My 8 Tips for Decorating A Cake In Humidity
In humid climates, getting a cake to behave at room temperature is a pain in the butt. The cake starts crumbling, the butter cream is melting, the ganache ain't setting and the fondant is sagging and the decorations ain't drying. It's a literal hot mess! That hot mess can be pretty tragic when you're working on a 3 and four tier wedding cake... or any cake for that matter. Well, I've been down that road before and had some hard learnt lessons along the way. After a lot of trial and error, I have found by doing these things few things, it has made life a bit easier. Here is a list of 8 things that I do to avoid all of the above.
1. Use a cake recipe that is dense enough to support the weight of your fondant. Now don't get me wrong, dense does not mean dry. I find that when my cakes are dense, they stand the test of time in humidity. The crumbs are more compact so there is less crumbling of the cake. I have had to modify a few recipes to get my cakes dense and moist. Don't worry, I'll be sharing those in my next post. I also use simple syrup on my cake layers to keep them from drying, but I do this lightly.
2. Do not, I repeat do not use a butter cream recipe that uses all butter, you will regret it! Depending on the weather, I use 50-50 butter to shortening ratio. Now I must admit the best shortening to use is a High- ratio shortening, but I have also used a good quality brand shortening that is available in my country called Valcro shortening. Now please note that I only use Swiss meringue butter cream to fill my cakes, and Yes I do use shortening in it, and yes it does taste delish and you can barely taste the difference, and yes it does not melt into a puddle of goop. Don't worry I'll be posting the recipe. Depending on how hot and humid it gets, you can increase the amount of shortening or go all the way with it.
3. Now I've read on a lot of forums with people from the East Asian Islands asking if it is possible to use ganache in humid climates. Humidity on my island can sometimes get up in the 80's and I must admit it makes working with ganache a living hell. But it can work, and has worked for me. I use 3:1 chocolate to cream for semi-sweet chocolates and 4:1 for white and milk chocolates, although I'm still working out some kinks in my white chocolate ganache to see what really works. I will be making a specific post on using ganche, so stay tuned for that.
4. Use the right brand or recipe for fondant. Personally, I use a homemade recipe which I will be posting soon, and Satin Ice. I find that satin ice fondant stand well in high humidity and takes on condensation quite well . If you use a fondant that is super soft, you will have issues. Satin Ice fondant dries nice and hard and can be rolled out quite thin.
5. I use Nicolas Lodge gumpaste recipe for all my sugar flowers and decorations and have never had any drying issues. Please note that I do not work in an air conditioned room, nor do I own a dehumidifier and I have stored my sugar flowers in boxes for months and the have done very well.
6. DO NOT REFRIGERATE YOUR CAKE ONCE YOU HAVE COVERED IT IN FONDANT. That thing will run water like a fountain. Condensation will devour that cake and it will become a dripping mess. I have cried many nights over this. I usually fill, ice and cover my cakes the day before delivery. I only do this at nights as it is much cooler. I do not work on my cakes during the heat of the day, in a house without any air conditioning. I only work in the evening, and it has been a lot less stressful.
7. Never deliver a fully stacked cake on a hot humid day. Again, I have fallen victim to this, and I will never, ever, deliver a cake stacked. I only stack on site. Period.
8. You can't fight nature. Even with all these tips, there are days when the gates of hell open and releases a heat wave that even the devil can't handle, and we have no control over that. On those days, I do the best I can and take extra precautions. One tip that I have used on a day like this especially if it's a wedding cake. I would put the cake in a cardboard box seal it up and put it in the fridge, then I would deliver a cold cake to the client so by the time they get the cake it's almost room temperature and they will hopefully cut it before everything starts melting away. I only do this after decorating the cake, and when the humidity is just too high and I don't have any other options.
So my lovelies, I hope that you found these tips helpful. Remember to stay tuned for the recipes, tutorials and loads of pictures.
Thanks for stopping by, and if you liked this post please share it with your friends.
