Refrigeration???

Decorating By KutieKakes Updated 26 Jun 2010 , 8:04pm by bmarlow001

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KutieKakes Posted 26 Jun 2010 , 7:15pm
post #1 of 5

When are you suppose to refrigerate and when not to? I have a wedding cake this next week(my first). All white buttercream. I'm in Texas, so it's 100+. If I refrigerate, then I have noticed that the buttercream changes color(gets an antiqued look). If I don't refrigerate, then how long can it sit out and still be fresh? It's also a 4 tier, so the colder the better while putting it together. Any suggestions?

Just to throw this in also. I have noticed that when I refrigerate MMF, when I take it out and it starts thawing, it gets shiny and very sticky. There again, any way around this...or should I not refrigerate?

Thanks!

4 replies
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Mikel79 Posted 26 Jun 2010 , 7:23pm
post #2 of 5

The only time you should really fridge is when you have a icing/filling that has persihable ingredients in it. If you are just using a BC receipe that has no persibable's in it, it can stay out in room temp.

Fondant really should not be placed in the fridge. As you have already found out, it will develope condensation on it.

HTH
Michael

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NatalieMarie Posted 26 Jun 2010 , 7:26pm
post #3 of 5

Can't help with the buttercream as I don't use this very often, but I never refrigerate my cakes. The fondant will go all sticky because of the moisture from the condensation, don't you also find that this softens your fondant? I always cover my cakes and box them up allowing the fondant to harden and set and I've never had any problems.

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artscallion Posted 26 Jun 2010 , 8:03pm
post #4 of 5

I refrigerate all my cakes at one point or another. I live in a state that is usually in the 90s with unbearable humidity Through July and August.
FYI, the science behind condensation...

Cakes do not sweat. The moisture you see is not coming from the cake...or the fridge/freezer or thawing process. It is coming from the humidity in the warm air outside of your fridge, condensing on your cold cake when you take it out.

Water takes different forms depending on its temperature, from steam/humidity at the warm end, liquid in the middle range to solid/ice at the cold end.

When the humidity (warm/gas) in the air in your room hits the cool of your cake/frosting, the temperature changes the gas to a liquid which accumulates on the cool cake surface. Or if you frost a frozen cake, the cake chills the frosting making it the cool surface that turns the air's humidity into water, making it damp on the outer surface, unable to crust.

So, the cure for this problem is to prevent the humid air from getting to your cake/frosting when you take it out of the fridge. If the cake is in a box when you take it out, the humid/warm/gas cannot reach the cool surface of the cake. It will hit the outside of the cool box and condense there, leaving your cake surface perfectly dry. The cake will be safe as it comes to room temp.

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bmarlow001 Posted 26 Jun 2010 , 8:04pm
post #5 of 5

I am in the middle of making an all buttercream cake right now... since there is nothing in the center that has to be refrigerated I just leave it out on the counter. I have heard that this is okay up to like 2 days before the date the cake is due.

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