I'm making a wedding cake this weekend that is covered in fondant and would have royal icing swirly details on it. I need to have it refrigerated as much as possible because I use IMBC. I was planning on covering the cake with fondant, then pipe on the royal icing details then refrigerate the cake. Now I'm afraid that when I take out the cake out of the fridge that the condensation will melt away the royal icing. Any words of wisdom will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Hi
I have owned a business for 15 years and I would not put royal icing in the fridge , at all , it will definitely change it and when the cake is coming back to room temperature I am sure it will run etc
what is IMBC , why cant you keep it out of the fridge
IMBC is Italian Meringue Buttercream. It's made of eggwhites, all butter and sugar. I mean I could leave it outside for up to 8 hours but I wouldn't take a chance for it overnight. I would rather wait until the reception for it to keep out of the fridge for a longer period of time.
Yikes! What did I get myself into?! I guess I'll use gumpaste or fondant to make the details. It would take longer than piping it. arghh!
all my cakes are refridgerated because of fillings and IMBC and I use royal icing details, for lettering etc, I have not had any type of problem, I also live in humid region and that also seems to work. I am talking from the time of delivery to cutting I would guess 4-5 hours
Hmmm... I see some mixed reactions here... Very interesting.
In my experience, whenever I put royal icing in the frig it breaks down on me. It gets soft (mushy, the longer it stays in) and the colors run.
I wonder if it has to do with the royal icing recipe. The one I use most of the time has meringue powder in it.
Good luck! 
I better clarify - my royal icing recipe seems to be different from the ones used in the States 
I use fresh eggwhite with powdered sugar and a bit of acid, usually lemon juice. I just stir it with a big spoon. You can use pasterurized whites if you don't have organic salmonella free eggs available.
1 white
1 ½ cup powdered sugar (apprx... add little at a time, it can vary)
1 tsp lemon juice
Leave the eggs out for 24 hours, it will do chemical stuff to it, something with albumen I belive. Makes it better for piping.
This royal does dry very very hard though. Not good for glaze.
I better clarify - my royal icing recipe seems to be different from the ones used in the States
I use fresh eggwhite with powdered sugar and a bit of acid, usually lemon juice. I just stir it with a big spoon. You can use pasterurized whites if you don't have organic salmonella free eggs available.1 white
1 ½ cup powdered sugar (apprx... add little at a time, it can vary)
1 tsp lemon juice
Leave the eggs out for 24 hours, it will do chemical stuff to it, something with albumen I belive. Makes it better for piping.
This royal does dry very very hard though. Not good for glaze.
Not intending to hijack the post, but are you saying that you don't use a mixer to make the RI??
I use Wilton's royal icing recipe and put cakes in the fridge all the time. I live in FL so if it's humid, it's here and I have never had royal go mushy or run in any form. I do let the icing harden rock hard before I put the cake away though.
My instructor who has 20 years of owning bakeries does this too. She doesn't have a problem.
Let us know how your practice cakes come out. I'd love to know if I'm just fortunate.
Ok I decided to give it another go and put some royal icing onto fondant icing and stuck it in the fridge , and yep , it went to hell in a handbasket when it was coming back to room temperature
and its not humid and a lovely day , hmmmmmmm
maybe its to do with the difference in products , but my royal icing was rock hard and now isnt and has a different look to it
sort of see through
hmmmmm
strange isnt it
Suzy
Ok I decided to give it another go and put some royal icing onto fondant icing and stuck it in the fridge , and yep , it went to hell in a handbasket when it was coming back to room temperature
and its not humid and a lovely day , hmmmmmmm
maybe its to do with the difference in products , but my royal icing was rock hard and now isnt and has a different look to it
sort of see through
hmmmmm
strange isnt it
Suzy
Interesting because I followed this post yesterday and did a small test last night. My results were the same as yours (all goopy after an hour). Also I colored some the RI and it bled. Would love to know what the trick is or why people get different results.
Stop, please!!!
All the decorations based in sugar are suceptible to melt with the humidity caused by the condensation that is created when there are sudden changes of temperature from cold to warm (outside of the refrigerator) There are places that are dry or places that are humid, therefore you can´t generalize a rule. Few degrees in the temperature can make a big diference.
So please, do not do it.
Do you want to do it in a safe way? place your cake in a plastic bag, make sure there is no air coming in or out. Refrigerate it and when you need to take it our of the refrigerator, do not take it out of the bag untill you feel that the fondant does not feel cold anymore. Figure at least a couple of hours.
There will be no condensation that will melt your decorations
I live in a very humid place, and I have done it a number of times without any problem.
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