I wanna ask this now before I even start making it for the first time.

I'm doing my first carved cake and I finished baking off the cakes today so I will let them sit tomorrow then on Tuesday I was going to carve and then do the buttercream around it and etc, then cover in fondant after.

Now, I was going to color the fondant as well as paint it with a regular brush. Not sure how long it will take as this will be my first time. Thing is that some parts in the house are kind of humid. Not much, but its pretty hot in some areas of the house. My bedroom has a window air conditioner so that room is pretty cool. Around low 70's if the temperature readout on the air conditioner is right.

I will have to make and roll the fondant in the kitchen, but when it comes to laying it on the cake and then painting it, can I do it in my room? Say it took me 3 hours to paint it, could I put it in the fridge partway through so it can get colder? Should I put it in the fridge at all once covered in fondant? Just so you know the filling is a swiss meringue buttercream mixed with about 10% or so of raspberry puree. What happens to fondant if I put in fridge? Would keeping the finished cake in my low-mid 70's bedroom be ok for it? I would likely have it done Wednesday and give it away Thursday. Likely not a 24 hr window b4 the person gets it. Could I make fondant ahead of time, wrap it up and put in fridge then take out and roll it and work it out after its been cold?

Basically how hot is too hot to store fondant and how cold is too cold? What happens when it hits either spectrum? Can I keep it in my Low-Mid 70's bedroom? I worry about the buttercream with that as well getting too soft and then cake weight becoming an issue (I will have 3 2in high cakes stacked) or in the case of the outside making the fondant slide or something cause its soft. I really hope I can store it in the fridge.

Fondant and fridges are not friends, generally speaking.

My personal experience: When my kitchen creeps up to 76 or 77, I start having sticking/stretching/tearing issues with rolling fondant. Not sure how accurate my thermostat is, but that's what it always says when I start having problems.

I would not store the fondant in the fridge after you make it. If you do, you'll be trying to knead rocks!

Cool room temp is best for working with it, so I would do as much in your room as you can (if your kitchen is hot).

Once you get it on the cake, fondant is more forgiving of temperatures - except refrigeration. Placing a fondant-covered cake in the fridge will give you condensation problems. It can be done, but it can take a few hours to go through its various sometimes scary-looking phases "un-condensing." (And you CANNOT touch it during this process.) So that's not a good idea to do while you're trying to paint. Refrigeration would *probably* be okay after it's all finished - but you'll still have that condensation thing to deal with as it returns to room temp again.

Also, the condensation/de-condensation process might have an effect on your painting, too. It might be just fine as long as you don't touch it. Maybe someone else with more experience with that can chime in.

Basically, fondant is happiest at the same temperatures people are. It likes cool - not cold.

Of course, your SMBC might have more issues. Any sliding would not be because of fondant, it would more likely be due to soft SMBC or lack of support.

The general rule of thumb is support (cake boards and dowels or something similar) for every 4" of cake. I've gotten away with stacking to 6" without support a couple of times, but I've also had a collapse at 5 1/2". I would personally err on the side of caution for this one.

HTH!

Thanks. I have a lot to think about.
I will make a test batch of fondant and use some BC and see what happens at various temperatures to it. Read about wrapping it in plastic then putting it in a box and that may help. idk I will do lots of testing and see how it reacts. Makes total sense it would sweat from fridge to warmth.

I was going to have my cake be btwn 5 1/2 and 6 inches high so I seem to be at the brink of the numbers you listed. Or just past it I guess.

Going to go make my test batch of fondant now. Will split it into 7 diff parts I will number with paint so I can also see how that reacts as well.
4 will be in plastic other 4 not. 1 will be from fridge to car, from fridge to my room, fridge to car in plastic, fridge to my room in plastic. 1 stay in my room (this will mostly test smbc), from my room to car, stay in room in plastic and from my room to car in plastic.