hi i have a small cake for saturday. i am finishing it on friday night, since there is butter and milk in the frosting, i am needing to put it in the fridge until it is picked up saturday, my question is, i have two large gumpaste butterflies, painted with food colors. can i put them, in the fridge too? or place on cake when picked up? also how long can it sit out if it is picked up by customer in am and not needed until 6pm? sorry so many questions, it is a new recipe first time using milk and butter in frosting and im not too familiar with it.

Personally i would leave putting the butterflies on til the morning... you can put fondant in the fridge but sometimes with the change in temperature it can get like a dampness to it if you know what i mean... but i have used the fridge to set fondant on a cake before airbrushing..

thank you! so what do i do when the cake is picked up and i have to put the butterfly on it? how many hours can the cake sit out of fridge with buttercream made with butter and shortning and milk?

personally, i would wait to put the butterflys on till later (Saturday morning right before customer walks through the door). If the cake went from the fridge (I am assuming your cake is not covered in fondant) on Friday night and picked up on Saturday morning and left out till pm I honestly think it will be ok. Just make sure they know to keep the cake in a very cool place away from heat.

If you want to "test" it you could leave (assuming you have the buttercream ready today) out a sample of buttercream on the counter all night. Check it tomorrow (Friday) morning to make sure it didnt start to "break apart" (meaning break down ex like whipping cream) or weep. I've tried many buttercreams and have been up all night many times working on a cake and havent had a buttercream break down yet (knock on wood).

Although if the gp is completely dry the fridge will probably not affect them, I would still opt to put them on afterwards if it is a possibility. Just to be safe.

Milk and butter in a frosting does not necessarily change the stability/refrigeration needs of the frosting, certainly not during the duration of a day, depending on a recipe. If it is a standard butter+powdered sugar recipe with a bit of milk to thin, it will be fine all day (presuming it is not HOT). There's some explanation at *baking*911.com/decorating/cakes_buttercream.htm --->paste the link into your browser and take out the *'s in the first word in order to get that to work.

I would not put gumpaste in the fridge. It will suck the moisture out of the air and not dry like it's supposed to. Right now my gumpaste dinosaurs will not dry because it is so humid here.

I don't ever refrigerate my cakes with buttercream icing and they hold up fine for about 2-3 days. Longer than that and the consistancy changes a little, but they still taste ok.

thank you all. the recipe is shortening, butter, about 1/4 cup milk vanilla and water. so in a cool room it should be ok out?

umm....sugar in there anywhere?

Yes. All my cakes have held up fine in a cool room.