Please help!! I am making my baby’s 1st b-day cake this Saturday and I want to use this lovely marscapone frosting I found. However, I am worried that it may not hold up nor will I be able to attach fondant flowers to it.  Does anyone have any ideas about how to stiffen/stabilize the cream frosting without losing the flavor? I thought about adding cream cheese (a tad) and maybe a bit of cream of tartar…but I am not sure. I have read a little about gelatin, but I really don’t want this to be so complicated and mess it up. Having never used fondant before I am at a real loss, Indeed, I am not even sure when I should begin making the flowers. Do they need days to dry?

Any and all help would be greatly appreciated! 

Hi, Chimmi44!

I’m not sure I would recommend a cheese-based frosting and fondant appliques together.  My experience with cream cheese frosting is that it tends to be VERY loose and does not hold up to heat very well.  If you’re intent on using the sour cream frosting, try adding more sugar to stabilize it.  Adding some butter or cream cheese might also help.  Cream of tartar however doesn’t seem to me like it would help…this is an acid typically added to egg whites to keep them from breaking down when beaten to stiff peaks.

If you want to use the appliques, i would highly recommend using a simple buttercream which holds up fairly well to heat.

As for fondant cutouts/appliques, they do not need to dry before adding them to your cake.

Hi Chimmi44 - have you considered adding white chocolate to your mascarpone frosting?  Similar to the way Rose adds white chocolate to her buttercream or cream cheese icing recipes?

Thank you very much for your help. I may try the white chocolate since it is a white chocolate cake. I am not sure how much to add, is there a place I may find this recipe?
I may also try stabilizing it with cornstarch as I have also seen recommended. Does anyone have any experience with this?
Last time I made this frosting it harden overnight very well, but I really wanted the cake fresh and not made the night before. I was hoping to find a compromise.

Rose’s recipes are listed in The Cake Bible.  You can usually find a copy at the library, or you can browse through a new copy at the book store and jot down the recipe.  I would suggest the library over the bookstore however, you’ll won’t be able to put the book down. 

Many thanks!