Cake Filling Ideas

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THE BOTTOM LINE: Cake with cream cheese icing must be refrigerated—usually within 2 hours of being prepared. To serve the cake after it’s been chilled, remove only the slices you plan to serve from the refrigerator, rather than the whole cake, since individual slices will warm up more quickly.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Cake with cream cheese icing must be refrigerated—usually within 2 hours of being prepared. To serve the chilled cake, take just the pieces you want to serve from the refrigerator, rather than the whole cake, since individual slices will warm up faster.

These ideas and recipe alternatives may be used to top or fill cakes, as a fruit or dessert dip, or just eaten directly from the bowl!

It’s also enjoyable to experiment with various sorts of fillings. You may choose from whipped, mousse, buttercream, ganache, and many more flavors. The possibilities are infinite.

Okay, let’s get to the ideas. These are in no particular sequence; just browse and see what catches your eye and seems interesting to try!

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Buttercream Fillings:

Buttercream is the most straightforward filling to use. It’s presumably what you’re already using to cover the cake, so it makes sense to use it as the filling.

There are various varieties of buttercream, but the most common are American buttercream and Swiss Meringue buttercream. Either may be used as a cake filling.

While most people in my neighborhood like the sweeter American buttercream, I know that Swiss Meringue buttercream is popular in other parts of the country.

You can find a decent swiss meringue recipe and instruction here.

If you’re looking for American buttercream recipes, look no further.

Remember, you don’t have to use the same buttercream on the exterior of the cake as you do on the inside; feel free to experiment!

Here are some cake, filling, and buttercream combo ideas:

Cake and Filling Combination Ideas Table

Cake Flavor Buttercream Filling Flavor Outer Buttercream Flavor
vanilla cake vanilla, almond, vanilla with fruit added, cookies & cream, caramel-flavored, cinnamon vanilla, almond, cinnamon
chocolate cake chocolate, cookies & cream, caramel-flavored, mocha, coffee, vanilla with strawberries or raspberries chocolate, cookies & cream, mocha, coffee
red velvet cake cream cheese, chocolate, vanilla, cookies & cream cream cheese, chocolate, vanilla, cookies & cream
banana cake banana, cream cheese, toffee, caramel, cinnamon banana, cream cheese, toffee, caramel, cinnamon
strawberry cake cream cheese, strawberry, vanilla cream cheese, strawberry, vanilla
lemon cake lemon, vanilla lemon, vanilla

Whipped Fillings:

Whipped fillings are always popular, particularly in the summer when you want your cakes to be lighter.

There are many methods for preparing whipped fillings. You may make conventional whipped cream by whipping cream and sugar until firm peaks appear.

If you need a whipped filling that is a bit more sturdy and can stay up a little longer, consider whipped buttercream, which is a little sweeter than whipped cream but I think it is the best of all worlds.

Here are some whipped buttercream recipe ideas:

  • Whipped Vanilla Buttercream
  • Whipped Chocolate Buttercream
  • Cream Cheese Whipped Buttercream

Puddings, Pastry Cream & Custard Fillings:

When you want something lighter but don’t want to use whipped cream, a pudding, pastry cream, or custard filling would suffice.

You may also experiment with other tastes, such as a vanilla pudding filling matched with a chocolate cake.

Here are some recipe options for you:

  • Pudding cake filling
  • Shortcut Bavarian Cream
  • Chocolate Mock Mousse Filling
  • Cream Filling
  • Banana Cream Filling

Ganache Fillings:

Ganache is a chocolate and cream concoction that is very flexible. If you need additional solidity (particularly for fondant cakes), you may make a stiffer filling, or whisk it for a more airy ganache.

You may also change the quantity of cream you use while making it to get varying degrees of stiffness.

Another advantage is that you may use several varieties of chocolate, such as dark chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate, milk chocolate, or even white chocolate.

I wrote a complete article on how to create ganache with several variants. You can find it here.

Fruit Fillings:

Fruit fillings are an excellent technique to enhance the taste of cakes.

They may be boiled down to make jam or jelly, pureed and blended into buttercream, or simply chopped up and combined with whipped cream.

In the past, cooked pineapple filling or raspberry filling were popular fillings for wedding cakes. These fillings go well with white cake.

And here’s a trick to avoid the filling from leaking into the cake layer underneath it: Spread a thin layer of whipped cream or buttercream over the cake layer, then add an icing dam, followed by the fruit filling.

Here are some cooked fruit fillings you can try:

  • Pineapple Filling
  • Raspberry Filling
  • Strawberry Filling
  • Blueberry Filling

Curd Fillings:

Curd may be used as a filling on its own or added to buttercream to give it a distinct taste.

Another wonderful approach is to apply a thin layer of whipped cream or buttercream over the cake layer, then create an icing dam just within the cake layer’s border, followed by the curd.

This prevents the curd from squishing out between the layers.

Here are a couple of options for curd fillings:

  • How to make lemon curd
  • Raspberry curd

Mousse Fillings:

I must confess that I am completely infatuated with chocolate mousse. I could practically eat bowls upon bowls of stuff. That stuff is incredible, and it also works well as a cake filling.

The essential thing to remember when using it as a cake filling is that the cake you’re using shouldn’t be too heavy.

