Hi-
I have a wedding cake for tomorrow afternoon and I have buttercream icing with milk, royal icing birds, fondant, etc....just wondering if I refrigerate the cake if all the fondant decos will get soggy OR can I leave it out for another 30hrs? the temperature in the house is around 75 and if it gets any warmer I'll turn on the A/C...

What do y'all think???

I always refrigerate every cake but you're gonna get different opinions on this one.

I always refrigerate every cake as well. I don't like to take any chances on the icing or anything going bad. Some say that the high sugar content in the icing prevents the butter and/or milk from going bad but I'd rather be safe than sorry. Also, it will keep the cake from settling too quickly which is also better if the cake is covered with fondant...usually a warm cake starts to settle and fondant buckles.....not good for photo ops.

my only concern about refrigeration is that I'm wondering about fondant flowers and royal icing birds getting soggy? What do you think?

Mine never do, but then I try to make sure the a/c is on my house AND my car, and then of course hopefully on at the destination, so that the condensation is kept at a minimum.

The more humid your area, the more risk there may be, but I personally have never had anything get soggy. Sometimes a bit wet, and it has to dry, but not enough to ruin any decorations.

Can you leave off the birds and place them on the morning of delivery? I have never had problems with chilling cakes with royal icing flowers but the birds might be more delicate.

Yes, I should have left the birds off, in retrospect.....I actually had planned on doing that, but then I got carried away with the whole decorating thing and put them on....darn impatience!!!!

Well, it's in the fridge for now...I'll keep an eye on it this evening and if it looks like things are getting soggy, I'll take it out...

Thanks for all who replied. It's always nice to know there are people out there who know what they're doing and who are willing to share with those of us who don't!

Thanks again!

Like Kitagirl stated, you'll get different opinions. I never refrigerate my cakes. From a lot of different baking sites, I have read that refrigerating cakes actually will cause them to stale faster. If your house is cool enough then you will be fine and your cake will not get that warm to cause all sorts of problems. Also, it helps with the drastic changes in temperature when transporting your cakes. This is when a lot of frosting, fondant, etc. problems happen IMHO.

I've never had stale cakes LOL....but some people say it does...who knows... I do know that cold cake "tastes" stale but when warmed back up to room temp its moist and perfectly fine. Not sure if the "stale cake" people have been eating the cake while cold...

When we had to refrigerate a cake overnight at the bakery that had fondant decor on it we always put it in a box and wrapped it tightly with saran wrap so as to keep humidity at a minimum. worked like a charm.
People who say refrigerated cake makes it 'stale' faster are eating cold cake. when cake is cold it has a drier texture. Left to warm to room temp it is very moist. If you can avoid putting the fondant until the day of delivery that would be best, but you can refrigerate. Oh, and you don't have to wrap it in a box if it's in the fridge only a few hours.

I NEVER refrigerate my cakes. I don't use perishable fillings so that I don't have to.

The only time I've had an issue with a cake is when I refrigerated one. I know that Edna has said that she never refrigerates a cake once it's filled and Indydebi has stated that she never refrigerates her cakes either. I'm only using them for examples because they both have decorated more cakes than most of ever will.

Actually it isn't people that are eating cold cake saying that's it's stale, it's that refrigerating a cake speeds up the process for a stale cake. Indydebi posted a link on a thread about this the other night. Maybe she'll see this and post again. Freezing cakes slows down the process. This is why many do this before icing and decorating their cakes. Refrigerating cakes speeds up the process that makes a cake stale.

Well, I've never had a cake that's been refrigerated become stale. Of course I don't refrigerate them for more than a day and a half max anyway. I freeze my cakes after baking and start frosting them while they're frozen. It's easier. They thaw slowly in the refrigerator under a nice blanket of butter cream. When they come to room temp they're very moist and fresh tasting. I have to refrigerate because I use only real butter in my butter cream and it needs to stay solid. I wouldn't decorate a cake and keep it in the fridge for several days...then it WOULD get stale--not to mention the fondant getting icky.

I am going to recommend those Polar Fresh containers again. Really seem to help with controlling the humidity in the frig and crisper drawers.

I have had a cake with royal icing decorations on it go soggy after refrigeration...they were RI flowers and went completely flat. I never put RI decorations on the cake and in the fridge anymore after that time. I'd keep an eye on them.

Hi all -
Thanks for all your advice and responses. The cake ended up in and out of the fridge for about 24hrs. I left it there overnight and the birds did not go soggy - thankfully.

I'm not sure I can handle the stress of wedding cakes! lol
...although, I must say, that since I'm GIVING them away, I don't imagine that they have their expectations really high! I can't imagine the stress that must come from SELLING them!!!

go stale? Gads, how long do you keep your cakes in the fridge? I make my cakes hours before delivery (thus never sleep on friday nights) and they are in the fridge maybe 6-8 hours at the most. Moist as can be. THey are easier to ice cold, easier to transport and they just LOOK better. (i also use butter in my buttercream) My biggest problem is if its a hot day, no matter how much the AC is run in the car or the venue, I get blow outs. Haven't figured a way to solve those yet.
I put my gum paste flowers, my royal icing flowers, my sugar veil decos, ribbon, everything on the cake and into the fridge, NO soggy. Maybe its your fridge? (mine are commerical, set at 38 degrees)