Layer Cake Filling

[amcleod]

I am responsible for providing the cake at my future sister-in-law's bridal shower and of course I want to make it myself. I've never really made a layer cake with a different filling than what was used as the icing, so am in the search for some recipes. The shower is in late March.

The bride-to-be is not a chocolate fanatic and I just don't feel like doing lemon curd. So ideas I am looking for are fillings with berries perhaps, marscapone, etc. Normally I might wing it, but I don't want 35 crazy women getting upset! All recipes are welcome!

Thanks in advance!

[alanamoana]

well, this isn't really a recipe, but an idea of sorts. when i've had to fill a cake and i'm using buttercream icing...i've just made a fresh berry jam (cooked down until thick) and mixed it into the buttercream. you get a nice rich filling without too much hassle.

maybe this can get your brain going on other similar ideas until more people weigh in.

[TrishCT]

For my own wedding cake, a friend of mine ran a bakery and made the cake for me as a gift, and I decided to make a special filling for it using fresh strawberries. I based it on a recipe from Julia Child's The French Chef Cookbook. Strawberries, sugar, orange liquer, and unflavored gelatin to hold it together. If you are interested I can pm you the specifics. The filling held together well and you could not tell there was gelatin in it.

[Comfort Me]

I pipe a levee of buttercream aound the edge of the cake and fill the center with lemon curd.

I also made a large batch of coconut jam with chopped almonds using Joan Nathan's recipe from The Foods of Israel Today, and used that as a filling. It worked really well.

I also like the preserved pineapple recipe from Levy's The Cake Bible.

[nightscotsman]

Personally, I like a barely sweetened whipped cream filling. It adds a refreshing lightness to many layer cakes. You can also include fresh berries in the whipped cream layer for more interest. If the cake is a little heavy, you might have to add some gelatine to help the cream stand up to the weight.

[alacarte]

How about a hazelnut filling, a la Nutella?

[kthull]

A thin layer of raspberry coulis (or any berry) topped with a thick layer of 50/50 pastry cream/whipped cream mixture. This as a filling for a white cake.

[Suzanne F]

I pipe a levee of buttercream around the edge of the cake and fill the center with . . .

Whatever filling you end up using, follow this advice. It will save you the heartache of the filling bleeding out into the frosting.

[cakewalk]

There was a great layer-cake recipe in the latest Bon Apetit. I was reading it last night as I was dropping off to sleep, and had pleasant dreams. Orange cream sort of stuff (I'm not good at remembering these details, I'd have to go back to the recipe.) Worth a look. I'm dying to try it, but I'm afraid I might sit down with a fork and eat the whole thing!

[ludja]

One of my favorite cakes---and one that I actuallly made for a wedding shower for a friend is a Tuscan Cream Cake, also called a Sacripantina. I used a recipe out of Emily Luchetti's, Star's Desserts. Here's the basic idea:

layers of sponge cake (cut in half lengthwise to make 6 thin layers)

fill layers with Zabaglione (Sabayon using marsala and sherry)

refrigerate filled layers in springform pan to set

Unmold cake and frost with sweetened whipped cream

Cover sides with crushed amaretti cookies and top with d. chocolate curls.

I've also added toasted and ground almonds to the layers also.

It's a grand looking cake with wonderful flavors.

In terms of another non-chocolate filling, there is Southern Lane Cake. The filling is cooked and has egg yolks, sugar, butter, pecans, raisins, coconut, bourbon. Typically the cake is frosted with Fluffy Icing/Italian Meringue.

A cake I'm dying to try and haven't made yet is a french raspberry charlotte cake from Saveur. The filling is pureed raspberries, sugar, gelatin, fruit eau de vie and cream. Here's the link: raspberry charlotte

[agnolottigirl]

Here's my grandma's family recipe that is probably based on Tuscan cream cake described above. . . you can make each component as fancy or as simple as you like. When we feel really lazy, the cake comes out of a box and the pudding does too:

Make a yellow layer cake a day ahead of time.

Poke holes in it, and splash with white rum whenever you think of it. (Be careful--if you have "helpers," you could end up with a soggy mess.)

Cut cakes in half.

Alternate fillings of strawberry preserves (I like unsweetened) and thickened chocolate pudding, with rum or rum extract. Make sure you do the levee trick mentioned earlier, or you get a big mess.

Frost the whole thing with barely sweetened whipped cream.

Garnish with strawberries.

If the whole thing is too soggy, or the layers won't stay put, get a big glass bowl and call it a trifle!

[amcleod]

Thanks to everyone! I did a test cake and due to time contraints and laziness, used a 50/50 mixture of buttercream and whipped cream and added raspberries. It worked well - thanks for the idea!

And especially, thanks for the reminder about the piping of full buttercream around the edge. Worked like a charm.