Hi - I'm new here. Well, sort of - I've been a lurker on and off for a couple of years! I love, love, LOVE this site.

Most of my experience is in stuff like baking biscotti, cooking, roasting coffee - but I want to decorate cakes so bad... I always bake my cakes from scratch, and I've done buttercream frostings and ganache in the past. No elaborate decorations...

Anyway - here we are in the middle of a heat wave (I should call it a heat & humidity wave, esp. here - I'm near the ocean), I have no a/c, and my grandson's first birthday is Sunday. My son's paycheck got diverted to our old address (we just moved) so we are very short of money - I'd like to make an impressive, brightly colored cake to bring along, since we'll both have to wait to give him his birthday presents.

With these weather conditions, do you think the Faux Fondant recipe would hold up better than fondant (esp. since I've never made or used fondant before, lol)?

The time factor is a problem, as is getting any ingredients that can't be purchased at a grocery store or WalMart. As for me - I'm up for the challenge!

In the meantime, after I walk my dogs and make some pizza (yeah, in this heat - short of food right now, and I have all the ingredients... plus, I make a mean pizza. ) I'll continue reading the archives for any pointers/ideas.

Thanks so much, guys! Your cakes - and all of you - are awesome!

Try marshmallow fondant and Indydebi's buttercream. You can get all the ingredients at the grocery store and the combination holds up fairly well to heat and humidity.

Thanks, Texas Rose! (Bet you know about heat and humidity there) I'll give it a try... will let you know how it goes.