so i'm going to make my first BIG wedding cake. i'm really excited! the bride and her sis want it to be a heavy chocolate fudge cake, iced in white chocolate cream cheese, covered in fondant. and it'll be 4 tiers of all real cake because even if they're only going to have 30 guests, 1 tier is for the bride to bring home, 1 for the sis, and 1 for their mom. (it's their fave cake from me. i gotta love these 2 sisters, both my friends! main reason why i'm making the cake inspite of my being an amateur.)
so my main concern is the cream cheese. the wedding is in june, and given the climate changes, it probably will be warmer than expected. (we're in frankfurt, germany.) i don't have a big enough fridge or freezer to store the iced cakes while i'm decorating each tier. is it realistic to decorate all cakes in a single day? if so, is it ok to let the cake stand in room temperature 24 hours? if not, should i suggest to use buttercream icing instead of white choco cream cheese? my understanding is that the white chocolate has enough sugar in it to act as a preservative for the cream cheese. or did i get that wrong?
thanks for all advice in advance and wish me luck 
hum....i've never used cream cheese icing before, but i'm thinking cream cheese sitting out for a long period of time can't be good. it sounds like one of those icings that needs refridgeration. you should check a reciepe and see if it says if you can leave it out or not.
I have used cream cheese icing quite a bit and there is so much sugar in it that it is safe outside of the fridge - I think if you ice and cover in fondant and leave it inside where it is cool you should be fine!
Thanks! I feel a little less nervous now
thanks JoAnnB and divaricks and to the others who posted replies too! i got a simple solution that i didn't think about (rig a cooler) and reassurance that the cake will hold up quite fine (as long as it's cool indoors). both what i needed! heyjules, it's a wilton recipe and it actually says "refrigerate cake until 30 mins before serving." i didn't always follow that before but i posted my concerns in the forum because my friends here (in germany) usually ask cakes from me during cold seasons. have to be absolutely sure and comfy about what i'm about to undertake. i've decided to make a make-shift cooler like JoAnnB suggested as a precaution. better safe than sorry. thanks a million again!!! i feel good now and even more excited!
thanks gateaux! that's actually what my mom suggested too but of course i just let her good advice slip and take it from you instead! good point. (why didn't i realize that when my mom said it? ) i just might ask my upstairs neighbor for that favor. (but i wanna see the state of his fridge first. i've never looked into it of course now how do i do that? 
)
You could just say for payment of letting you put your cake in his fridge, he'll have a very clean fridge when your done. And just say something like, I always have to scrub mine out really good before I put a cake in it because blah, blah, blah, that way he won't be offended. And that way you know it's not going to be smelly! Good luck on your first big wedding cake.
I don't have any advice but just have to say that that cake sounds DEVINE
It would most likely be 'safe' but the heat can melt it, causing your fondant to sag.
Can you rig a 'cooler' using a box and some blue ice?
Or if blue ice is not available to you, could you get a hold of some dry ice? If you can, then just keep it wrapped in newspaper and put in the box. Don't let it touch the cake as it will freeze what it touches, but it will keep your box nice and cool for several hours. Wrap a quilt or heavy blanket around the outside of the box and it will work very well. 
and i was thinking all along that blue ice is the same as dry ice! 
i already planned to get the dry ice wrapped then securely taped to the sides of a huge box so the entire finished cake can survive the night in case it turns out to be a heat wave june again. just as you suggested Eme, thanks! so what is blue ice anyway?
glad, i only need to keep the iced cakes in the fridge. i think once it is covered in fondant i just need to keep it cool so the icing won't melt or go bad. but you have a good point. do you think that after the fondant-covered cake was under just the make-shift cooler, this will still affect the fondant?
thanks again for all the help so far! this is great analysis!
glad, i only need to keep the iced cakes in the fridge. i think once it is covered in fondant i just need to keep it cool so the icing won't melt or go bad. but you have a good point. do you think that after the fondant-covered cake was under just the make-shift cooler, this will still affect the fondant?
I think it will cause the fondant to sweat. It happened to the "castle cake with baby dino" that I made (you can view it from my photo, you will notice that the colour different between the turret and the cake). I covered the cake with sugar paste straight from the fridge.
*sniff sniff* thanks alibugs. i'll just count on a cool june and not worry about global warming too much. (there are already forecasts that it'll be another heatwave summer in germany you see... that's why i'm being paranoid.) but experience-wise white choco cream cheese covered in fondant hasn't failed me. YET.
it'llbefine.it'llbefine.it'llbefine...
cosmicbear...blue ice is a packaged gel (blue in color) that can be put in the freezer and then used as an alternative to ice. I wasn't sure if you had that available in Germany. Dry ice would actually keep cooler longer. As for your cake sweating, no it should not with dry ice. Dry ice will actually dry out the air in the box a little and will not add any moisture to it. As long as the cake or board is not touching, and is a foot or so a way from the DI, you should be fine. Good luck!
woohoo!!! thanks again Eme! boy, i'm going on a rollercoaster of emotions here
i don't understand your reply alibugs? i'm being paranoid that we might hit 30's temp (in celsius) here as early as may actually. i dunno... i guess i'm obsessing.
oh I can't remember the celcius farenheit conversion. Will it get over 85 degrees in germany? Thank goodness, It never got that hot while I was there. If it doesn't get over that it should be o.k.
It's ok to freak. I would too. I hate working with cream cheese sometimes.
If it is inside, don't freak out at all. It will be ok. to go from where you are making the cake to the reception hall with no problem.
good luck
oh I can't remember the celcius farenheit conversion. Will it get over 85 degrees in germany?
my gosh, last year it was 86-92 F / 30-33 C (i looked up the conversion) from june to august, unceasing relentless dry heat. i know what a baking cake feels like also a heatwave summer back in 2003. i remember coz to make matters worse, i was pregnant!
anyhoo, thanks again alibugs!
it'llbefine. it'llbefine.it'llbefine...
I made the mistake of putting a cream cheese cake in the fridge that was covered in fondant and when it sweats, it totally ruins the looks of your cake! I don't know if it would be safe to have the cake sit out for that long, you would need to decorate it the night before I would think, so it would be sitting out for about 12 hours? Hmm, I am not sure I would do it. HTH
Dee1219, thanks for sharing your experience. with all the advice i got here so far, i think i'm sticking with the make-shift cooler with dry ice as Eme explained. pre-fondant, i'm keeping the cakes in the fridge. that SHOULD work. i hope!
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