Baking a cake is something that many people like to do for special occasions. Perhaps you have a birthday coming up and you want to make a special cake to commemorate the event.
This is great, but you might be worried about having issues with the frosting melting. This can be especially problematic if the weather is hot and you’ve had issues with melting frosting in the past.
Not everyone is a baking virtuoso and some might not have a good grasp on how to keep frosting from melting. Luckily, it isn’t that hard to get good results when you’re trying to frost a cake or other types of pastries.
Examine the information below to learn everything that you need to do to keep your cake frosting from melting. This is all very practical advice that even a novice baker will be able to make use of.
Ensure That You Cool Your Cake (or Other Types of Pastries)
The most common reason why people encounter issues with melting frosting is that they don’t wait to frost a cake. You can’t take a cake out of the oven and just start frosting it right away.
Simply put, it just doesn’t work that way and you’re going to have problems if you try to do this. You need to make sure that you’re waiting for your cake to cool down properly. It is usually recommended that you wait for four hours after baking a cake to go ahead and apply the frosting.
Of course, there are ways to get around having to wait for four hours before you frost your cake. You can cool your cake down faster than usual by placing it in your refrigerator.
You might not want to do this when your cake is piping hot, though. Just wait a bit before you try to cool your cake down artificially so that you can still get the best results.
Remember that this advice is going to apply to any type of pastry that you’re trying to put frosting on. You need to allow your cupcakes to cool if you’re trying to frost them. Are you trying to frost some brownies or another similar dessert?
Make sure that it’s cooled down first or you’re going to have the frosting melt and things won’t turn out as good as you would like them to.
Cool Your House or Baking Environment
One more potential issue that could be causing your frosting to melt is that your house might be too hot. Are you living in an air conditioned environment?
If not, then things might just be so hot that your frosting is melting. Using an oven at high temperatures can make your kitchen pretty hot and not all houses have incredible ventilation.
If you can take steps to cool your home down somewhat, then you might be able to have a better experience with your frosting. Some ideas for doing this include opening a window, using fans to help circulate cooler air, and shutting off unnecessary lights.
If you have an air conditioner, then you could use that to cool down your home. For the most part, your home being hot shouldn’t negatively impact things a whole lot, but it could be an issue if you have a stuffy environment.
You want to do what you can to keep the frosting in the right state and you don’t want it to become runny because it started melting. The frosting might not be as flavorful if it gets to this point and it’s also possible that it won’t apply to your pastries as well as it should.
It’s just generally best to try to keep things at room temperature to avoid any problems. This could be an issue if you’re doing everything in a hot kitchen area, so just do practical things to fix things.
Transporting Frosting
Perhaps the issue with your melting frosting is that you can’t seem to transfer it to another location without it melting. If it’s the middle of summer and things are both hot and humid outside, then that is certainly an issue.
However, it doesn’t have to be a deal breaker for making pastries with frosting and transporting them from place to place. You just need to prepare properly and keep the frosting as cool as possible.
Do what you can to keep the frosting cool and try to use coolers if it’s possible to do so. Most professional bakeries will have some type of cooler to transport baked goods like this when there are concerns about whether something is going to melt.
You might want to invest in some coolers and ice packs to keep things fresh and cool while you’re transporting them. This isn’t hard to do in any way so long as you have the right stuff.
Avoid Certain Types of Frosting
Certain types of frosting might have more issues with melting than others, too. For example, a nice buttercream frosting could be very tasty, but it will melt pretty easily in high temperatures.
The cooler idea can help you to transport a cake like this, but you could also just use a different type of frosting that won’t melt as easily. Another standard frosting might have an easier time surviving in the hot weather if you’re living in a particularly hot area.
Final Thoughts
You should be able to have a very good experience with frosting things so long as you use common sense strategies. For the most part, you shouldn’t have to worry about your frosting melting unless you try to frost a cake too soon.
If it’s very hot out, then you might need to take extra precautions such as using coolers and other methods. The temperature doesn’t have to prevent you from enjoying delicious frosted pastries so long as you plan ahead.
Remember the tips above the next time you’re frosting pastries and you’ll have a good time with things. The temperature does play a role, but you can always get good results if you know what to look out for.
Whether you’re frosting a cake or if you’re making a tasty batch of cupcakes, you’ll know what needs to be done to get your frosting just right.
Sarah is the founder of Baking Kneads, LLC, a blog sharing guides, tips, and recipes for those learning how to bake. Growing up as the daughter of a baker, she spent much of her childhood learning the basics in a local bakery.