Hi From A Newbie From Sunny South Africa!!

Lounge By Mrs glowworm Updated 4 Jan 2013 , 8:56pm by milkmonkey

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Mrs glowworm Posted 4 Jan 2013 , 12:58pm
post #1 of 7

I am totally overwhelmed by the amount of information on this forum! Thank you all in advance for being so generous with all your experience and knowledge. 

 

I am a freelance Textile designer and have a great appreciation for arts and crafts.  I am eager to start using fondant and see so many possibilities especially with my design background. 

 

Currently it is extremely hot here in South Africa and wonder if it is at all possible to work with fondant in hot humid weather without any air conditioning!?

 

I will try my best to read as much of the information available here before I start asking "Level 1" questions!!

6 replies
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cazza1 Posted 4 Jan 2013 , 2:05pm
post #2 of 7

You can but it is not always fun, especially when your fondant starts sticking to itself and other things that you don't want it to. You will work out with practice which days are better spent away from your icing. 

You can buy little beady things that you can put in a box with your cake when it is finished that will absorb some of the moisture from the air to try and help stop your fondant sweating too much.  You then stick them in the oven to dry out so that you can reuse them. 
 

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Cakechick123 Posted 4 Jan 2013 , 3:36pm
post #3 of 7

its not so much the heat that is a problem with fondant as it is the humidity. I dont know where in SA you are, but Im in Gauteng and even in mid Dec-Jan I dont have any problems with working with fondant with no aircon. I do know that some of my friends in KZN has problems with their flowers when the humidity is high.

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Mrs glowworm Posted 4 Jan 2013 , 4:08pm
post #4 of 7

Thank you Cazza, I have never heard of these beads, interesting.

 

Cakechick, I am in Centurion, so I am thrilled to hear that one can still make cakes in mid summer. 

 

Technical problem....I am trying to post in the "cake decorating section" with no luck.  When I "submit" my

thread I get a message saying "sorry, but the thread you linked does not exist".  I must be a total newbie, but what am I doing wrong? 

 

Thank you!

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Cakechick123 Posted 4 Jan 2013 , 4:47pm
post #5 of 7
Quote:
Originally Posted by cazza1 

 

You can buy little beady things that you can put in a box with your cake when it is finished that will absorb some of the moisture from the air to try and help stop your fondant sweating too much.  You then stick them in the oven to dry out so that you can reuse them. 
 

its called silica, the same stuff that you get in packets with your tablets. Some people use it to keep their sugarflowers dry, but its terriby expenive here in SA.

I have never had to use it, our climate in Gauteng is dry enough to keep the flowers perfect.

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Mrs glowworm Posted 4 Jan 2013 , 5:33pm
post #6 of 7

Ahhh...Thank you Cakechick!
 

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milkmonkey Posted 4 Jan 2013 , 8:56pm
post #7 of 7

Hi there to fellow SA Decorators, I am South African and living in Ireland at the moment will be moving to Saudi but I was wondering if any of you have use a biltong maker to help dry your fondant maker? I am trying to see if it would be worth it and of course a justification for buying one:-)

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