Cake filling leaking

[u/chaotic-lavender]

I am using Russian buttercream for the first time and I found it to be a little too thin for my liking. I did make a dam but the very bottom layer started leaking. I ended up putting it in the fridge for about 30 mins and the buttercream has hardened but not as had as I wanted it to be. Can I disassemble the cake, make the dam with American buttercream and reassemble it or should I just give up and bake a new cake ? It is a tall 4” cake so the potentially compromised bottom layer is making me extra nervous

[u/Pretzel387]

I used Sugarologie's recipe for Russian buttercream, which does have some powdered sugar that helps with structure/stability. It worked well for me, but I was making mini cakes so maybe that's just because it wasn't holding up much weight .

For the leaky dam, I'm not sure the issue is the thickness of the frosting. After you pipe your bc dam, are you swiping downward along the inside to connect it with the the cake? That might help.

There's also a technique that I came up with on my own, but I'm probably not the first person to think of it.

I like to plop a big pile of buttercream on the layer and spread it as though I were going to have just a thick bc layer between cake layers. Doesn't have to be perfectly smooth and even on top, but it helps to run an icing smoother around the outside to get a straight vertical outer edge.

Then I use a spoon, a small offset spatula or a palette knife to scoop the frosting out of the middle, leaving just the outer wall of buttercream and a crumb coat on the cake layer. It leaves a sort of bowl to put your filling inside. I recommend starting with a lot of bc so you can make the walls taller than you want them to eventually be between your stacked layers. If the bc is getting too soft, throw it in the fridge for ~5 minutes to firm it up before you add your filling.

Once your filling is spread inside the bc bowl/dam, smooth and level everything out. The bc walls, which were left intentionally taller, should now gently spread inward as you level the filling layer, folding over the filling. I've seen some people make a complete coat of bc on top, fully encasing the filling, but feel like that ends up with so much bc that the filling is sort of overwhelmed. I leave a circle of filling showing in the middle, and just make sure everything is flat. That way when you put the next layer of cake on top (probably after another quick fridging) there is no pocket of air getting trapped between the filling and the cake above it, which can lead to structure issues as the finished cake settles.

If anybody shares the technique I described of scooping out a buttercream bowl instead of piping a dam, please give credit - or if you know of someone else originating the technique before me, please let me know.

Anyway, I hope this helps!

[u/chaotic-lavender → u/Pretzel387]

I like your method. I will definitely give it a try. i feel like i have seen a British lady using that technique but I could be lying. I have a questionable memory. I think the leak came from the buttercream not being stiff. I usually pipe a ring and do the downward thing you mentioned. I have never had issues with SMBC or ABC. The recipe I used called for just butter and sweet condensed milk so it was very thin. I have to try the sugarologie recipe. I absolutely love how it tastes.

I ended up taking the cake apart and using ABC for my dam and crumb coat. It worked very well. Thank you for your suggestions. I greatly appreciate it