Piping Transportation Concern
Decorating By sweets2thesweet Updated 22 Jul 2018 , 11:17pm by sweets2thesweet
I have a wedding cake coming up. It involves detailed over-piping on top of cream cheese icing. In July. Help! I'm worried that the weight of the piping is going to cause the icing to sag, especially on a warm July day. I have to transport it an hour to the wedding. If I chill it firm before transporting, will the cake start to sweat, melting the royal icing piping? Any advice, hints, tips would be greatly appreciated!
Because of the heat, I would substitute an American Buttercream with cream cheese flavoring (which is really good, by the way) or -K8memphis's recipe (on this site) for a mock cream cheese frosting made with (I think) white balsamic vinegar. Real cream cheese frosting really hates heat and humidity.
Not because of the temp, but I would never pipe royal icing on a buttercream. It will disintegrate from the moisture, that, or slide right off. I'd research that for sure. I once made royal icing eyes (that were dry) and put them on buttercream and the fat and/or moisture from the buttercream absorbed them right up and made a mess. Never again.
I've piped royal onto buttercream before without any problems, but not to this extent. Do you think it would hold up better if I did the piping in buttercream, and then just chilled it very firm before transportation? That would limit my piping designs, but might be a better option in the long run.
................ would never pipe royal icing on a buttercream. It will disintegrate from the moisture, that, or slide right off................
I also have often piped royal onto b'cream w/o problems. Oh, it might have absorbed some of the fat changing the color (white to an off-white) but it never melted into a mess. Not sure how much over-piping you are refering to but I suggest you do it all in b'cream. I mean are we talking Lambeth type over-piping or just one layer on top of another?
Ideally some Lambeth designs, but I'm not sure that's practical in any scenario without a fondant base. Two to three layers, probably. I'd like to include some drop strings, but is that feasible in buttercream?
you can use buttercream iced cake to do Lambeth -- drop strings of course -- you need to keep it climate controlled on the delivery -- refrigerate it so it's cold through and through -- then seal it in a corrugated cardboard box for the car ride --
K8memphis, am I okay to do the piping with Royal Icing, or would it be better to pipe it with buttercream?
either one is cool -- i would probably use buttercream depending on how many layers -- you could start with buttercream and switch to royal too
I have done a couple of Lambeths in b'cream. Here are the links : https://www.cakecentral.com/gallery/i/1271604/lambeth-in-chocolate and this one: https://www.cakecentral.com/gallery/i/2104009/lambeth-practice-cake There were done with all b'cream several years apart. I crusting b'cream would do you just fine. The white one was done w/an all shortening b'cream as it was to be displayed for 10 days in a hall w/o temp control. Having been made on styro & stored in my basement caused the icing to crack before I could enter it into the fair :( I have heavy hand pressure/squeeze. The drop strings were from tip 3. Don't remember now what other tips I used. Hope that helps you.
sweets2thesweet Whatever medium you decide to use for your cake, you might consider making yourself a cake box for transporting. I have a good decorator friend whose husband made the box I’m posting here. She does a lot of summer weddings, and has had to drive in considerably humid weather, and some distances. My friend said it works wonderfully. She swears by it.
Thank you so much everyone for your advice!! I'm much less stressed about this cake. :)
It made it! Thanks everyone for your tips and advice!
Sweets2thesweet, this is breathtaking! Beautiful colors and piping!
love love love love love it -- and so well done of course too -- nostalgic favorite
Thanks, everyone! I went ahead and used royal icing for the piping. I made my cream cheese frosting a little stiffer than normal and then chilled it firm before attempting to pipe anything, and I kept it in the fridge between various layers of the piping. I chilled it overnight and then cranked the ac full blast for the drive down before sticking it in the fridge at the location for another hour before putting it together. Luckily it all came together beautifully! And fortunately it was a short wedding ceremony. I don't know how long it would have lasted in the July heat. As it was, I was very pleased (and relieved!) with how it turned out.
And luckily we live in a desert climate, so I was just fighting the heat and not humidity!
Wedding cakes are just so plain to me these days...I adore the piping you did. If you put a plain ribbon on a smooth cake and call it a wedding cake, to me, it just seems not very pretty. Especially when you put it up against a bride and her groom all dressed up in fancy duds. This type of cake you did, with the intricate piping, just seems to match the bride and her groom. Gives the cake an overall romantic feel, don't you think?
This cake was definitely a fun departure from the wedding cakes I usually make, and I loved getting to do the gorgeous classic piping. The bride was older, this was a second marriage, so it was fun to do a throw-back to the more classic styles.
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