I had a wedding cake this past weekend. Fortunately it was for a friend and I only charged for the ingredients. Anyways, she wanted a buttercream icing with bamboo accents. I always use a half butter and half shortening recipe for my buttercream since it tastes so much better.

It was pretty hot out, about 85, but I had it all stacked and ready to go and it sat on my counter for about an hour before we left. Even though I had the a/c on where the cake was, the icing still got really soft and started to slide a little. The location was only 15 miles away, so I thought it would be fine. Before I pulled out of the driveway the tiers started to tilt and slide! My husband was driving, I screamed, and jumped out of the car to quickly grab the top 2 tiers (out of a 3 tier cake) before they crashed to the floor. We were able to save it after getting it to the reception site and letting it set in the fridge disassembled for a few hours. Still it didn't turn out as pretty as before we left.

So my question is, for future cakes in hot and humid weather, do I need to start using a different type of frosting? Different buttercream recipe? I have read on here that indydebi's recipe holds up good, but I have never had a problem like this before. Especially not just sitting at room temp with the a/c set on 68. Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated!

Great save and and I like the design. Indydebi's recipe is the way to go. You also need to make sure the air conditioning in your vehicle has been running long enough to completely cool off the inside before placing a cake in it.

Also when moving cakes, Keep in fridge until you are leaving, take from fridge to A/C in car. I love indydebs BC icing & only use it. It holds up very nice in Texas humid hot summers!!

Did you put a traveling rod into the cake? That may have stopped your layers from sliding off also.

Yes, I had put a rod through the cake. But for some reason it was still tilting. I have done this before with a 3 tiered stacked cake that was larger and did not have a problem with the center rod wanting to give. I do not think I did anything different, except it was in the fall and not so hot with the previous one.

Also does indydebi's recipe taste good? Or is it at least similar to the taste of the half butter half shortening buttercream? That would be my only worry would be the taste. I guess I will just have to try it out.

If you're using 0 trans fat shortening, you might want to switch to a brand of hi-ratio (Sweetex or Alpine). It has a much higher melting point, so this type of disaster is much less of an issue. The 0 trans fats stuff is just too soft and has a much lower melting point.

I make a BC very similar to Indydebs and I use 1/2 butter at times. It tastes great. It also tastes very good using all hi ratio shortening (this holds up best in temps above 78 degrees). You can add butter flavored extract, if necessary.

HTH
Rae

I made Indydebs recipe this past week for two cakes, and let me tell ya, it is fabulous. Tastes great, crusts nicely, and holds up well (hot day, too). Give it a try, you may never use any other recipe. Oh, I used butter flavoring as part of the flavorings...

Was it transported on a perfectly level spot in the car? Gravity, bumps and sitting unlevel can do that.