Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A

Hi all i am an absolute beginner at this but every cake i have made on this course has turned out brilliant and i’m starting to get a few orders (yay) i am hoping to be able to do this full time however there are a few slight problems i was hoping somebody could help me with. i live in greece on rhodes island and in a month or so the temperatures will start getting into the 90’s in july august its higher unbearable! how on earth will i make any cakes (ganache buttercream) ? how will this affect the fondant? also it costs 8.90 euros here for a kilo of renshaw fondant!!!!! is there a supplier anybody could recommend that would ship to greece? at the moment i have friends and family bringing me over tesco fondant and asda chocolate in their suitcases.

Hi ‘m a beginner as well I watch the American cake shows where they work in the hot sun. They seem to make the ganache cakes a day before or even on the day and fridge them, they also have a refridgerated van to deliver the cakes in. I would probably say make them in a nice cool place and when you deliver them try and keep them in a cooler box,depending how big you are making them I suppose. Other than that it sounds wonderful out there and going to do really well 🙂

If you have friends or family visiting, or if you buy ingredients online, you can get butter flavouring here http://www.thecakedecoratingcompany.co.uk/catalog/. Look at the new food flavourings called Just Peachy which come in 2oz tubs and cost either £9.50 or £9.99. That would be better than liquid flavours for easier storage. You may even be able to get something in the more major cities in Greece. This site http://www.lovelytutorials.com/forum/ I think is Greek (not a 100% sure) and might be worth contacting to see whether you can be pointed in the right direction for suppliers in your area. There must be quite a few wedding planners as well who could possibly be a good tap for information. The Greeks know how to do weddings, I expect they will have lots of contacts. To begin with though I think your family and friends in the UK are first ports of call. I really hope you find a way of getting your supplies. if you’re seriously considering going into business, the Pro Membership information here http://www.cakeflix.com/how-to-run-a-cake-decorating-business is well worth a look at. Rules in Greece may be different but the basics of business are the same and the pro courses can definitely provide the guidance you may need. Good luck x

Hi pistolaki

The Americans use white vegetable fat and butter essence to make butter cream. Vegetable fat has a higher melting point than real butter, have a look here at what they have to say http://cakecentral.com/t/32441/best-frosting-for-humid-outdoor-wedding. You can search in google for more discussions on decorating in hot and humid countries. Ganache is chocolate so by nature, in the heat it will either melt or soften so best kept as cool as possible. A ganached cake can be placed in the fridge until ready to enrobe with fondant. Once the fondant is on it can’t be refrigerated and air conditioned room is a must. In this tutorial http://www.cakeflix.com/online-cake-decorating-courses/vintage-pearl-cake#ingredients Paul has used http://www.cakeflix.com/questions/carma%C2%92s-massa-ticino-tropic. This sugar paste has been developed for use in hot humid climates, as I understand, it can be refrigerated. In the link there are two different sites where it can be purchased, however, it is expensive and there would be shipment charges on top of the cost. I believe Satin Ice can also be placed in the fridge, at least that is what the Satin Ice rep said at the cake show in Birmingham. As an experiment, you could try fully decorating a small cake with the Renshaws icing, put it in a sturdy box or a box within a box then refrigerate overnight to see whether the moisture damages the decorated cake. If moisture forms on the icing don’t touch it as it will spoil, let it dry in a cool room until the dew evaporates.
As mentioned by michala, the transportation would also have to be as cool as possible, having the AC on full blast would possibly help. The cake shows in America use low humidity fridges which will not form moisture on the cakes. The other point of concern would be the venue, whether it would be air conditioned or not. I have read in various blogs that dry ice can be used for keeping things cold in hot climates. I have no experience of dry ice personally. I have seen it used in Greece by ice cream sellers, perhaps someone locally could advise you on it’s usage. I do know that if you carry this substance in your vehicle, windows must be slightly open to enable oxygen to enter the transport. There will be a lot of information on dry ice if you search it in google. Dry ice has to be handled with extreme caution as it will burn skin in the same way as scalding. These are just some suggestions for you to research and by no means advice on which for you to act upon. We have many members on this site who hail from hot and humid countries who will be better qualified to advise and I’m sure will help out with tips. Happy researching!

thank you so much for taking the time to reply 🙂

Hi Pistolaki,

Why dont you try making your own fondant? I’ve never tried – but it might be worth an experiment – just to see 🙂

i’ll look into it but i quite like the idea @madewithlove came up with regarding the white vegetable fat and butter essence although the odds of me finding butter essence her or white vegetable fat for that matter are slim :/ living on a small greek island can sometimes be extremely frustrating !!! BUT this will not beat me i want to make pretty cakes and pretty cakes i shall make! …… somehow

thank you so much @madeitwithlove i’m so excited to order in some of those flavours!! i want them all !! haha x that second site i think is russian :/ i found a wilton supplier in athens so i will get my husband to give them a ring them and have a chat … also we went to the local supermarket today and i found flora white!! whoop 🙂 think it was about 3 euros for 2.50 grams x its a start. there is a 1st birthday party this weekend and i will take along a cake ( the whole village will be there so its a perfect opportunity to attract attention 😉 ) thing is i was going to do the teddy but the mother is doing a lion king theme so i’ve been researching all week and am going to take inspiration from all the nice ones i found on pint rest and google and come up with my own version this my big chance to put myself out there so i need this cake to be my best one yet.. (my 5th cake ever! haha) fingers crossed xx