Hi all,

This is my first post on this site. I have read many threads and have found that there are a lot of knowledgeable people on here. I am currently in culinary school studying baking and pastry. I am only about 6 months in but have been baking at home since I was a child.

I have agreed to do a friends wedding cake and cupcakes as a gift. I am planning on using Champagne cake (she has specified she doesn't want anything too sweet) and I think it should be sturdy enough for a 7 inch second layer.

The cupcakes will be lemon meringue cupcakes with lemon curd filling and a bruleed meringue topping.

I am on here to ask if anyone has any ideas on what type of frosting to use for the cake. I don't want to use simple butter cream as that is way to sweet. I thought about Italian butter cream but because of the egg whites I don't know how long it can sit out. That is also the problem possibly with the curd. How long can that sit out?

Any help with ideas on frosting, decorating the cake, and how long these items can sit out unrefridgerated would be immensely helpful!! The wedding is this Sunday the 19th. I am planning on doing the cake a day or two in advance and waking up early the morning of to bake the cupcakes.

Thank you so much and I hope I can return the help one day!!

Do you have a smart and final store in your area? If you do I would suggest purchasing a product called Frostin Pride. You whip it up like whipped cream but it's actually a frosting. It will not crust but it's not overly sweet. This is what I used for the star tiered cake in my photos. Once whipped it can be left out for up to five days.

there are several whipped frostings out there,it just depends what is available in your area. bettercream is another and you can buy a bucket of the frosting at any sams club (bakery depeartment) or quarts of it at any resturant supply ours here is GFS gordon food services.
the whipped will stand up and is very nice. the bucket is prewhipped and the quarts you need to whip. has good coverage and not sweet.. more like sweet cream. very smooth. and will hold up in heat if you don't refrg. and then put in heat. if it is at room temp it is fine.

italian buttercream can be left out at room temp for a week or more (as long as its not too hot) as for the lemon curd, i wouldnt leave it out for more than a few hours. it has lots of eggs and butter and during the summer it can get danergous. plus you want to keep it as cold as possible so it doesn't get soupy. hope this helps, best of luck with culinary school