Streamlined Layer Cake Menu
What is a Streamlined Menu?
A streamlined bakery menu is like a shortcut for your kitchen. It works by minimizing the labor required to make each cake. It does so by stretching a short list of recipes into a long number of variants. That means you can offer your customers plenty of choices without giving yourself extra work. Menu streamlining is a terrific way to increase the production efficiency of a bakery business.
Using this particular streamlined menu, all you need to prep are two kinds of buttercream frosting in order to build any of the cake filling flavors on the list. That makes tasting plates and last-minute orders much easier to fill. It also makes long production days shorter. Menu streamlining saves time and effort in the kitchen, which cuts down on labor cost, which increases your profit.
The Buttercream Base Recipes
All eleven of the cake filling formulas on this streamlined menu are derived from the following two buttercream frosting recipes:
Vanilla Buttercream Cake Frosting & Filling
Chocolate Buttercream Cake Frosting & Filling
These are the same two buttercream frosting recipes that I use to fill, frost and decorate the wedding cakes and sculpted cakes in my tutorials.
Designing a Cake Menu Around Popular Flavors
I’ve deliberately created a list of simple and familiar cake filling flavors designed to have wide acceptance rate when it comes to large parties. I find it’s easier to accommodate groups this way.
11 Layer Cake Filling Flavors
Of course you can tweak or elaborate on these cake filling formulas to make the insides of your cakes as fancy or unusual as you want. This is simply one example of how a bakery menu can be streamlined.
Suggested Cake Filling Method
My preferred method for assembling layer cakes is to build them inside the baking pan. I recommend watching the videos and reading this entire tutorial on how to fill cakes in the pan.
Working with Formulas
Because this concept of a streamlined menu begins with buttercream frosting as the base recipes, the 11 filling flavors read like formulas in terms of add-ins and proportions. That way, all you have to do is mix things into the buttercream in order to make fillings out of your frosting. That means batches of filling can easily be scaled to accommodate different sized cake orders.
Continue Reading to Get the Filling Flavors
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I am trying to find a recipe for a crunchy filling-can you help? Thanks
casbakitty@ aol.com
Can you freeze a cake filled with filling which is whipping cream,jello pudding and extract whipped into thick mousse.
I had asked about strawberry cake on previous post because it’s always such a finnicky flavor but I am curious if you offer more than vanilla, chocolate or red velvet cake flavors or do you just try to offer the different flavors in buttercream frosting instead? I hope to eventually purchase all you e books and tutorials.
Lorie,
Yes, in commercial bakeries, I worked with a lot more cake flavors on the menu. But as a freelancer running a custom cake business, I only offered the three kinds of cake sponge mixed and matched with variations of filling. I was worried the menu would appear skimpy but none of my customers ever complained about it, probably because the average person isn’t so discerning about such things.
For you, the case may be different than mine. Perhaps your business model place more value and importance on the quality of cake flavors and selections. If that is the case, by all means go ahead and include more flavors on your list. Just make sure it’s as streamlined as it can be and most importantly, that your food and labor costs get covered.
Hello, Im doing a hockey stick cake for my little sisters birthday, i’m doing it out of a store brought sponge cake and doing two layers. I was wondering what you would put in between the layers and for the crumb coat to keep it strong enough for fondant to be laid on top and then decorated with a little bit more fondant?
Thanks
I would use buttercream frosting.
Hi, does your book include the cake recipes???
No it does not include cake recipes.
Hi there I’m a new baker am baking birthday cakes and cupcakes I love your recipes and baking tips..I would love to get your book but I don’t know how to get it I’m in South Africa Port Elizabeth..thanks Lungi
All my books are available in digital format so anyone in the world can get them.
Can the cookies and cream filling be used as frosting as well? Or what would be a good frosting pair up with a cake filled with cookies and cream filling?
Technically, you could pile this filling on top of a sheet cake and call it a frosting but I wouldn’t do it because it’s chunky so you can’t frost with it. A good frosting to pair with this recipe is vanilla buttercream, chocolate buttercream or chocolate ganache.
Your instructions are wonderful!
Can these fillings be frozen? My daughter in getting married in July,
Yes they can all be frozen.
Hi I’m a new baker. I’ve made several cakes and transporting them has been my worst enemy. They shift and leave air bubbles or with a round ball cake the fondant cracked in the middle and slid down the side. What am I doing wrong.
