Hi, My sister is getting married Nov 21, and I'm making her wedding cake. I've never made a wedding cake before, so this should be interesting!

First, I'm going to have to make the cake ahead of time, and freeze it. I don't normally freeze cakes, so I could use some tips. Do I level it before freezing it or later when it's thawed? Also, I usually brush my cakes with some sort of simple syrup...when's the best time to do this, before or after freezing?

What's the best way to wrap the cake for the freezer? And what's the best way to thaw the cake, and how long does it take?

It's most like going to be a round 4 or 5 tier cake. For support, I usually just use wooden dowels, but I've never made such a large cake. Will wooden dowels work?

Thanks so much! Any and all tips and advice is appreciated!

I think I have read on here to level, brush with syrup and then freeze them but I am not positive. Hopefully someone else will respond.

Do you have to transport it put together? How far? If you do and it is some distance, you might want to use SPS instead of the wooden dowels.

Good luck!

When I freeze cakes I don't usually torte them first. I wrap them in plastic wrap and then in foil. Take them out to thaw overnight and leave them in the wrappings. That way all the condensation is on the outside of the foil. Then just treat it like a freshly baked cake. I have always just used wooden dowels too, but I havent made anything over a 3 tier cake myself. a lot of people recommend the sps system. There is a "sticky" on the top of this forum I believe on how to use it. Other people also use the bubble tea straws. I havent tried this either, but I am planning to try it.

I level the cake, wrap it in plastic wrap and then wrap it in foil. The only reason I level ahead of time is that my family wants to eat the scraps. It doesn't take too long to thaw, bigger ones take a bit longer. Just leave the wrapped cake out on the countertop to thaw.

Wooden dowels are fine as long as you know how you are going to be cutting them. Personally, I use the hollow white plastic Wilton dowels because they're easy to cut, big enough to provide good support, and they look nice and clean in a cake (just a matter of personal preference). Also, you'll want to stack the cake once you get there...if you need to transport that many tiers all stacked up, I'd definitely invest in SPS.

One thing is, make sure the biggest pan you'll be using will fit in your oven. That way if it doesn't, you can make an alternate plan.

Your cakes are lovely...the wedding cake is going to be beautiful!

You can level or not level before you freeze, it's up to you. I also wrap in two layers of plastic wrap, then foil. Bring it out to thaw completely before you unwrap. After that is when I level and brush syrup. Just make sure you give the layers enough time to thaw out. If you ice a still-frozen cake, bad, bad things can happen

I level and torte before freezing. I use a simple syrup as I'm putting it together.

Absolutely, definitely, without a doubt, buy SPS for your support system.

And be sure to take your proof of insurance and a copy of your health depart/Dept of Ag certificate as a lot of venues are getting stricter and stricter about outside food being brought in.