OK, I'm doing my first wedding cake in September and the bride wants white cake with strawberry & whipped cream filling...like a strawberry shortcake taste. She wasn't sure exactly, just that she wanted it to taste like strawberry shortcake.

But it's a fondant-covered cake so can't be refrigerated after it's decorated, not to mention I don't have a fridge big enough to hold that much cake anyway. I've been looking at recipes on here but I'm just not sure what the rules are for what needs to be refrigerated and what doesn't. If it has whipped cream in it, it needs to be? What about fresh fruit? Cream cheese? I'm new at this and really have no clue!! Can anybody explain to me what the rules are so I can figure out by looking at a recipe whether the cake would need to stay cold? And actually, does anybody have a strawberry shortcake style filling that doesn't need to be refrigerated?? TIA!!!

Congrats on your first wedding cake. Some fondants can be refrigerated - Satin Ice and FondX for two. I haven't had good luck w/ MMF in the fridge, but others have.

Anything with whipping cream needs to be refrigerated, as does cream cheese. Since you are in California, you should be able to find Pastry Pride (I think that's what it's called) - it's a nondairy whipped topping that's stable for a day or two.

That said, I don't know about the fresh strawberries. I think they would weep if not in refrigeration. You'd likely end up with a splotchy pink cake. You can buy non-perishable sleeve fillings, but they're more like a strawberry jam.

Icing fruits are more concentrated than the sleeved pastry fruit fillings:

http://www.thebakerskitchen.com/BAKEWARE_SHOPPE/Baking_Ingredients/Food_Items/Icing_Fruits/icing_fruits.htm

ShirleyW's faux bavarian cream filling recipe:

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-2396-Bavarian-Cream-Filling.html

Perhaps you could combine the icing fruit with the bavarian cream for a shelf stable strawberry cream filling.

HTH

thank you both! very helpful. i was so glad to find out satin ice could be refrigerated, i didn't know that! and the bavarian cream sounds yummy. now i've got some stuff to work with.

A few years ago I had a bride that wanted that too. She was having the reception at a park-with no available refrigeration. I made a white cake with bc and sleeve type strawberry filling. Then just before the wedding I made stabilized whipped cream. Each slice of cake was served with a dollop of whipped cream and fresh strawberries. It worked out better than worrying about the strawberries in the center of the cake getting mushy in 100 degree weather!