Does this sound like a disaster waiting to happen?

Cakes removed from freezer yesterday, carved and covered in quite a thick layer of buttercream. The buttercream was all butter and very soft. I left it out overnight and it hasn't crusted at all. I've now put it in the fridge as I'm at work today. The weather is 21C/70F and humid today.

My plan is to bring the cakes out once my fondant is ready to go on and work in front of a fan. I'm worried about squishing the bc whilst smoothing the fondant if it is at all warm. I think they should then go back in the fridge overnight. I'll transfer it to my airconditioned car in the morning.

Has anyone got any better ideas?

AHi louglou, you sound like you're having the same trouble as I had last week. My buttercream was melting and my fondant was really sticky. I left the crumbcoated cake in the fridge til I was ready to cover it then put it in the coolest room with a fan on it. I was so tempted to put it in the fridge but was advised on the uk thread not to cos I had an edible image on it. I put it in a box and in the car with the A/C blasting and after an hours drive, going from 22 degrees to 18 degrees c, it was in much better shape to my surprise and relief. Not much help I know, maybe ask on the uk thread or maybe this will give you a bump. :-)

Yes, I've had this problem too and it's always worse on warm days. Some people advise putting a touch of cornflour in the buttercream to soak up excess moisture, but I think your best bet now would be to keep it as cool as possible and yes, use the air con! It really helps, as maisie pointed out above. Hope it turns out ok - they'll taste delicious I'm sure!

AI refrigerate all my cakes - even fondant covered ones. Yes, condensation will form on the fondant when the cake is removed from the fridge, but that will dry. Just don't touch the cake until the condensation is completely dry.

Next time I would suggest icing a fondant covered cake with white chocolate ganache instead of buttercream. The ganache holds up to the weight of fondant really well - much better than buttercream.