Elective I: Bread and Pastry

Factors which Can Affect the

Appearance of Your Decorated
Cakes
 By: Liezel O. Suson

The following factors, which can affect the look of your decorated cake:

Sunlight and florescent lighting

– will alter icing colors. Keep your cake stored in a covered box and out of direct
sunlight and florescent lighting.

Humidity

– can soften royal icing and gum paste decorations. If you live in a climate with
high humidity, prepare your royal icing using only pure cane confectioners' sugar
(not beet sugar or dextrose), add less liquid and add 1 more teaspoon Meringue
Powder to the recipe.

Heat

– can melt icing and cause decorations to droop. Keep your decorated cake as cool
as possible and stabilize buttercream icing by adding 2 teaspoons Meringue
Powder per recipe. Protect your cake by placing it in a clean, covered cake box.
Avoid using foil or plastic wrap to cover a decorated cake – these materials can
stick to icing and crush delicate decorations. The icing that covers your cake
determines how it should be stored – in the refrigerator, at cool room temperature,
or frozen, if storing for longer than 3 days. If you want to store your iced cake in a
different way than noted, make a small test cake.