Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A

I have to make a 5 tier wedding cake sponge and chocolate. How soon in this this weather is it safe to put the butter cream or ganache on . It will be impossible to do it the day before or on the day as there is so much detail to include. I wiould like to do it a few days before. Lindy Smith always says a week to decorate and a week to eat on her maderia. Is that safe in this weather ?Any suggestions appreciated Thank you

I live in Australia it is always difficult in warm weather especially if you don,t have air conditioners which I know is not normal I the UK I am Welsh.if you have room in the fridge to keep your cakes ,5 days is ok if not you need to to keep in a cool place I suggest maximum of 3 days for crumb coat.

I also use a good quality compound chocolate in warm weather it s more stable.you can add choc oil flavours like orange if you want to improve the taste..less likely to go oily

Thank you for the reply. Can you tell me what the chocolate compound is? Thanks again 🙂

Hi cazhgs

Madeira cake will be fine in the heat. I don’t know which type of chocolate sponge you’re making, most have a shelf life of five days. If you look here http://www.cakeflix.com/blog/how-to-make-chocolate-mud-cake you’ll find a long shelf life chocolate cake. All your cakes can be crumb coated and kept cool ( not cold) in the fridge until ready for decorating. If the fridge is over cold it can have a drying effect on cake. Ganached cakes can be wrapped in several layers of cling film stored in boxes and placed in the freezer until you need them. Defrost overnight in the box in a cool room. While the weather is hot and humid it’s better to make a stiffer butter cream, less butter and more icing sugar. Once the cakes are decorated keep them in a cool room, run a fan if you have one to keep the air circulating. I would decorate the ganached cakes first, ganache is good for several days at room temperature. Your butter cream should be fine too, the sugar will act as preservative, just keep cakes in a cool environment. Hope all goes well.

I use Cadbury compound choc for the ganache but we don t get much choice in Australia.as a lot of companies won,t ship

Thank you all for the help, I really appreciate it. Mustn’t
complain about nice weather hey… Its lovely, just not for cakes x

I have the same problem 🙁 daughter’s wedding next sat and have 6 tiers to decorate!!!!! dreading it and thinking of hiring an air con machine as no room in fridge for that many!!!

Good luck Caroles cakes. I’m sure we will both do an amazing job 🙂 ive just bought an air con machine nice for the bedroom too 🙂

I think the air con is deffo the way to go 🙂 good luck with yours shame can’t share pics on here 🙂 xxx