help! how early in the week do yo start baking a wedding cake? i only have 1 oven and 1 fridge. i normally start on wednesday but i have a large wedding cake, grooms cake and birthday cake for this weekend. any advice would be greatly appreciated! thanks so much!

I wouldn't start before wednesday, unless you can put some in the freezer. You might be able to freeze one of the small ones just to relieve some of the pressure off of yourself.

Once you get a cake iced, it is sealed; much like the plastic wrapper that is around your loaf of bread. I bake on Thursday and at least crumb coat it that night. I usually bake/ice/decorate on Thursday.

Welcomw to CC
I have always started on Wednesday, I turn the cakes out onto racks on my dining room table and cover them with clean towels that I use just for this purpose. I usually try to get everything baked by Thursday morning. I have found that the turned out cakes are much easier to handle because they have matured. If you are feeling rushed I don't think starting on Tuesday evening would hurt just keep them covered.
jibbies

I usually bake all of my cakes and then freeze them, no matter how much time I have. I have found that freezing the cakes makes them more moist. Maybe you can make enough room in your freezer for at least half of them and then on Thursday morning you can bake the rest.

courtneyanne, do you ice them while they are still frozen then? or do you defrost and and then ice?

I would bake, torte lay a piece of parchment paper between layers, wrap in saran wrap and than freeze if you can. Than when your ready to start take out of the freezer filling crumb coat while still frozen and than ice when your ready. Good Luck

Not meaning to jump in front of courtney, I thaw them (at least a little) before I ice. I iced frozen cakes once and the BC icing cracked like a windshield. however .... many CC'ers have posted they have iced frozen cakes with no problems.

I had the same question..perfect timing. So when you back the cake, get it iced or at least crumb coated, then how do you store it until delivery. Do you all use the cake boxes? Will the cake dry out? What's the best way to store and seal in the moisture of the cake?

My schedule:
Bake up to two weeks ahead. Torte, put plastic beween layers, wrap and freeze.

Thursday - pull out of freezer, pry apart, fill, wrap (use the same plastic previously on the cake. I'm frugal.)

Friday - frost and decorate

Saturday - deliver

I do have a cakes-only freezer.

I have heard that said before that freezing your cakes makes them more moist... never tried this myself, although I have put a fruit cake into the deep freeze which I baked in January. Not sure what the end result will be, but here's hoping it will be tasty.
The only time I freeze my cake a bit is when I put the crumbcoat on.
Will really have to try this out and see if it works!!

I always add a simple sugar solution to the cakes immediately when they come out of the oven. This does two things. 1. Stops the cooking internally so they do not dry out. 2. Adds moisture and the sugar acts as a natural preserve so the cakes do not need to be frozen or cooled and can be covered and left out.

THANKS!!! i feel more confident about what to do now. thanks for answering so early!!! you guys rock!

Cakeman OH,

How do you make your sugar solution?

1 cup sugar to 1 cup water. Bring to boil for 1 to 2 minutes and take off to cool. Add any flavoring you want to it and your in business.

Charmaine49 if your fruit cake was iced when you froze it and of course depending on how long you freeze it for, if its a long time take the old icing off. Your fruit cake will taste the same.

Boring..... no my fruitcake was not iced, just a plain old fruitcake, wrapped up tightly put into the deepfreeze. Thinking of using it for my Christmas cake.

Frozen scratch cake thaws in about 15-20 minutes. By the time I get the cakes out, then my supplies out, the cakes are 1/2 frozen, I guess. It doesn't hurt my fillings at all. Can't vouch for your fillings, 'cause I don't know what you use.

I filled 14 inch round cake layers while they were frozen...didn't want to take the chance of breakage....they filled wonderfully, thawed wonderfully and iced wonderfully LOL even partially frozen

Christi

Charmaine49, your fruit cake should be as good as the day you made it.

Thanks CakemanOH!!