For all of you making wedding cakes and speciality cakes, I wanted to share a method of drying them out after they have been refrigerated.
I was recently involved in a discussion about fondant cakes and one of the concerns was refrigerating the cake and how wet it could get.
Why This Happened
The only cake I had collapse in 23 years was a fondant cake before we started refrigerating them. Because we used Italian buttercream to fill and finish the cakes (at least most of them), and because it is very light and melty in hot situations the fondant would sag if left at room temperature when the weather was warm. But if put in the refrigerator overnight, it would condensate mightily and could be very wet and ugly upon standing at room temperature.
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The Fix
So what I figured out was to refrigerate it overnight, then several hours before delivery we would put it in a heavily air conditioned room and surround it with heavy duty fans to dry them out before delivery. It worked every time. We had the best of both worlds. A delicious buttercream under the fondant to insure a good tasting cake. No water spots were ever visible and the cake looked as though we just covered it. Here is a photo of what we did.
Maribel Garrabrant says
Helen, thank you so much for sharing your recipes, I will be making the Santa Fe Brownies this Friday for a group of 70 teens, can't wait to taste them!
hfletcher says
Hi Maribel. You are indeed ambitious. One hint to make your life easier. After you divide the batter and put the walnuts in and pour it into the pan. Take the second pan or pans (I am sure you are making more than one pan) and set it over hot water so it doesn't thicken up too much to pour over the cheesecake layer. This is what we did at the shop when we made 12 pans at a time. The second chocolate will set up if left too long and putting it over hot water will keep it pourable. Just don't let it get too, too liquid or it will sink to the bottom of the pan. Please let me know how these worked for you.