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Covering cakes in fondant - how long will they stay fresh?

post #1 of 13
9/20/10 at 7:22am
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Hi all. I have a wedding cake coming up where the wedding is on a Friday and I work full time. I plan on baking the cakes the weekend before and plan on freezing. My question is how far in advance can I ice and cover in fondant and they still taste ok on Friday evening? I would like to cover and decorate 1 a night and then do the final assembly on Friday morning. Taking that day off work. I don't want to try and do everything the night before just in case something goes wrong.

Thanks for any help you can give. icon_smile.gif
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post #2 of 13
9/20/10 at 9:03am
I made my 50th birthday cake covered in fondant. I was catering a 3-day event for 160 college guys (breakfast lunch and dinner) so my schedule, like yours, was pretty tight. I baked the cake on Wed, iced and fondant covered on Thursday, served it on Saturday. It was delicious. The top tier was left over. We took it home and I cut it on Tuesday (it's now 7 days old). I was very interested in the taste-test. It was JUST starting to taste like a grocery store cake ...... edible, but not as good as my "usual" cakes.

As an added footnote, that test was great to have in my arsenal of information. I was recently at a wedding shower and they had a grocery store cake. I took one bite and set it aside. That cake, in comparing it to my birthday taste tester, was AT LEAST 7-9 days old because it was dryer and nastier than my 7-day old tester cake. It's pretty cool to be able to tell how old a cake is now! icon_lol.gif
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post #3 of 13
9/20/10 at 9:18am
so the next question is, do you think the same time line would apply to a cake that was just covered in BC? just wondering.
"Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes; that way when you criticize them you will be a mile away and have a new pair of shoes."
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"Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes; that way when you criticize them you will be a mile away and have a new pair of shoes."
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post #4 of 13
9/20/10 at 9:42am
you know, I honestly think it would. Icing .... BC or fondant .... seals the cake. Air is what dries out a cake and once the cake is sealed and air can't get to it, then the "going stale" processed is slowed down considerably.

When I was first taught this concept, it was presented to me like a loaf of bread in a wrapper. The bread is baked and put in the plastic bag, which seals the bread and protects it from the air. It's then put on a truck, delivered to the grocery, where it sits on the shelf until you buy it, then it rides home with you and sits on your counter for days and days ..... and when you finally get to the last slice, it's still edible. thumbs_up.gif
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post #5 of 13
9/20/10 at 4:59pm
that makes perfect sense. I know that my cake bites last at least a week (have not tested longer because they always get eaten before the week is out) and suspect it is because the chocolate forms a nice seal. All that happens at the end of the week with them is that the chocolate loses a bit of its snap.
"Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes; that way when you criticize them you will be a mile away and have a new pair of shoes."
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"Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes; that way when you criticize them you will be a mile away and have a new pair of shoes."
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post #6 of 13
9/21/10 at 8:01am
I don't sell so generally don't have time pressure but - if you watch the cake shows they are always carving and covering fondant cakes on Monday or Tuesday for weekend deliveries because it takes them 4 day to do the elaborate decoration and stacking. I did do two half sheets for my nephew's high school graduation recently in buttercream - iced and decorated them on a Wednesday afternoon (because that was my afternoon off from my real job), drove them 250 miles on Friday to serve on Sunday. They tasted fine - in fact got rave reviews from the graduation boy icon_lol.gif (he loves my cakes)
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post #7 of 13
9/21/10 at 8:27am
I made a small cake for a boy's b-day party and it was postponed because he had strep...I kept that cake and they ate it 1 week later and it was still moist.
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post #8 of 13
9/22/10 at 10:26am
I don't do that many fondant covered cakes, and now I have 2 for the weekend. I have read that it should be put in the frige and rad that it should not be put in the fridge. Not sure what to do. And does the fondant get hard and dry on the cake after a couple of days? I would appreciate any advice. I just don't won't there to be a pretty cake that has fondant that is hard as a rock icon_sad.gif
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post #9 of 13
2/22/13 at 6:31pm
I was wondering the same thing. Will the fondant get hard and crispy around the bottom edge? I have several cakes coming up and will be juggling my schedule to get them done.
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post #10 of 13
3/14/13 at 2:58pm
I constantly put my fondanted covered cakes in the fridge. Yes it hard as a rock at first but by the time it's time to cut the cake the fondant softens up. If I am serving the cake myself I take it out a half hour early or tell the customers they can leave it out.
Most times everyone wants to view the cake anyways. But it tastes just as good after it softens then it would if it were fresh.
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post #11 of 13
3/14/13 at 3:22pm

Mine last three weeks out of the fridge , the only time they have gone dry and stale is when they were fridged.   I just keep them in a cake box and in a cooler place out of direct sunlight. I have sometimes had to fly out with a cake on a Thursday , leaving other fully decorated cakes to be delivered or picked up for Saturday or Sunday weddings , I have always had rave reviews about how delicious these cakes were . 

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post #12 of 13
3/14/13 at 3:24pm

Just realised this is a very old thread . Why do these keep getting bumped?

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post #13 of 13
3/14/13 at 3:41pm

Inydebi: In regards to your birthday cake, did you refrigerate it once you had the fondant on, or is it ok to leave out at room temp?

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