Can You Refrigerate An Mmf Covered Cake?
Decorating By gimmesugar Updated 30 Jul 2009 , 4:39am by __Jamie__
I'm making a wedding cake with mousse fillings so I want to keep it in the fridge until serviing time but I've read that you can't refridgerate a fondant covered cake. Why
You can. Some MMF's will sweat though, and the moisture on the sweat can cause the colors to run. MacsMom uses a MMF recipe that doesn't give her problems. I have had sweating issues with plain old marshmallow+water+p.sugar mmf so now I use Michele Foster's recipe and it refrigerates great. Commercial fondants refrigerate fine too.
I am so glad you told me about the "sweating" problem because that's the last thing that comes to mind when thinking about fondant.. I mostly think about it being dry. What causes it to sweat? I'm thinking about airbrushing so I definitely don't want any sweat that might run the colors.
I don't use MMF, I use MFF, but sweating is sweating, so there it is.
I refrigerate all cake, airbrushed or not, but I go really light on the airbrush. Not gooped on there. When it comes out of the fridge, it goes in front of a strong fan to help it dry off quicker. I have never had any problems. 
The key is to not touch anything on that cake until it has had time to get dry. As tempting as it may seem to try to mop up condensation, don't.
As far as what causes the sweat, it's simply condensation. Moisture in the air hits cold cake and condenses on the surface...which in this case is a fondant wrap; that's why Jamie's fan trick works. For whatever reason some recipes are more prone to collecting condensation than others. I think it's particularly bad with MMF because marshmallows, when they get wet, just turn to goo. The other recipes (meaning, commercial fondants or the MFF recipe) are much more resistant.
The worst problems you'll have with it is on humid days where it cannot evaporate quickly, or if you've stored it somewhere where the moisture cannot escape. The problem really dogged me when I was foolish enough to store cupcakes in a tupperware container in the fridge. The moisture had nowhere to go but back into the fondant. It wasn't pretty!
However if you color lightly and use the techniques Jamie suggests, the moisture will evaporate before it has a chance to ruin your cake. Have you seen her cakes? Follow her suggestions and I am sure you'll be fine! 
What is MFF? So I can lightly airbrush the fondant and pop the cake in the fridge? Then pull it out and fan-dry it? Or would you suggest pulling it out of the fridge the morning of and then airbrushing it? I'm so glad I asked, otherwise I may have ruined someone's wedding!!! :O
MFF is the trickily similar (to MMF) acronym for Michele Foster's Fondant. The recipe is in the recipes section here on CC. Be sure to only use one L in her name if you search for it. It is rather easy to make; a few more steps than MMF but it tastes better and holds up so much better, I don't think I'll ever go back to MMF. If you make it I would be sure to incorporate enough powdered sugar; I used her suggested amount and had a devil of a time working with it as it was too stretchy. It turns out it just needed more PS. The only "weird" ingredient it uses is glycerin but that can be found wherever you buy Wilton stuff.
I'll let Jamie or someone else answer your airbrushing questions!
What is MFF? So I can lightly airbrush the fondant and pop the cake in the fridge? Then pull it out and fan-dry it? Or would you suggest pulling it out of the fridge the morning of and then airbrushing it? I'm so glad I asked, otherwise I may have ruined someone's wedding!!! :O
Well, I personally wouldn't wait until the day of, in case your color didn't turn out right, not much time to recover and spray again, eh? And yes, lightly spray, wait a minute and let it dry a bit, go back over, let it dry a bit, go back over again, whatever you need to do, one coat if you want light coverage, whatever you personally need. Just don't let it get thick in places, as this is the first place where it will want to run when it gets moist from the humidity.
And if you are worried at all after you take it out of fridge, yes, put it under/in front of a high powered fan and let that sucker blow blow blow. You should be good to go in about an hour. Maybe less. Make sure your a/c is on too.
I usually dont put any of my fondant cakes in the fridge because most of the filings i use dont need it...but this past weekend i had a cake with lemon filling and i had the finished cake in the fridge all night and during the day leading up to the party and it was fine i didnt have any problems with it sweating (which i was so so worried about)!
What if I just color my fondant while I'm making it instead of airbrushing it? Will I still have problems with sweating making the color run off? I think I'll try Michele's fondant.
Jamie and Ceshell: you two are AWESOME!!!!!! You both have saved me from what could've been a sweaty nightmare! haha
What if I just color my fondant while I'm making it instead of airbrushing it? Will I still have problems with sweating making the color run off? I think I'll try Michele's fondant.
Jamie and Ceshell: you two are AWESOME!!!!!! You both have saved me from what could've been a sweaty nightmare! haha
Sure! I only airbrush when it's a dark color, like black or red, or for specific purposes. Any other time, I knead that color in! And no, shouldn't make any diff when it comes to sweating. It's gonna sweat unless you have zero humidity, which I doubt anyone does this time of year.
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