Hi everyone. I was just wondering what do you all do to beat the heat? I am new to decorating so I do not have any orders that I need to fill but I am so bummed out because it is too hot to do any baking! I want to try out the new recipes listed and am dying to decorate something but can't turn on my oven.... what do you do to "fill the urge"?

i'm bad i just crank up the air and turn on the oven... I have to make cupcakes tonight for a bake sale tomorrow, but I will, at least bake after dark. I know most people on here simply bake very early in the morning or at night and then decorate the following day.
Jen

sit here reading and posting on CC!

play w/ fondant --- i'm going to learn yet how to do all those cute animals, figures and stuff. so far, I'm really good at "blobs" (well, at least I got one sci-fi movie covered!)

I was stressin about this a few weeks ago. It definately helps to bake on one day and then decorate on another. Its worked out ok since then. Also sticking to early in the am seems to work well too. Of course... turning up the AC and not worrying about the bill is the BEST way to beat the heat! that's a heat flash face not and oops face

This is the time for **PRACTICE**
Get out a piece of styro or a cake pan and practice making different borders or some technique you haven't done before.
Have an order coming up in the near future? Practice the flowers needed, or just making the icing smooth on a 'cake' (pan or styro dummy).

I crank up the A/C and bake away - but usually in the evening.

I get up extra early (4:30am) and start baking and pray that I'll be done before 7:00 a.m.

I up the AC too....but my issue is with transporting the finished products if that is required. I'm in Kansas..and use alot of real butter in my icings. These do NOT travel well in the summer heat. In fact, I had a wedding cake's icing slide early in the spring from sunlight shining in my car windows while driving with the car AC cranked as high as it would go. Any solutions????

I make sure the a/c is on, turn on the exhaust fan above the oven and have a floor fan pointed at my direction...
usually keeps me cool enough..
If I know I am going to bake in the evening, I keep all the blinds shut all day so the least amount of sunlight (heat) comes in the house..
I need to live it a temperate climate...it is either freezing or roasting here..
I try and bake all I have to for the week and freeze so I won't have to put the oven on more than I have to...

Do baking in the wee hours of the morning one day, decorate early the next day. Our normal temp is between 109 and 117 lately. Humidity 44% today. spend the rest of the time in the pool. Next year I plan on stockpiling cakes in the cool months and freezing for the hot months. No more baking in the summer!!! Summer starts early here and lasts till October.

Phoov-
As far as what to do about the sun coming in the windows......I had a wedding cake on 7-7-07 and I got totes to put transport the cakes in. Some cakes were higher than the top of the top, so I took a poster board cut it to the size of the tote top and taped it in an arch over top of the cakes. Worked well.And the cakes were all fondant.

I had my first wedding cake 07/07/07. I had to ice one layer 3 times because the icing kept melting and sliding down the cake! It was a disaster! I had to quit until it cooled off some that night and finish! I don't have an air vent in my kitchen, and I have 3 huge windows in the dining room beside my kitchen that bring in all the heat from the afternoon sun. I am actually considering building a porch on the front where those windows are to prevent this problem!!

Geez! I thought It was hot here in South Texas. Dolfin- YOUR ON FIRE! maybe if you put your cakes outside they'll bake on their own.

Jump in my pool!!!! It's 116 degrees here today...thankfully no baking needed.

On the serious side, our A/C runs nearly 24/7 this time of year here in Arizona so baking on a hot day is normal to me. I just bring an upright fan into the kitchen to cool me off.

KimAZ

dolfin are you in Death Valley? Not sure where mecca is.........
I'm just the opposite......at almost 9,000 ft so it is very cool most of the time. Unusual for it to reach high 80s

I do like most others on here. I bake at night or early morning when temps are in the 60's or 70's. If I have to bake during the day; I make sure the house is cold. I keep the air set at about 73 degrees; when it's 90 outside with high humidity, it feels good & cool inside. In the summer I keep the blinds & cutains closed on the windows , the doors stay closed. I love sunshine. I just don't want my power bill to skyrocket.

Phoov...I came up with a good solution...you may think it's a little silly at first, but it works wonders for transporting cakes in the hot sun! If you don't already have a few dark colored bath towels or sheets, purchase some inexpensive ones (or dark trash bags can suffice just as well). If the day if very hot, and the sun very bright, I simply roll the edge of the towel/trashbag up in the windows to keep out the sunlight. I usually transport in a Ford Explorer with darkly tinted windows, but it is still sometimes not enough to keep out the sunlight heat through the windows. Naturally, I crank up the a/c (and usually wear a jacket while I'm driving there!) This method has proven itself many times. At first I was a little hesitant about doing it...worried what the customer would think about the towels/trashbags, etc., but then I realized they don't care what method you use...they just want their cake delivered in perfect shape! Hope this helps!

Suzian Cunningham
www.suzianscakes.com