Yesterday I made the total fool!
My Mother's friend wants a wedding cake, all in white fondant and gum paste flowers. She asked me if I could make it, I said yes and I promesed to give her a mini cake sample. I made a total mess, It was a really hot day, the fondant was very sticky and "sweaty". After some tryes, I finally made a "decent" cake. I drove all the way to deliver it, and when I arrived, the cake was all melted! I was very embarrased!, I'm sooooo frustrated!

Could somebody tell me how to work with fondant in a hot weather?, Could corn starch helps?

Welcome to Cake Central. I am not very experienced with fondant, but maybe someone else can offer advise.

Cindy

i will "bump" ya

What kind of fondant did you use ?

Hi!

So sorry about your troubles with the fondant! It can be tricky.

I haven't posted any pics recently, but I've been working with it a lot more lately. If you are sure the problem had something to do with the heat, then the only suggestion would be to make sure you had your AC on full-blast while you carry the cake!

But started before the hot car trip. If the cake was too warm when the fondant was applied that would keep it from sealing to the icing and cake even after it cools down because a lot of extra moisture would be trapped in between the fondant and icing.

Alternatively, if the cake was frozen and not allowed to defrost while still wrapped, then the condensation that normally forms on the plastic wrap would end up forming on your fondant as the cake defrosts. That would soften the fondant and even after you fixed it, it would still be comprimised and weak. So when it got in the hot car it was even easier for it to melt.

If neither of those things sound like the problem, and you feel like the fondant was sticky to start with, then yes you probably could have added cornstarch. Some people say to use confectioners sugar instead, but the latest advice I've gotten was that the sugar breaks down the fondant. But cornstarch will only do so much, too.

I hope this makes sense and helps at all.

I have never had a problem with fondant until last week when I made some roses and the numbers 9 and 0. Well everything was going smooth until I started freaking out that my 90 was not drying fast enough and since it was to stand up on top of the cake I thought I'd stick her in the old food dehydrator and speed up the pace. BIG MISTAKE!!!!! It started melting it . I took it out but they still would not harden properly......meanwhile my roses are drying just fine. This morning, as I'm setting up the cake I reach for my 90 and the numbers are tacky as all get out! Like someone chewed up bubble gum and spit it out.
So something, I'm guessing the warm air from the dehydrator, really messed up my 90. By the way I used the Wilton fondant recipe. (I didn't have a marshmallows)

...was it homemade fondant? MMF? Store bought???

If you are making fondant on a hot sticky day it's better to have the a/c on while you are doing it or it will end up very soft and if your fondant is sticky,put some vegetable fat on your hands & knead it in ( believe me,it does fix the stickiness ! ) cornflour or icing sugar will dry it out too much - you could put a little bit on your bench when you're kneading it tho '

i hope that makes sense !!
julie

One more thing: I read that if you refridgerate fondant, particularly homemade fondant, that can make it become sticky.

Hi,

Yes, I'm using home made fondant. Maybe it's something wrong with my recipe.

anyway, thank you all for the advice!

By the way, please forgive if I have some mistakes in my writing, as english is not my first language.

To dry out fondant more quickly , I use a fan. Works like a charm