SPONGE CAKE

[jennyyyyyyy]

Hello everyone!!
I was wondering if i could make a sponge cake with whipped cream + strawberries filling and then ice it with buttercream frosting?? Because i am trying to make a Peppa Pig cake ( image below ) but i wish to not fill the cake with buttercream as its too sweet but instead using the buttercream to pipe the details. I was wondering will they taste bad together or will it ruin the texture? Also after filling and decorating the cake, could i leave it in the fridge overnight for the next day ?? Thank you in advance !!

 

[Becky]

Welcome to the forum!

The problem you will have is keeping it fresh. The cake will need to be cool before it can be filled and decorated, so you'll need to allow time for that. Whipped cream and strawberries should ideally only be used in cakes that are eaten shortly after making them. You could consider freezing the filled cake, and decorating it once frozen... whipped cream freezes well, but strawberries will break down, so I'm not sure if that will work. You will also have to consider that whipped cream will taste bland next to something as sweet as buttercream.

Have you thought about a meringue buttercream instead? It's not too sweet (well, certainly not compared to regular buttercream) so might be worth a look.

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Whip cream contains too much water and is too unstable to hold for more than a few hours.

As soon as cream is whipped it begins breaking down. You can stabilize it somewhat with gelatin (see link below). However, as Becky stated it’s never advisable to use it in the filling of the cake unless you’re going to serve it the same day.

As the whip cream breaks down it releases its water. And the cake will absorb the water and become soggy. Likewise berries like strawberries contain an extraordinary amount of water. As they break down they will also release their water. When both whip cream and fresh berries is used as of filling the cake should be served as soon as possible.

As @Becky mentioned real buttercream (Swiss meringue buttercream and Italian meringue buttercream) is not overly sweet. But mixing is more involved.

I would recommend a curd for a filling. I frequently use lemon or passion fruit curds as fillings as they are not too sweet, hold up relatively well, and the tang balances out the sweetness of buttercream icing.

Creating a good flavor profile and keeping the sweetness in balance isn’t just about the types of icings and filling used but how the cake is assembled. Too often bakers will not torte the layers, then overfill there cakes, adding an 1” of filling. A cake layer should be about 3/4” - 1” and filling should not be more than 1/2” thick.

For icing a crumb coat should be a very thin layer, 1/4” at most. It’s okay if there’s bare spots in the crumb coat.

The final coat shouldn’t be more than 1/2” thick.

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Sorry I got sidestracked then forgot to paste the link for stabilizing whipped cream.

Keep in mind when other moisture rich ingredients are added, such as berries, the whipped cream will break down faster. Also, a higher fat (35% butterfat or the higher 40% butterfat whipping cream referred to as manufacturing cream) works best as they contain less water. Also use very cold whipping cream and chill the bowl and whisk attachment for a fuller whipped cream.

https://www.cooksillustrated.com/how_tos/8351-stabilizing-whipped-cream