I live in Southeast Michigan and I am really not looking forward to summer this year. Does anyone have any tips to beat the heat and humidity? I have a huge wedding cake early in September and I'm already anticipating the horror of the humidity. I have air conditioning in my house but the kitchen NEVER stays cool. Last year I cleaned out the office, moved everything in there and assembled and decorated near the cool air. I dont want to have to do this again and it still didn't really help w/ humidity. Things melt and start wilting sooo quickly! Sorry this is kinda long but please share your stories and ideas.
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Blizzard April 4th... sweatin' April 20th!
here's a bump for u....i too have this problem....the summer is already here in Virginia in full force and just had to assemble a cake on site, outside under a tent, in 80+ degree weather on saturday......my kitchen is the warmest room in my house and am terrified every night that i have to go to bed with a cake sitting in there.....afraid i'll wake up to a puddle
im new to cake decorating but i live in ga so i'm wondering the same thing i've only been doing this for a few months and summer hasn't even started so i'm curious to know what folks do too.
I'm in Houston so you would think I would have some great advice for you but I don't b/c I really can't think of anything special I do.
Sorry, I'm no help! 
Hi sweetness,
I'm just about an hour and a half or so north of you, near the Saginaw Bay, so I can commiserate! Until a year ago, I NEVER had central air, so my plan was to come home from work (at my "real" job! lol), put on a bathing suit, and work like mad to get as much done at one sitting as I could.
It helps to have an oven in the basement, but if you're not that lucky, keep a fan nearby (on the floor is always nice) to at least circulate the air around you to stay cool.
I wish there was something more I could tell you to make it better, but know that when you're in your kitchen "sweatin' to the sound of the mixer", I will be in mine, too, doing the same dance!
Happy (sweat-free) Baking,
Odessa
aobodessa - u sound like me....i'm always wearing as little as possible and have fans running to the point that i can't hear anyone enter the room! ~lol~ my only advise is to use more crisco than butter in ur BC....i normally use a 50/50 recipe, but have to adjust as needed for the weather
This is what I have learned. I live in Texas, but grew up in MI. What I do is make sure that I do all the baking the day before frosting. I have a cake due on Saturday, so I will bake tomorrow and make my frosting and frost on Friday. Then I will do final touches on Saturday.
That way, the kitchen is not adding to the heat. If I bake and decorate in the same day, I always have troubles.
As for humidity, a large de humidifier will do wonders. I know that it is $$ but you will really see the benefit if you do it!
Stephanie
I've been trying to convince my husband that living where we have 2 seasons (winter and road construction) is not a good idea but he thinks anything about 70 is really hot. AH yes, Stephanie. It is definitely hot & humid in our neck of the woods. I have to be at a bday party at a park in Plano on Saturday. GAG! Wishing you luck.... for Sat. Youdon't need it -cause your cakes are awesome!
Thanks you are too kind! Yeah, my daughter's birthday is in June....no outside parties here!
mbelgard I feel your pain, I was born in Dickenson and lived through many a blizzard, snow up to the eves.
Stephanie
I wonder if you could put dry ice near by the fan if that would work? Luckily I have central air. I think I would die without it. But yah, bake one day, put it in the fridge, frost and decorate the next or even two days before. Then keep everything in the fridge. I have an extra fridge to do this so that I dont have to take apart my fridge in the kitchen.
And it was in the 90's here today! After dinner we are going swimming!...sorry didnt mean to rub it in!
!
mbelgard I feel your pain, I was born in Dickenson and lived through many a blizzard, snow up to the eves.
Stephanie
My kids don't know the meaning of the word hot. I grew up all over the place and didn't know it could get so cold until my parents moved me to Minnesota when I was 12, I haven't seen summer since.
It's almost always hot and humid here in Hawaii! Great for the skin but terrible for cakes!
I only use Mousseline Buttercream. Either as the icing or as the undercoat for fondant. It holds up amazingly well with the heat. And I use butter no crisco. The butter firms up better when chilled. And chilling the cake while decorating helps.
