Can Sugar Flowers Be Refrigerated?

Can Sugar Flowers be refrigerated? This is a common question I get, so don’t worry if you were thinking it too!

I’ve been selling sugar flowers on for over 9 years so I’ve had a few experiences and experiments along the way.

First, sugar flowers are shelf-stable. They dry rock hard and without any moisture, they can last for years. This is why I recommend storing them at room temperature in a closed box.

Commercial Refrigerators

If you’ve ever worked in a commercial kitchen, then you know how humid those fridges, walk-ins, and coolers can be! There’s condensation dripping everywhere, so if you’re using a fridge like that, don’t put the flowers in there! They will melt. I, unfortunately, learned this the hard way early on in my business.

Some bakers will place their decorated cakes in a sealed cardboard box to keep the humidity out. The box will absorb the moisture so that the sugar flowers won’t! (This blog post does a great job explaining the situtation)

But if you don’t have a cardboard box to store your cake in, your best bet is to place the flowers on the cake after removing it from the fridge, right before you serve or display your cake.

Home Refrigerators

Thankfully, most refrigerators at home aren’t nearly as humid as a commercial refrigerator. I have had success storing sugar flowers on a cake in my home fridge for up to 2 days. Maybe they last longer than that, but I haven’t tested it myself!

So if your fridge doesn’t have a lot of condensation and drips of water, you should be safe to store the decorated cake in the fridge.

My mother in law once kept a box of sugar flowers in her fridge after a birthday party. I wasn’t expecting to get the flowers back after the party but she carefully saved them, and wiped the buttercream off, for me to pick up after the weekend. They did pretty well in the fridge! A little more buttercream-ier than before, but they didn’t melt.

Can Sugar Flowers be Frozen?

I strongly don’t recommend this. When things thaw out from the freezer, they definitely collect condesation and all that moisture could cause the sugar in your sugar flowers to melt.

Now, that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. Maybe if you had a cardboard box that you wrapped up in layers foil and seran wrap and packing tape, and slowly thawed out in the fridge, then your sugar flowers would be safe.

So, where can I store sugar flowers?

I really think the best place to store sugar flowers is at room temperature. In my home studio, that means between 67-77°F

You also don’t want your sugar flowers to be in direct sunlight. Not only will the heat cause the petals to wilt but the sunlight can also cause the colors to fade.

The cardboard mailer that your flowers are shipped in, makes a perfect storage solution until you’re ready to use your flowers. Plus, all that padding keeps those delicate petals safe!

If you have any more questions on storing sugar flowers, or you’ve had successes or failures with keeping them in the fridge, let me know! I’m curious how other people handle this situation, too.