Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A

Hi, I like to make my own lemon curd and jam for cake fillings. Do my cakes therefore need to be kept in the fridge to keep them safe (particularly with curd because of the eggs)? If I fill a cake with buttercream and lemon curd and use fondant to cover it and store in the fridge, won’t the fondant sweat when I take it out? Is using shop-bought curd safer/could I then leave it at room temperature? I prefer to store cakes at room temperature ideally but obviously need to keep my customers safe!

Hi Leapyleo

Personally, I wouldn’t recommend using homemade curd if the cake is to be stored at room temperature. Store bought lemon curd contains sulphite preservative, however, the storage information indicates that once opened, the curd should be refrigerated.

Refrigerating fondant covered cakes will sweat once exposed to room temperature. There is information already posted in Q&A. Search for ‘refrigerating fondant covered cake’ to see comments.

I would be inclined to mix store bought curd into the buttercream as sugar acts as a preservative. Homemade jam should be fine as long as it is not a reduced sugar recipe.

Hope suggestions help. 🙂

Edit: alternatively, another option would be to make egg free curd. To see recipes, search on google for vegan lemon curd.