I am contemplating signing up for the Craft Show after the 4th of July Parade where there will be food vendors, crafters, etc. If I have the kids decorate cupcakes or small cakes how long will the buttercream last in the 4th of July heat? Any other suggestions to promote a business and have the cupcakes or cakes still looking and tasting good? Possibly the kids would eat the cupcake or cake right away but some might not and I don't want anyone to get ill from the cakes being in the heat all day.

I don't think your concern is as much from people getting ill from icing as it is more of will the icing melt?

My icing holds up very well .... http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-6992-0-Indydebis-Crisco-Based-Buttercream-Icing.html

And you may already have this covered, but are you legal and licensed? In my state, if I set up at an outdoor event and do any food prep on-site, I have to have not only my regular health dept license, but also a temporary off-site health dept permit. I talked with my inspector and if I just give/sell cookies that I've baked and PREPACKAGED IN MY STORE, then I don't need the temp permit. But if I had the cookies just in a big box or tray and bagged them up at the event, then I'd need the permit (and a portable hand washing station!)

I don't need a food permit since the cupcakes aren't made on premises and I'm not selling the product directly to the public but I never thought of the handwashing aspect. I wonder if just antibacterial wipes will do. I will check into this. It usually is pretty hot in Chicago on the 4th of July so maybe I would just suggest that the kids eat the cupcake or piece of cake shortly afterwards. I have no idea how many kids to expect though so would probably have to have several dozen cupcakes as a backup and just freeze them for future use.

Would you have to worry about a hand washing station if everyone wore the disposable gloves? My suggestion is to cover the cupcakes with a little buttercream and then, using a round cookie cutter the same size as the top of the cupcake, cut a circle of MMF rolled thin and place on the buttercream smoothing it down. It helps not to overfill your cupcakes when you use this method. Candy can be attached on top of each to indicate the flavor of the cupcake such as chocolate kiss on top of chocolate, orange slice on top of orange flavored cc, etc. Have fun and I hope this helped a little bit.

I certainly hope bc holds up since I have to do about 500 cuppies for an outdoor 4th bash! I hadn't even thought about it melting. Now I have one more darned thing to worry about. Thanks.