I was wondering when you guys start baking/decorating your cakes for a Saturday delivery... especially when you have a few cakes booked for the weekend.

When do you...
1) bake the cake?
2) crumb coat the cake?
3) ice/cover the cake?
4) decorate the cake?
5) put tiers together?

and what do you do with the cake between these 'sessions' of working on it?

Let's base this on a Saturday early afternoon delivery.

I bake all my cakes on Thursday... (I never freeze) Refridge them all over night. Friday I ice/decorate...back in the fridge until Saturday then finish stacking ,boarders,flowers etc. then DELIVER!!

I bake and crumb coat on Thursday, decorate on Friday. It's done for Sat. I refrigerate what needs to be and so on. Some days depending on orders it's baking ALL day.................................. My cookies I freeze ahead.

I have a cake due Saturday at 2 pm so this is perfect lol....

I plan on making and dying the icing tonight so that the black takes fully.

I will bake tomorrow during the day and keep them away from my daughter lol.

I will crumb coat tomorrow afternoon.

I will ice them tomorrow evening.

Any last minute details or adjustments that need to be made will be made after my shower and dressing time on Saturday morning.

I'm making a wrestling ring cake and I'm not 100% on the ring decorations just yet, weather I'll use large marshmallows colored black or pretzel sticks covered in melted chocolate candy melts... so last minute details will be done saturday morning.

I don't have any other orders due saturday, my next order is due on wednesday evening so no rushing is needed.

But my daughter's birthday cake (princess cake in photos) was a 3 day job lol I made the icing thursday, made the cakes friday afternoon and evening, stayed up until 3 am Saturday morning icing and decorating all 3 cakes until they were completely finished and ready to go before I went to bed, they were then stored in the fridge until noon on Saturday when we left for the party site. Hope all this info helps you with your busy upcoming weekend

I bake and freeze, because I also work full time (50 hours/week), coach softball, have 4 kids, 3 stepkids and pretty much run myself ragged whenever I have lots of cakes.........but here is my rundown:
Usually bake the weekend before the Saturday it is due (one week in advance)........I wrap the cakes in saran wrap while they are a little warm, on a cake board, and then wrap in aluminum foil, then put in a garbage bag and set level in my freezer. I try to get my fillings and bc mixed and ready on the Wednesday or Thursday evening before (depending when we have ball practice). I take out the cake layers to thaw on Friday morning before work, leave the saran wrap and aluminum foil on to thaw, so the condensation builds up on the outside. Then, on Friday evening (or afternoon, if I can escape from work early), I fill, torte, crumbcoat and decorate. I try to get as much done Friday evening, so if there are any unexpected problems, I still have Saturday morning to fix them. When doing a tiered cake, I make sure the banquet hall is open at least 2 hours in advance to set up. I usually take a helper with me to set up, for doing the little things around me that need to be done when my hands are sticky with BC!

I'm kinda in the same boat as you kerri -

I work a full-time job as well as most of the cake decorators on here...

I'm fortunate that I'm part of the bakery here (not my full-time job though!!) - my husband is the baker, so I don't have to bake my cakes!!! He does that for me during the week - usually weds or thurs (I'm trying to push him earlier in the week...)

I freeze the cakes.

Take them out usually on Thursday afternoon to let thaw a couple of hours, and then I'll crumb coat and later ice on Thursday night and then do my decorations on Friday.

I haven't had to assembly tiers on site yet... so for now I've been doing them right after I decorate. That's the part I usually can't wait to get to, so I usually realize afterwards that I should have waited because I have some more decorations or something to do...

What do you do with multiple cakes for a weekend? Saturday and Sunday? Do you keep the same schedule, or do you start the same day for Saturday and then start the next day for Sunday?? I have this situation coming up next weekend, so I'd like some advice.

I work full time, I have 3 orders due Saturday 7/16/07. 1st order 11x15 sheet/w betty boop fbct and two 6 inch 2 layer, 2nd 8 inch purse w fondant and 24 cupcakes, 3rd small anniv cake 6 and 4 inch/ with gumpaste bow.

I made all cakes last Friday and Saturday. I also made the FBCT Saturday, made bow Friday night. I made most icing last night, I have one more batch to make tonight. I already have MMF. I will leave work Friday, take a 2-3 hr nap and get up and frost decorate and finish all but sheet cake, I will do that Sat morn. I'm a night owl. I work better when no one is in my way.

Usually I just do the Thursday-Bake, Friday-Decorate schedule.

However, on 7/7/07 I have a 3-tier wedding cake, a 2-tier baby shower cake and a sculpted pirate's chest cake to feed 60 (Birthday). Soooo... I asked for Friday off from work. I hope to make most of the cakes ahead of time and freeze (have never done that before), make the icing throughout the week and get it colored. This way I can spend all day Friday decorating all the cakes. I also am attending the Birthday party with the pirate's chest cake (and it's a costume party)...so this will be an interesting and semi-stressful day.

Its not too often I have a couple cakes due at the same time BUT I have 2 due tomorrow

What I did was make all my fondant pieces last Friday and Sat to give time to try.

Baked all cakes last Sunday - wrapped after completely cooled in saran wrap then foil then marked what was what.

Made fillings Tuesday & refrigerated.

Took out the layers needed for cake 1 Wed am so when I got home from work - cakes were thawed and ready for icing and decorating.

The other cake due Friday I took out cakes this am to thaw and will ice and decorate tonight when I get home from work.

I still keep the same schedule, however, I have a big cake order due on July 28th for 350-400 people..........so, I will probably start baking at least two weeks in advance........and will probably take the 27th off work to do all the decorating..............this will be my biggest cake order yet.......and I am both frightened and excited- my DH thinks I am nuts- he might be right, but this lady had some cake I made for an 85th birthday party (in my photos- 3tiered blue/ivory cake), and told me to make sure I have her on the calendar, best chocolate cake she's ever had. My 11 year old daughter, however, is very artistic, and I believe I will let her help me with the sattelite cakes I will be doing, she is getting the piping of shell borders and such down to almost a science! The other big thing I also am concerned about is the heat and humidity....it's usually 90-100 around here and very humid at the end of July, but this will be inside.........so if I can transport them ok, hopefully all will be ok.

I bake and fill on Thursday so I don't get bulging sides. Then I decorate on Friday. I'm still afraid to freeze my cakes, so I usually just make them 1-2 days ahead of time.

Cupcakes I make the day of delivery so that they stay nice and moist.

If I have only one wedding/catering, I will bake, ice and decorate on Thursday. If I have more than one that weekend, I will bake/trim/crumb coat on Thurs, decorate on Friday.

I normally bake and decorate the day before delivery. But If I have more than 1 order then I will still bake on Fri. and decorate one on Fri. night and the other one Sat. morning (if its a late delivery).

I have to bake 300 cupcakes for a wedding, and this is my first big wedding event. Does anyone has done this before and if so, what schedule was follow for baking/decorating? the weddding is on a Sat at 11 am, and I took friday off.
Thanks.