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In 13 years of making cakes, I've
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learned that temperature plays a huge
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role in decorating with buttercream.
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Condensation, melting cakes, drooping
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decorations. Here are all of my tips and
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tricks to prevent buttercream from
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melting. For some techniques, like
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spatula painting or buttercream
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transfers or stencils, the cake needs to
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chill in the fridge first. When you move
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a cake from the fridge to a warm room,
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you'll notice tiny droplets of
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condensation appearing on the frosting.
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This is sometimes called cake sweat, and
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it happens when a cake moves from a cold
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place to a warm one. So, the cake is
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cold on the inside from the fridge, and
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the frosting on the outside warms up
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faster. To fix it, you can dab the cake
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with a paper towel to absorb the
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droplets. As the inside of the cake
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slowly warms up to match the temperature
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on the outside of the frosting, the
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condensation will stop, like you can see
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here. To prevent condensation, work in a
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cool room. So, the difference in
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temperature between the fridge and the
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room is minimal. What if you don't have
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a cool room? When you decorate a chilled
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cake in a warm room for a long time, the
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condensation can get so bad it makes the
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colors on the cake run. To prevent this,
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put the cake back into the fridge for 10
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minutes. As soon as you notice tiny
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droplets of condensation appearing,
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don't wait until they turn into big
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drops. Decorate some more. Move the cake
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back to the fridge for 10 minutes. Some
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more decorating, some more chilling. And
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this will keep the cake cool enough to
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decorate without condensation.
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Sometimes what's making your buttercream
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melt is the warmth of your hands, not
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the room. When you grip a piping bag for
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techniques that take a while, your hands
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will soften the buttercream and your
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piping will have less definition and
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more blobiness. Here's a hack to fix it.
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Put the piping bag in the freezer and
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set a timer for 1 minute. Don't leave it
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any longer or the buttercream will
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freeze hard against the metal piping
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tip. After a minute, the buttercream
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will be firmer and your piping will be
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neat again. The most common reason for
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melting buttercream comes after frosting
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and decorating the cake when it's on
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display at an event or gathering. Just
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like butter melts in the microwave,
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buttercream melts in hot weather. If you
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know a cake is going to be sitting
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outside on a hot day, one option is to
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substitute half of the butter in the
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buttercream recipe for shortening.
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Crisco, Tracks, there are lots of
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different brands in different countries.
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Shortening is much more stable in hot
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weather than butter. Using half the
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amount of butter will still give you the
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buttery flavor. And a hack to disguise
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the flavor of shortening is to add half
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a teaspoon of clear vanilla, which
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brings out the butteriness of the
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buttercream without that bite of
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shortening. You can use this exactly the
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same way as buttercream you made with
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butter to frost a cake, tint it any
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color, get really smooth frosting, or
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use it for piping. and half butter, half
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shortening buttercream will hold up much
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better in the sun. Look at how well it
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holds its shape, while the all
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buttercream melts. Obviously, choose the
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coolest place you can for your cake.
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Shade is better than direct sunlight,
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which will make a cake melt even faster,
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and a breeze or fan will help keep a
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cake cool, too. Subscribe to my channel
3:04
for a new cake decorating tutorial every
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week and visit my cake school on
3:09
to learn hundreds of cake decorating
3:11
techniques and designs with my online
3:12
courses and memberships. See you there.
