You can see by my screen name that I have always hated the stuff.

I've finally gotten the courage to use it more...but...this weekend I had a cake collapse. I am convinced it was because of the heat. I doweled well and thought I had all my bases covered. Obviously not. I tired to keep the cakes as cool as possible without putting them in the refrigerator. Obviously that didn't work.

I really need help from the Fondant queens on this board. How do you deal with the heat? I am afraid to refrigerate after I apply the fondant. I've heard it gets horribly tacky.

How do all of you handle cakes in the heat? Do you stack on site? Do you fondant at the last minute so the cake stays relatively cool?

I really need some good advice on how to use this stuff and am hoping that fondant users will have some pity and give me some advice.

Thanks in advance.

i fondant my cakes still frozen or really chilled. it just seems to be so much easier with the chill coming from the inside out. take care that your kitchen isn't too humid or high temp when you start to do fondant...your hands will create enough heat, as it is. i've been furiously working before, trying to make a deadline, when my husband will walk in and comment on how stuffy it is...and i wouldn't have even noticed...just had to keep adding confectionary sugar into my icings and fondant! go figure!! sometimes it's simple stuff like that.

good luck!

Living here, I don't refrigerate or freeze a cake once I've put fondant on. I use foamcore for my cake rounds. They stay rigid and don't absorb the moisture or grease. I use the straw technique with a center dowel. It's always warm here ... 80's with lots of humidity.

hth

I love, love, love fondant...and don't like working with buttercream!! I live in Calif...where a July or Aug wedding can be very brutal in the heat, and to be honest, have less confindence in a buttercream cake for that reason rather than the fondant! The largest wedding cake I have made to date was a 4 tier...but for a very warm June wedding, had no trouble at all. In fact...I have not had any trouble. I did order 'Satin Ice'...which some people love, and I hated and would probably never try again...but as long as I stick to the Wilton fondant...I have every confindence in it! I did try to refridge a fondant cake once because of the timeline they needed it...and although right out of the fridge it was very 'sweaty' and 'tacky', after while it was fine. I don't advise refridgerating them for that reason...but don't normally need to...

I love, love, love fondant...and don't like working with buttercream!! I live in Calif...where a July or Aug wedding can be very brutal in the heat, and to be honest, have less confindence in a buttercream cake for that reason rather than the fondant! The largest wedding cake I have made to date was a 4 tier...but for a very warm June wedding, had no trouble at all. In fact...I have not had any trouble. I did order 'Satin Ice'...which some people love, and I hated and would probably never try again...but as long as I stick to the Wilton fondant...I have every confindence in it! I did try to refridge a fondant cake once because of the timeline they needed it...and although right out of the fridge it was very 'sweaty' and 'tacky', after while it was fine. I don't advise refridgerating them for that reason...but don't normally need to...

I love, love, love fondant...and don't like working with buttercream!! I live in Calif...where a July or Aug wedding can be very brutal in the heat, and to be honest, have less confindence in a buttercream cake for that reason rather than the fondant! The largest wedding cake I have made to date was a 4 tier...but for a very warm June wedding, had no trouble at all. In fact...I have not had any trouble. I did order 'Satin Ice'...which some people love, and I hated and would probably never try again...but as long as I stick to the Wilton fondant...I have every confindence in it! I did try to refridge a fondant cake once because of the timeline they needed it...and although right out of the fridge it was very 'sweaty' and 'tacky', after while it was fine. I don't advise refridgerating them for that reason...but don't normally need to...

I hate buttercream, just can't get it smooth enough. I love fondant but only use marshmallow fondant. I've refrigerated it many time and have never had a problem with sweating. I live in ca. and have never had any problems with fondant and the heat. Buttercream is another story...

I highly recommmend sugarshsack's Flawless Fondant DVD. She covers everything step by step and she is so easy to follow and understand.

I always use fondant, I hate buttercream...hehehe..but I always refrigerate my fondant. Once covered and decorated I refrigerate until right before I leave for the site and stack there. I use Toba Garrett's fondant.

I refrigerate my fondant-covered cakes and the condensation evaporates really quickly when they come back down to room temp. I live in Houston, where it's always hot and humid. My preference is to cover the cakes, stack 'em, and refrigerate the whole thing until delivery time.

Sorry about your cake disaster.

Thanks for the replies everyone!!

I'm glad that you took the time to help me out.

I'll try refreigerating and hope for the best with the condensation.