I decorate in the dining room where the a/c is on.
HTH.
Teri
Oh, the heat and humidity have arrived here. Got here Saturday. I swear God threw the switch! It's hovering around 98 degrees. I do as much as possible early in the day, and if I must work in the afternoon, I turn on the air, HIGH. I've had everything melt, wilt, sag and droop. Heat and humidity are not for cakes, that's for sure. I use fondant on everything, it takes more heat and humidity than regular Buttercream icing. Smile and turn up the air conditioner.
You guys are breaking my heart, it is a cool 96 right now down from 99 looking forward to 103 on Saturday. I broke down and turned on the air because my grandson wanted to make pizza. I try to do all my cooking either very early (5 am) or very late after everyone is in bed so as not to heat up the house. Bake as much as I can on one day, wrap and freeze. Do icing another day and decorate on a third day. Do my decorating in the office (only have wall units) because it is a small area and gets really cold. I am expirmenting with bc recipies that I got from JanH to see what will hold up. Between the hours of 10am and 7pm we live in the pool or in the shower!!! Lots of bar-b-queing and baloney sandwiches for dinner. NO CAKE for us. Have lotts cake balls in the freezer if we start having cake withdrawels.
I have some advice.. don't move any further South!! 
The temp hasn't even broke the 90* mark here in Louisiana yet! We're lovin' the weather so far! That's weird that ya'll are all having this very hot weather. It's usually in the 90's here already. Maybe it won't be as hot as last year. I'm a school bus driver & the temps in the bus hit 122* in Aug. It was horrible. 
I do my icing (if I don't buy Sam's icing) a week in advance. Then on a the Saturday or Sunday before I have to do a cake I bake & freeze my cakes. Wednesday night before I need them I get my cakes out of the freezer to thaw at room temp. Thursday I crumb coat. Then Friday I ice & decorate. Then Saturday I do the last minute things. It stays pretty cool doing it this way. I also drop my a/c down to 69*. That helps! 
Good Luck Ya'll! Try to stay cool~
Wow! You guys are amazing! Thanks for the support. It just helps to know we're all pretty much in the same boat. Do you think it would be worth it to invest in an extra fridge? I've been debating it anyways and this might push me over the top. I would love to have a fridge dedicated to my cakes that I dont have to worry about.
There's another thread on here about buttercream recipes to withstand the heat. I didn't grab it but noticed (and from alot of other threads) that using all shortening will withstand better then butter or even 1/2 and 1/2. Use all shortening and then butter flavoring. I'm still not completely a fan of the flavoring but maybe for the summer people will have to put up with the difference in flavors.
Hey Customcakes by Sharon-
Where is Timberville? i am up in N. VA (Winchester), about 50 miles W. of DC. It's about 92 up here today!!
I use High Humidity Buttercream and have never had a problem even in August when is 100 degrees.
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2c crisco
3 Tbls. Dream Whip (powdered form whipped topping mix)
3 drops butter flavoring
1/2 tsp. Clear Vanilla
3 drops lemon or orange flavoring, optional
1/4 c. flour
1/2 c. milk
2lb powdered sugar
Mix salt, crisco, dream whip and flavorings together on high speed 4-7 min. until mix. resembles whipped cream. Add flour, 1/2 of the milk and 1/2 of the sugar, Mix until blended. Add remaining milk and sugar and mix until blended.
This is a crusting buttercream so I keep bowl covered with a damp towel to keep it from crusting while I decorating with it. make enough to ice and decorate a 1/4 sheet cake. I will post this in the recipe section also. Hope this helps.
I just experimented with this the other day. I decorated a dummy cake and sat it in the sun for 6 hours. The first 4 hours it was between 98-100 degrees and the last two hours it was 82-85 degrees. The icing did not melt the only difference was a slight fading of the pink roses. I took pics but can't get them to upload, sorry.
Val
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