I live in Florida and as you may imagine, the weather is really hot now. I have a cake to make that will be covered in white Fondant.  I've heard some people saying that shortening frosting is good when the weather is hot.  Others that ganache will hold up to if you use a 3 to 1 ratio. What are your experiences? Do you prefer ganache or shortening for hot weather? Any tips?

Thank you!

D.

I like ganache, but I use a 4 to 1 ratio for white chocolate.  It does get a little too stiff sometimes, while I am frosting the cake, but I just pop it in the microwave for a few seconds to soften it back to the right consistency.  It makes for a really sturdy cake.  I have not experienced transporting a cake in Florida heat, but I use Yener's Way method for making a cool box and it works great.

I am here in Fla too!  It is hot, rainy, and super humid!  I sue WC ganache and use 3 to 1 all the time.  I think the 4 to 1 would work even better as Sandra said.  I also use BC.  I have below a copy of the, what I call, "Humidity Icing"  I got the recipe from this site and it works beautifully.( It came from IndyDebbie I believe) I have even tested it for 6 hours in 98 temp. looked just like I piped it.

1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2c crisco
3 Tbls. Dream Whip 
3 drops butter flavoring
1/2 tsp. Clear Vanilla
3 drops lemon or orange flavoring, optional
1/4 c. flour
1/2 c. milk 
2lb 10x sugar

Mix salt, crisco, dream whip and flavorings together on high speed 4-7 min. until mix. resembles whipped cream. Add flour, 1/2 of the milk and 1/2 of the sugar, Mix until blended. Add remaining milk and sugar and mix until blended. 

This is a crusting buttercream so I keep bowl covered with a damp towel to keep it from crusting while I decorating with it. make enough to ice and decorate a 1/4 sheet cake.

A few things I do different:

* I do not use the flour and have no issues

*The Dream Whip packs are 3 Tbsp 

* I mix the Dream Whip in a small bowl or glass with several Tbsp of milk.  Enough to get it wet and mix smooth, then add to shortening. This way I get no grit

I use this BC for all of my brides whom insist on BC and  must have outdoor weddings mid summer in 100+ heat and humidity here.

Good Luck

Thanks for sharing this recipe and giving your experience with it, TruCake.  It is practically as hot and humid here (in Tennessee) as it is in Florida.  I live in dread of someone wanting a wedding cake in the summer, outdoors or in a freakin' barn!

OMG!!  I can not tell you the flipping "Barn" weddings I have going on!! 5!!  It is just so horrible.  Not to mention the "Garden" weddings and parties!  The last 4 weeks it has rained every day and if it didn't the humidity was un-Godly where you want to die.  You can imagine how baking and fondant work has gone.  It had taken some of my fondant work over a week to dry.

This seems to be the season of Butter Cream!  I am super glad I found this recipe because I would shy away in the summer months anything to do with BC, if something was outside in the summer.  This too is why we added a special clause about outside weddings and weather etc., where we were not responsible if they choose to have a cake in dead heat or somewhere with no A/C.  Even our consults explain what heat does to BC or a cake in general.

Come on' people....it is CAKE!!  LOL

I had a wedding cake for last weekend in a barn, and it was so humid you could cut it with a knife.  Ended up raining before the service....Waiting on the pic from the photographer because I stacked it there and forgot to take my own pic, 12", 10", 8", and 6" tiers.  The bride didn't like the taste of the high humidity icing so I combined the high humidity and my regular buttercream.  For my regular BC, I use 1 stick of butter and a stick of Crisco.  Wasn't sure if it was going to hold up or not but it did fine and everyone liked the taste.  It crusted quickly and was so easy to work with.  Just thought I'd share since it worked and I have really struggled to find something that would work in the SC heat and humidity!