Hello,

So we have an old fashioned cold room (wine room) in our basement and up till now I always keep my cakes in there because it's suuuuper cool and just fine for my cakes.

However, through the months of May to August it gets warmer in there and not good for cakes with cream filling etc.

So this weekend I had about 5 cakes to do and put them all in fridge but upon taking them out they all began to sweat I make my own MM fondant and I DO put cornstartch in it to prevent sweating so I don't know why this is happening.... how I prevent this from happening? I am so embarassed to deliver a shiny/sticky/sweaty cake!

Thanks in advance!

You might try placing it in front of a fan on low speed. If you have time, it should dry it out overnight if it isn't to humid. What happened is the room temperature is so much warmer then the frig temperature is causes the cake to condensate. Think glass of ice water on a counter when it's warm and how it develops beads of sweat on the outside of the glass, same principle. Is it possible to rub/dab on a little cornstarch to dry it up, or is it too wet? You may not want to try this if it is too wet.

Edited: I just realized you said it had cream filling. You may have to keep it refrigerated until time of consumption then to prevent further sweating. If your filling is perishable, you can't very well leave it out on the counter with a fan blowing on it. This is one reason I don't do fillings. I don't have refrigerator space to store, and I am always afraid the cake will sweat when removed from the frig. I did a green cake in buttercream for my grandson once and it bled all over the place when I was a newbie. Once I figured out my mistake, I said, "no more refrigerating cakes for me". Nothing perishable on my cakes.

I had a cake do that too this week. I had to put my cake in the fridge and when I pulled it out it began to sweat and have the same sticky shiny thing going on Mine was covered in MFF not MMF. If anyone has some tips that would be great! Especially now that the weather is hot : )~

thanks!

anyone else with more advice? There has to be a way to refrigerate... they do it all the time at bakeries or are their bakerie places just super cold so the cake doesn't sweat when it's taken out of the fridge?

The only way to fully prevent sweating is to have the cake be the same temp as the room that it's in.

"Sweat" on a cake is caused by bringing a cold cake into a warm room with humidity present. As the warm air hits the cold cake, the humidity in the air condenses (forms water drops) that sit on the surface of the cake. The sugar in the icing on a cake is hygroscopic (attracts water), so together you get sugar syrup.

If the whole cake is covered in it and dried with a fan, you won't see any damage as long as the surface hasn't been touched.

If the cake has been kept in a box, wrapped with saran & foil, gotten cold, and then re-warmed, still in the wrapped box, the warm humid air can't get to it and therefore, can't condense on it. Once the cake is at the temp of the room, it can be put "out in the air", and unless the humidity is way, way up there, there won't be any condensation on the surface.

Rae

ok would a blow dryer set to cold work to dry the condensation? I don't have a fan but I can definately invest in one if need be.... just thought i'd try it.

??? thoughts ??

It happened to me last week and even my room temp figures softened (previously firm) from the humidity. No harm done, just a pain. Nothing worked to fix it. Luckily the customers who were transporting the cake were a former cake designer and a chef. The cake designer said he didn't know what I could have done about the figures, flowers, etc. I made them out of fondant because I wanted everything to be able to be eaten and taste good. Any suggestions anyone? I know I could have used gumpaste so I am asking about fondant accents.

If you add tylose/gum tex/cmc/gum trag to your fondant, it is much less susceptible to humidity. It remains edible.

Rae

Yes I love adding tylose to my fondant for figures it works so great!

Any advice about the blow dryer? Do I just set it to cool and go for it?

Thanks!

Blakes, thanks, I will try that. I would never use all fondant for delicate pieces... I use gumpaste. But this was an Alice in Wonderland cake and I wanted everything to taste good. I use only Fondarific and I have found that people like to eat it, so I have not been mixing it. Will it make it too hard to eat? I would only use it in humid conditions.

It's a waste of product to add gums to Fondarific/Duff's fondant because it's a high fat content/candy melt based product and the gums can't do their job to stiffen it and encourage quick drying times.

Adding the gum(s) to fondant doesn't really change the flavor.

Rae

Thanks. I know it is the softest. I just like working with it. Being a new shop, I want people to change their minds about fondant and people are really eating the Fondarific. Not the whole piece, but a substantial bit. I have no scratch competitors and my cakes are much higher in price because of my ingredients. The myth of the nasty fondant that is actually very good is one more selling point for me.