Would appreciate some advice.....making my daughters wedding cake for a Virgin Islands wedding.  It is actually cupcakes with a 6 inch tier wedding cake on top.  I was thinking of covering the 6 inch tier in either rolled buttercream fondant or MM fondant.  Read so many reviews about both and about refridgeration (not to or to).  Wondering if I should use a straight crisco non buttercream for the underlayer (which I hate.  I personally don't think a wedding cake should have a crisco icing) but given the conditions I may have no other choice.  Then which fondant would hold up better?  and taste bettter.  I have used rolled buttercream on some practice cakes but not in humidity and they tasted ok and held up well left on counter, but didn't use a butter base for the icing under the fondant which I really want to do.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated........I have spent the last two months making gumpaste orchids to decorate the cake wtih.  Those are travelling on the plane with me tommorrow and all the suggestions for packing have been most helpful.  I wonder though has anyone had trouble getting through security with them?  They have wires in them.

Hi there, welcome!  I currently live in the tropics and my experience has been that if you cover the cake and let it dry to the touch in an air conditioned environment, fondant should be fine.  If you cover it out in high humidity, the fondant behaves badly, you resort to using salty language and it never sets up.   I've watched fondant slide right off a cake during the rainy season - it wasn't funny at the time, but it's hilarious now.  

I've only used fondant that I made because having it imported is pretty expensive, but I've heard Massa Ticino Tropic is fantastic for high humidity.

Lots of luck to you!

hi, im a newbie baker as well,but i can help with packing your gmp flowers.

i ve packed mine in a cardbox with a lot of paper(the thin and silky one,i don t know the name)

it takes a lot of space.i put the boxes in a large bag that i kept with me in the plane.

i took care of it as if they were my children,lol!!!!

as for the security,that s ok,i ve done it twice and no problem,you can go for it.

i hope it helps

happy caking

I haven't found a foolproof brand as yet, but I CAN tell you what did NOT work for me-- Fondarific. It just doesn't set anywhere near the consistency you need so as to handle it without tearing while covering the cake. It tastes wonderful, though! :)  After my nightmare with it on a last-minute cake order, I consulted with several master cakers online, and they all seemed to have the same opinion. 

I seemed to have better results with Wilton as it tends to handle more solidly, but the taste- blechh....

ps-- I live in Florida

The best fondant for hot, humid environments is Carma Massa Ticino Tropic.  It's specifically designed for those conditions.

I have no idea what occurs with shipping to the Virgin Islands, but I have found good pricing and service at

fondant

source

.com

(run it all together for the website)

Carma Massa Ticino Tropic!!  Without any doubt at all...it's like magic in humid weather.

I live on the equator and it's humid/hot 365 days a year...but this stuff goes on a cake like nothing else-every time it's easy.

I agree with cakefat because I live in Florida. Carma Massa Ticino Tropic works like a charm in humid condition and it tastes very good.

AGreat. Now I want to try Massa.

Hey cakefat,

What do you use underneath your fondant?

Ps I did an 'experiment' of sorts a few weeks ago...I had 3 cakes to cover, one I used a very popular "recipe" I saw online that mixes marshmallow fondant with commercial fondant, the next two I used the CMTT.

The CMTT went on so easily on the first go, stretched, smoothed, sharp edges...perfect.

The MMF/commerical mixture recipe, tore, was not as pliable and after a few hours I could actually see the ganache turning the fondant color to another..from a light pink to a light purple...it didn't look bad but that was not the color that I wanted/intended it to be. It was too transparent, in a way.

The CMTT..never had one single problem with it- not transparent at all, no problems coloring it either..and honestly I won't use anything else anymore..it's pricey but it's really worth it. 

When I read online about people raving about the MMF/commerical fondant mixture, I can't figure it out...I guess they've never tried CMTT or maybe they live in a perfectly dry climate? Anyway- CMTT is the way to go. 

Hi cakefat,

Where do you buy the CMTT? I bought mine from fondantsource but I am still looking for another source which maybe a little bit cheaper. Thanks,

waw!!! it seems i have found THE post i was looking for since a long time!!!

thank you,ladies,for sharing this info!!it seems i have to try this,cause i m getting a lot of troubles with fondant with tropical climate.

this is the first time i hear about this brand .

has someone found a supplier with not too expensive shipping prices?

Meh.  Well, I sorta suspected that you were working in a climate controlled environment...sigh.  What I'd really like to hear is how it handles in high humidity with no a/c.  Most people don't have air conditioning here (it really is an uphill battle to make cakes here) and even if you do have it, it's prohibitively expensive to use.  I still think I'm going to order some of the magic fondant the next time I'm back home in the States.  Thanks!

Ganache works fine in humid/hot environments with no a/c. You just have to adjust the ratios - so rather than 3:1 chocolate to cream, use 4:1ish.

Hi Cakefat

I live in SEA too (in Malaysia) and wanting to try CMTT...I have not found a supplier here ...could you share your supplier details so that I may try getting it from them ?

Thanks!