorbing all of that yummy filling.
  2. Pipe a THICK border of icing around the outside of your cake.  (see second photo above)  You really want it to go in about 1/4 inch-1 inch (depending on the size of the cake.)  You may even spread some icing on with a spatula.  Make it way more than the picture shows :-)
  3. Again, let this icing set up and crust a little.
  4. Spread your filling within the icing border.  You want to err on the side of thin.  Raspberry filling (specifically, but any liquid filling) has lots of flavor.  You don't want to overwhelm the cake with filling.  Also, you don't want it bust past your icing dam because you've put on too much.
  5. Now you should be good to go.  Slap (by which I mean GENTLY LAY) the other half of the cake on and begin your overall icing.  Again, remember the crumb coat, then the pretty icing layer on top of that.  
  6. DON'T PRESS DOWN TOO HARD.  Squishing a cake makes it not pretty and will make any filling ooze out the sides.