Transport cakes disassembled. So you will have to allot amole time to assemble cakes when cakes arrive at targeted locations. When you get to the targeted location add: fillings to layers, put layers together and frost outsides and then decorate outside of cakes and add flowers and other decorations.
Transporting disassembled isn’t always an option. Also if you are in a crowded place it is very nervewracking assembling in front of people, and sometimes, depending on the design it is very time consuming and not done in just an hour or so. I don’t actually know the answer, but so far my cakes have survived being transported. Usually good to have someone hold it in transit if possible I find.
I have the same problem…. spend days on a cake that turns out gorgeous, and then comes the horrible transportation!!!
After many failures, here is what has worked for me. First, make sure that the cake board you use is at least one inch thick, and then find a tall cardboard box that is no bigger than 1/2 inch all the way around (meaning on all four sides) than the cake board. This will prevent the cake from sliding once inside the box. Next, tape the bottom of the box with shipping tape for added support, and then place it on a sturdy piece of wood. I had a shelf in my garage that I had removed from a cabinet that I used. After you slide the support under the box, you can cut one side only of the box but leaving it attached at the very bottom so that it has like a little “door” that drops down. Slide your cake board/finished cake into the box, bring the side/flap you cut back into place and tape on the cut sides. Finally, since you’re using a box that’s at least three or four inches taller than your cake, you can use your favorite cling wrap across the top of the box (I use Glad Press ‘N Seal and will stop baking if they ever stop making it). Since most wedding cakes are very heavy, have someone help you carry the box to the vehicle you’re transporting in, and then place inside. I’m very obsessive and always place anything I’m transporting on an old yoga mat I keep in the back of my SUV. This will keep the cardboard box from sliding around… most of the time, but to be on the safe side I also use large, plastic storage containers to wedge on three sides of the cardboard box once it’s in place. I’ve used this method to transport three times now, and it’s allowed me to arrive everytime with my cakes intake alerts no fails. Hope it helps!!
love, love, love ur book. just got it from amazon. first saw you on Fabulous cakes and been a fan since. thank you for your tips and tutorials. would love some more recipes esp cake recipes. I make cakes as a hobby for family and friends. using buttercream here in India is a problem because of the heat and humidity. how can I store my fondant cakes with buttercream filling before I need them. can I use the refrigerator and for how long. will the fondant or modelling chocolate work be affected by refrigeration. and how soon should I get the out of the fridge before use. thanks again.
Try this article: Cake Timing
Hi there !
Thank you so much for these recipes and ideas ! They are an invaluable source which I have often turned too.
I am “relatively ” new to baking and most of what I have figured out is by trial and error (lots of errors ! ) , that being said , I have recently received an order for a wedding cake (buttercream , not fondant ) wedding cake with a Strawberry and Banana whipped Cream filling ! Eeeeeek! Can this even be done ? I do have whipped cream stabilizer ( by Dr Oetker cake products ) but really don’t have a clue as to how this will hold up in a cake …any advice wold be greatly appreciated please !
Laurie,
I have not used this brand of whipped cream stabilizer…normally I would use powdered egg whites to stabilize whipped cream. It works great. Another option is to stabilize the cream with gelatin. Whichever method you choose, don’t mix the fruit in with the cream. Instead, layer the fruit against the cake layers and spread the whipped cream on top/in between. Good luck!
What is the best “stiff” frosting “dam” recipe to avoid the fondant bulge?
The best kind of dam is no dam at all, since it adds an extra step to the assembly process. With that said, this buttercream recipe works well both as a filling and as a dam when a dam is needed.
I just bought your ebook. I am so excited to start reading it
Woohoo! Happy cake adventures!
How can I make this a crusting buttercream to use under fondant or can I use this under fondant?
If you replaced the butter with shortening, that would make it into a crusting buttercream. But I think this buttercream works great for underneath fondant. It gets nice and hard when refrigerated, which is key since you want the under-layer to be solid when you’re wrapping a cake in fondant.
I don’t make wedding cakes anymore. But I made a wedding cake that the filling broke down and the cake was a soggy mess. The facilities ac unit was also not working that very hot day. Besides the heat! What makes the filling break down? Note that it wasn’t your recipes.
Trish,
What kind of filling was it? Please list the ingredients and describe the process of making it.
I have been making cakes for 20 years and this is the first time I have seen this method. Love it! Thanks so much for sharing.
Thanks so much! Love the book cannot wait to read the e book and try a few filling recipes!
Great looking work- love your art!!