Mousse is light and fluffy, and you don’t want anything to weigh it down and push it out the edges of the cake.

Here are some options for mousse cake filling:

  • Easy Mousse Filling
  • Dark Chocolate Mousse
  • Strawberry Mousse

Nut fillings:

If you like nuts, a delectable nut cake filling is a terrific choice. They’re very tasty in chocolate and banana desserts.

You’ve definitely heard of pecan filling for German Chocolate Cake, but there are more possibilities.

Just keep an eye on whether the filling is too dry, and if it is, add a layer of buttercream or whipped cream to the layer first, followed by the nut filling.

Here are some nut filling ideas:

  • Pecan filling for german chocolate cake
  • Walnut filling
  • Macadamia nut cream filling
  • Nut and fruit filling

Cream Cheese Type Filling:

Cream cheese is one of my favorite foods; it’s just delicious! It may be used as a buttercream or as a mousse-like cheesecake filling in a cake.

You may also use cream cheese substitutes such as mascarpone cheese.

Here are some options and ideas:

  • Cream cheese buttercream
  • Chocolate cream cheese buttercream
  • Whipped cream cheese buttercream
  • Oreo cheesecake filling
  • Cheesecake cake filling
  • Mascarpone filling

Other Filling Ideas:

Other fillings, such as caramel or marshmallow cream, do not fit into any of the categories.

You may use pure caramel or straight marshmallow cream, or you can flavor buttercream with them and then use it as the filling.

Turtle, which consists of chocolate, caramel, and almonds, would make an excellent filling for a chocolate cake.

Here are a number of recipes with alternative fillings:

  • Turtle chocolate layer cake
  • Marshmallow funfetti buttercream
  • Caramel filling

Additions to Fillings:

One of the simplest ways to spice up your cake fillings is to add items to buttercream.

You can add things like:

  • Crushed or crumbled cookies
  • Candies such as M&Ms, Butterfingers, toffee pieces, and so on.
  • Nuts
  • Flavor syrups & extracts
  • Pudding and jello mixes
  • Flavored coffee creamers
  • Nut butters
  • Nutella
  • Sprinkles
  • Bits of cookie dough (check for edible cookie dough recipes if it contains raw eggs)

Combined Fillings:

Remember that you may always mix various fillings, such as fruit and buttercream, fruit and whipped cream, nut filling with caramel, and so on.

The options are really limitless, so have fun experimenting with new taste combinations!

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  • How to Bake a Cake from Scratch

FAQs

What is best to put between cake layers?

Buttercream is a traditional filling, but you may want to try one of our other favorites to give some more flavor to your cake.
The filling is chocolate.
Filling: Strawberry Cream.
Filling made from raspberries.
Filling made from apricots.
Filling: cream cheese.

What kind of fillings are there for cakes?

5 Different Types of Fillings for Baking Frosting. Frosting is the most prevalent sort of filling.
Custard. Custard is used as a filling in several cakes.
Whipping cream. Whipped cream is also often used as a cake filler.
Buttercream. People often use buttercream filling instead of whipped cream.
Ganache.

Which cream is best for cake filling?

Plain whipped or double cream creates a lovely cake or cupcake topper or filling, but a little vanilla and sugar added when beating the cream gives a little something extra. This is known as chantilly cream, and it goes well with other treats.

What 3 cake flavors go well together?

The Top 3 Cake Flavor Combinations
Mocha filling and chocolate ganache on a chocolate cake. True chocoholics would struggle to resist such a deteriorating taste profile.
Vanilla Buttercream on top of an orange cake.
Cream cheese frosting on a red velvet cake.

What can I put on a cake besides frosting?

6 Easy Ways to Decorate a Cake Without Using Frosting
Whipping cream. It seems to be icing, but it is not.
Glaze. Glaze (or even caramel sauce) is a far better option for Bundt cakes than icing.
Powdered sugar is a kind of sugar.
Caramel or chocolate sauce.
Fruit that is in season.
Syrups combined with edible flowers.

How do you fill gaps between cake layers?

If there are any gaps or uneven places, add extra buttercream to the area (using what you scraped off) and smooth it out with the bench scraper again. Smooth the top of the cake with a bench scraper or icing spatula as well. A crumb coat has been applied to your cake.

What are the four types of fillings?

Amalgam Fillings (Silver Fillings) are the most common form of dental filling. Amalgam is composed of many metals, including silver, mercury, copper, and tin.
Fillings made of gold. Gold fillings (as the name says) are constructed mostly with gold with a mix of other metals.
Fillings made of ceramic.
Fillings made of composite materials.

What are examples of fillings?

Different kinds of fillings

Basic creams, custard- and cheese-based creams, and dulce de leche are examples of this category. Fudges, marshmallows, and chocolate ganache. Fruit-based fillings: in addition to imparting sweetness, fruit pastes provide functional and health advantages.

What is a good substitute for buttercream cake filling?

Marshmallow Frosting – This is maybe your best option. It’s still sweet, but it’s lighter and easier to pipe. Cream Cheese Icing is another traditional icing. Whipped Cream with Cream Cheese – To make a rich but lighter-tasting topping, thicken whipped cream with cream cheese.

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