Cake Filling

Cake fillings are a crucial part to a cake's success. The filling should always complement the flavor of the cake. Some of the most common used are purees, custards, ganache, fresh fruit, jams, flavored butter cream and cream cheese. We've listed some of our favorite recipes below.

Purees
Cake filling purees are usually fruits that have been ground, pressed, and/or strained to the consistency of a soft paste or thick liquid. Common purees for wedding cakes are strawberry, apricot or raspberry. A recipe for strawberry is included here.

Strawberry Puree
4 cups fresh strawberries, washed and cut into large pieces
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water

Mix in a blender or food processor for a perfect blend!

Fresh Fruit
Try to use the fruit within a few hours because they will start to ooze if left in the cake for too long (which will bleed into the frosting and cake). Common fresh fruits used in cakes are strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, and bananas.

Jams
This is the easiest option as jams can be purchased off the shelf, and you may already have some in your cupboard! One tip we love, is warming the jam for 30 seconds in the microwave and adding a box of dry Jello in the same flavor. This helps keep the jam from soaking into the cake, and gives it a boost of flavor and color.

Ganache
The rule of thumb with ganache is, the better the chocolate, the better the ganache. Our absolute favorite is Guittard's bittersweet chocolate. You can purchase it in morsels, round baking dots or in chunks.

WCAT's Killer Ganache
1 cup heavy cream
8oz chopped semisweet chocolate

Bring cream to a simmer. Place chocolate in a medium bowl and pour cream over it. Cover with foil and wait for 5 minutes. Whisk mixture and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for one hour. Frost. Makes enough for 16 cupcakes or to frost a 3 layer 9" cake. Enjoy!

Custard
Custard is pretty universal and goes with a lot of cakes. You can choose to use any flavor pudding you wish to achieve the desired taste. Same thing goes for the extract.

Simple Custard Recipe
1 pkg. instant pudding (flavor of your choice)
1 cup milk
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 T honey
1/4 tsp. extract (almond, vanilla, or whatever you choose)

Mix all together, it's that simple!

Lemon curd
This cake filling is on the heavy side, so go light on the quantity between layers. Lemon curd is usually used to spread on scones and pastries, but can also be used as cake filling. It can be bought off the grocery shelf, or you can make your own.

Recipe for Lemon Curd: (originally from Joy of Baking)
3 large eggs
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (at room temperature, they will provide more juice this way)
1 tablespoon finely shredded lemon zest (yellow, sweet-flavored outer rind of the lemon)
3/4 cup granulated white sugar
4 tablespoons of unsalted butter (at room temperature)

Place a stainless steel bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. In the bowl, whisk the eggs, lemon juice and sugar. Stir constantly while cooking to prevent curdling, for about 10 minutes, until the mixture becomes thick. Remove from heat and pour through fine strainer to remove the lumps. Whisk in small pieces of butter until melted. Add lemon zest and let cool. Cover and refrigerate for up to a week.

Flavored Butter Cream
Its casual, smooth and creamy, and goes well with a wide variety of flavors. A rich combination of butter and sugar, it may be used as frosting and filling for cakes. When used as filling, it's divine when flavored. Common flavors are mocha, orange, lemon, raspberry, almond, and chocolate. But really, the sky is the limit. Included below is our favorite Italian Butter Cream recipe.

Italian Butter Cream
This recipe is from "Wedding Cakes You Can Make: Designing, Baking, and Decorating the Perfect Wedding Cake" by Dede Wilson.
1 1/4 c plus 1/3 c sugar
1/2 c water (recipe lists 1/2 c, I just 'eyeball' the amount)
8 large egg whites, at room temperature
1 t cream of tartar
1 1/2 lbs. (6 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pats

Place the 1 1/4 c sugar and the water in a saucepan. Stir to wet the sugar and bring to boil over medium heat and wash the sides of the pan. Place the whites in a grease-free mixing bowl and whip until frothy. Add in the cream of tartar and continue to whip until soft peaks form. Add in the 1/3 c of the sugar. Continue whipping until stiff, glossy peaks form. Meanwhile, keep boiling the sugar syrup until the temperature reaches 248*F. When the syrup is ready, reduce mixing speed of the whites to medium and slowly pour in the hot syrup into the egg whites. Try not to get any of the syrup on the sides of the bowl or hard sugar balls may form in the meringue. Continue to whip until cooled, which may take up to 15 minutes. Add in the the pats of butter and whip until combined, smooth and the butter is incorporated.

Enjoy your cake filling!

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