Solid Fillings Not Working

[ChesterV]

Even the most experienced baker will usually have one little issue with something along the line. Something they can't get right no matter how hard they try, or what recipe they use, or what method they use.

For me, this is a specific type of filling, namely cream cheese.

Have you ever had a bread or a loaf cake with the middle being a cream cheese mixture? It's not piped in, it's baked in. It's solid, it's adhered to the bread or cake, and it's one solid piece when sliced.

Well, mine have never turned out solid. No matter if I bake it in bread or cake of any kind, the cream cheese mixture for the filling separates from the cake or bread, and when you slice it, the center part (the cream cheese filling) separates from the rest of the bread or cake. It hasn't bonded with the cake or bread at all.

I've tried different methods, different recipes, using more or less liquid, using powdered sugar......Iv'e made it pourable, I've made it a paste, I've made it with a bit of the dough used for the cake or the bread.......all to make the cream cheese filling in the middle, but it always, ALWAYS separates.

The last time I tried this, I made it in a bundt cake. When I flipped the bundt cake after it cooled, it just fell apart, because the filling had completely disintegrated in the cake and caused it to separate into a bottom layer and a top layer.....which just slid off each other.

No matter what method I use, no matter what recipe I use, no matter what I do to it...........I just cannot get a cream cheese filling of any kind to work the way it is supposed to!!!



Does anybody else have a problem with something like this they have never been able to get to work right?

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Hey Chester, how are you? i’ve never put a filling inside of a Bundt cake. So I can’t be much help. But just thinking out loud… Have you tried filling with egg in it? Like a Danish pastry filling minus the powered sugar? I’m thinking powdered sugar would solidify cream cheese into a mass. But the water in egg might thin it out and help it fuse to the batter. I don’t know, just a thought.

 

[Becky]

@Norcalbaker59 makes a good point re egg. Another thought I had was what type of cream cheese are you using? I always try to use full fat cream cheese, I'm always a little skeptical of the low-fat versions.

 

[ChesterV]

Hey Chester, how are you? i’ve never put a filling inside of a Bundt cake. So I can’t be much help. But just thinking out loud… Have you tried filling with egg in it? Like a Danish pastry filling minus the powered sugar? I’m thinking powdered sugar would solidify cream cheese into a mass. But the water in egg might thin it out and help it fuse to the batter. I don’t know, just a thought.

I've tried everything. Nothing works.
According to the recipes and other methods I've found online, the mixture is supposed to stay solid in the middle.........regardless of being cake or bread, but it doesn't.

This is what it's SUPPOSED to come out as....

MINE don't turn out like this, no matter what I do.
The filling either totally dissolves and leaves a big hole, it solidifies but doesn't adhere to the dough and separates when cutting, or it just becomes sludge and separates the bottom from the top and they slide off each other when turned out.

No other filling I use ever does this, it's ONLY cream cheese fillings. And I've used different cream cheeses as well as mixing other stuff in with the cream cheese. Again, nothing works.

I just gave up with this some years ago and just make cream cheese frostings/icings for whatever it is I want cream cheese with.

It's just weird. Usually when I come across a problem like this, I've been able to find something that works. But with cream cheese filling that is to be baked in the middle of something.......forget it.

 

[Becky]

I've noticed that if you beat cream cheese for too long it gets quite runny, so maybe it's a case of overworking it? Other than that I have no idea I'm afraid!

 

[ChesterV]

I've noticed that if you beat cream cheese for too long it gets quite runny, so maybe it's a case of overworking it? Other than that I have no idea I'm afraid!

The only time it came out a bit runny was when I added an egg to it. I was hoping that would have helped, but it made things worse......the entire filling just dissipated into the cake.

When I first started having this problem, someone told me to add some confectioners sugar to it and make it into a putty, and then roll it out like I would with clay or putty. Then shape it to the filling size I want and put it in the middle of the batter/dough. That didn't work either.

I just gave up on even trying anymore.

 

[Becky]

Ah that's a shame, it sounds like you tried every solution we can think of! Before my illness I was planning on doing some more Scandinavian baking, but this time using Quark (it's a type of fresh, soft cheese). Once I'm well enough I'll give it a go - it'll be interesting to see whether it disappears into the dough. These are what I'm planning on making:

OM NOM NOM