Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A

Hi! I would like to know which buttercream will hold up the best in hot weather. I have to make a cupcake tower for a wedding mid August and I am worried about the hot weather we have been having. Could you please give me some advise?

Hi Linda Sharpe

There are a few ways to make buttercream hold better in hot weather. Here are a few tips:

Replace some of the regular icing sugar with Royal icing sugar. If it’s very hot, use 50/50 . Royal icing sugar contains egg whites which help to crust buttercream.

Adding ganache to buttercream will work well. I was surprised just how well it held. Please take a peek at my buttercream blog for more information:

How much buttercream do you need to cover a cake?

Another way is to use half butter and half vegetable fat such as Trex. I’ve never done this , however, butter melts between 32 – 35c and Trex melts between 46 – 49c. A mixture of both would hold up quite well. I have no idea how it tastes but lots of reviews suggest it is palatable once flavoured .

Any of the above could be used with meringue based buttercream such as Swiss or Italian or regular buttercream.

Hope suggestions help.