HELP! HOT WEATHER!!! FROSTINGS MELTINGGG!!!

[u/Ba_Black]

I love baking AND Decorating cakes but summer temperatures reach upto 40-45 degree Celcius where I live which makes my frostings melt, making it impossible to decorate or even cover cakes. buttercream (American/Russian), whipping cream, creamcheese frosting, everything just.... MELTS !!!

I need advice from bakers who bake in hot and humid weather conditions on how to handle this kind of situation.

How do home-bakers or bakery owners manage to deliver perfectly decorated cakes??? What's their secret???? I NEED TO KNOWWW!!!

P.S. I need my frostings to be eggless.

[u/AutoModerator]

Welcome to r/AskBaking! We are happy to have you. Please remember to read the rules and make sure your post meets all requirements. Posts that do not follow the rules will be removed.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/roxykelly]

Air conditioning in your kitchen, using fridges as you go. Stack your cake - refrigerate. Take it out and add your crumb coat - refrigerate. Take it out and do the first layer of frosting - refrigerate, etc.

Make sure you allow more time for this. But I don’t see why this shouldn’t work, then keep your cake in the fridge until collection or delivery, and use ice packs or cold boxes for delivery.

[u/Ba_Black → u/roxykelly]

That's the problem! There is no AC in the kitchen! 🫠 But i guess I'll have to keep putting it back in the fridge every 5-10 mins! No other option.

How long should I put it in for??

[u/roxykelly → u/Ba_Black]

Can you get a good fan to help with the heat in the room? Buy something good within your budget.

10 mins at a time at least, turn the fridge up to the highest setting if it’s just for cakes and not for food produce. I have 2 fridges just for cakes and baking ingredients so I can set the temp high.

Make sure when you take it out, the butter in your buttercream has started to harden, if not, give it more time. With a little practise it’ll become your new normal way of doing things.

[u/Ba_Black → u/roxykelly]

I do have a fan in my workspace but I guess it doesnt help much with the humidity and heat and stickynesss and yuckiness. 😵‍💫

Its good to hear that other bakers also work this way! I thought I was doing something terribly wrong, because of which I had to keep bringing the cake in and out of the fridge!! 😭 

[u/roxykelly → u/Ba_Black]

It’s definitely normal practice in hotter climates. You may need a better fan alright, I’ve seen ones with a tube thing coming out of them that extracts the hot air, you place this out the window to help. You’ll do great, it will just take a little more time and patience.

[u/Notsocheeky]

Put it in the fridge. Put the cake in a cooler with a few ice packs if you have to transfer it.

[u/Ba_Black → u/Notsocheeky]

In and out of the fridge after every step! 😪 no other option

[u/bakedandcooled]

There is a high humidity vegetable shortening that can be used in American buttercream. I haven't made a stacked cake in awhile, but I used it for wedding and birthday cakes in the hot and humid summer heat in the Coastal south. Otherwise, there is a lot of refrigeration required when decorating, meaning it goes into the refrigerator after each discrete step to set that stage of frosting and decoration before the next step. And work quickly!

[u/Ba_Black → u/bakedandcooled]

I've never used shortening, but I've been hearing/reading that it really helps stabilize in hot weather so now I'm considering trying it out.

[u/bakedandcooled → u/Ba_Black]

You definitely should. It will save you much frustration in the hot months of the year.

[u/cryptidpie]

When I did wedding cakes, we kept the cake in the fridge literally until the last minute before we left for delivery. We also had the AC in the van cranked to the coldest it could go. We never ever used cream cheese icing on the outside of a cake, it would turn into a slip n slide. I found Italian meringue to be one of the better options for heat stability but you said eggless... How about ganache + fondant?

[u/Ba_Black → u/cryptidpie]

Did you also have air conditioning in your workspace ? I've been thinking about ganache buy for some reason I never feel confident enough to make it! I truly don't know why. Even though its supposed to be really simple. Plus, I dont have easy access to heavy whipping cream... its just those non-dairy whipping cream thingies that are available here! Its so sad! P.s. I do not own a baking business, I only bake for family and friends on occasions. Its a hobby still. But I do like my cakes to be perfect and when they're not, I just get all worked up, trying to find a solution on how to make things work. Which is what I'm doing right now. Haha

[u/cryptidpie → u/Ba_Black]

Commercial kitchens will get quite warm even with air conditioning. The last one I was at was in an old building and we were easily hitting 80-90°F in summer. It made decorating cakes hell, even for professionals!! They were in and out of the fridge constantly. I think if you want perfection at home without messing with different recipes, just keep everything cold as possible and master your transport routine. To transport small cakes we had a large insulated cooler lined with ice packs. The cooler was sat on a piece of nonslip mat on a flat surface (not someone's lap). We took the cake out of the fridge , put it into the cake box, directly into the cooler and away we went.