Buttercream Icing and Fondant...another question

Question

I am icing a cake in buttercream and then making flower pieces out of fondant and going to be attaching them to the cake as decoration. I need the cake for Sunday afternoon.

Having never worked with fondant before I practiced making some flowers and then let them dry for a couple days. However, when I picked them up they cracked in my fingers. Should I just ice my cake and cut the fondant and put it on the cake on Sunday morning without letting them dry, or will they bleed or slide down the sides of the cake? I wanted to do it all the night before but I heard that if I do that and refrigerate it, then the next day after I take it out of the fridge it will start melting and the colours will bleed.

THanks,

Still confused...

Answer 1

according to Wilton, you should not store a cake covered in fondant in either the refrigerator or freezer.  this is consistent with what I learned in school, which is sugar is hydroscopic, and under refrigeration it will lose it's shape and become brittle, or even melt, strangely enough.  if you remember to ice the cake before applying the fondant, and use a simple syrup on each layer, the fondant will seal in that moisture and help to preserve it for up to four days at room temp.  check out the Wilton rules for icings and cakes at http://www.wilton.com/decorating/icing/i...

Hope this helped!  Good luck!