Bye.
This cake was iced in my Swiss Meringue Buttercream and those sugar flowers were about 3 months old.
This cake was ganached and covered with home made fondant, and filled with Swiss meringue at room temperature.
This is the wedding cake from hell, that I had to put in a box and refrigerate. I also decided to transport this cake stacked and boy did I regret it.
1. Use a cake recipe that is dense enough to support the weight of your fondant. Now don't get me wrong, dense does not mean dry. I find that when my cakes are dense, they stand the test of time in humidity. The crumbs are more compact so there is less crumbling of the cake. I have had to modify a few recipes to get my cakes dense and moist. Don't worry, I'll be sharing those in my next post. I also use simple syrup on my cake layers to keep them from drying, but I do this lightly.
2. Do not, I repeat do not use a butter cream recipe that uses all butter, you will regret it! Depending on the weather, I use 50-50 butter to shortening ratio. Now I must admit the best shortening to use is a High- ratio shortening, but I have also used a good quality brand shortening that is available in my country called Valcro shortening. Now please note that I only use Swiss meringue butter cream to fill my cakes, and Yes I do use shortening in it, and yes it does taste delish and you can barely taste the difference, and yes it does not melt into a puddle of goop. Don't worry I'll be posting the recipe. Depending on how hot and humid it gets, you can increase the amount of shortening or go all the way with it.
3. Now I've read on a lot of forums with people from the East Asian Islands asking if it is possible to use ganache in humid climates. Humidity on my island can sometimes get up in the 80's and I must admit it makes working with ganache a living hell. But it can work, and has worked for me. I use 3:1 chocolate to cream for semi-sweet chocolates and 4:1 for white and milk chocolates, although I'm still working out some kinks in my white chocolate ganache to see what really works. I will be making a specific post on using ganche, so stay tuned for that.
4. Use the right brand or recipe for fondant. Personally, I use a homemade recipe which I will be posting soon, and Satin Ice. I find that satin ice fondant stand well in high humidity and takes on condensation quite well . If you use a fondant that is super soft, you will have issues. Satin Ice fondant dries nice and hard and can be rolled out quite thin.
5. I use Nicolas Lodge gumpaste recipe for all my sugar flowers and decorations and have never had any drying issues. Please note that I do not work in an air conditioned room, nor do I own a dehumidifier and I have stored my sugar flowers in boxes for months and the have done very well.
6. DO NOT REFRIGERATE YOUR CAKE ONCE YOU HAVE COVERED IT IN FONDANT. That thing will run water like a fountain. Condensation will devour that cake and it will become a dripping mess. I have cried many nights over this. I usually fill, ice and cover my cakes the day before delivery. I only do this at nights as it is much cooler. I do not work on my cakes during the heat of the day, in a house without any air conditioning. I only work in the evening, and it has been a lot less stressful.
7. Never deliver a fully stacked cake on a hot humid day. Again, I have fallen victim to this, and I will never, ever, deliver a cake stacked. I only stack on site. Period.
8. You can't fight nature. Even with all these tips, there are days when the gates of hell open and releases a heat wave that even the devil can't handle, and we have no control over that. On those days, I do the best I can and take extra precautions. One tip that I have used on a day like this especially if it's a wedding cake. I would put the cake in a cardboard box seal it up and put it in the fridge, then I would deliver a cold cake to the client so by the time they get the cake it's almost room temperature and they will hopefully cut it before everything starts melting away. I only do this after decorating the cake, and when the humidity is just too high and I don't have any other options.
So my lovelies, I hope that you found these tips helpful. Remember to stay tuned for the recipes, tutorials and loads of pictures.
Thanks for stopping by, and if you liked this post please share it with your friends.
Bye.
This cake was iced in my Swiss Meringue Buttercream and those sugar flowers were about 3 months old.
This is the wedding cake from hell, that I had to put in a box and refrigerate. I also decided to transport this cake stacked and boy did I regret it. 
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