My neighbor's daughter is having an outside wedding and had asked me to do a cake that looks like her daughter's dog for that day. It was going to be for the bride and bridesmaid's lunch, but now she has decided to take it to the wedding. It has been between 85-90 degrees here and we have lots of humidity (I am in the south.)

I use 1/2 butter and 1/2 shortening in my reicpe and I was wondering what I could do to help it hold up in the heat? I really don't want to change the flavor very much. This dog will have fur made with the grass tip and I can just see it falling off the sides of the cake. HELP!

Use hi-ratio shortening in place of regular shortening or use Val's High Humidity BC which is very popular here on CC: http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-4123-High-Humidity-Buttercream.html

Refrigerate the cake overnight and keep it refrigerated until you are ready to leave for the setup. Once there try and find a shady spot for the cake and hope for the best. I think all summer weddings should be banned! Spring, Fall and Winter weddings only!

What is dream whip? Has anybody tasted this high humidity icing before? I would be interested in your comments.

Thanks for the help!

Oh yeah where do you buy hi ratio shortening?

This is how Dream Whip looks like: http://www.kraftcanada.com/en/ProductsPromotions/D-F/DreamWhip.htm
It is in the baking aisle of the grocery, near the gelatin boxes.

I get my hi-ratio shortening at a local cake decorating store but you can also order it online. Common brands for it are Alpine and Sweetex. Here's a link for hi-ratio shortening from Country Kitchens: http://www.countrykitchensa.com/catalog/product.aspx?T=1&productId=619115

you'll find drem whip by the instand pudding. I comes in a larger box and it has a picture of what looks like whipped cream.

LoriMc

Dream whip is the brand name for a powdered whipped topping mix. It should be in the asile with pudding at the grocery store. You can use the store brand of whipped topping mix it is cheaper and doesn't change the taste.

Val

I agree with Shirley....I wish people only got married in the Fall/Winter/Spring!

The heat/humidity is one thing, but what about all those curious insects sticking right to the cake?? ick

I think I'm gonna do a dry run with an all shortening recipe and add extra butter flavor. Hopefully I can find a cheap store brand that still adds trans fat around here. Our local cake decorating store doesn't carry any kind of shortening and I don't think I have time to order online.

I have used the faux fondant II recipe here on cc as an all shortening recipe and it has actually gotten rave reviews. It is shortening, flour (which acts as a stabilizer) vanilla (I add butter flavor sometimes) and almost boiling water, and of course ps. HTH

bumping for the late night crowd

LoriMc
I normally use Walmarts brand of shortening for my High Humidity Buttercream (it's cheaper and I'm all for save a buck when I can ) but I made a batch using the new crisco (to try it) and it worked fine for me.

Val