How long can a cake covered with fondant(MMF) and frosted in all shortening icing remain out and covered? I need to make in advance and was wondering how this worked.

Presuming the filling is also nonperishable, you can put the fondant on as early as you'd like and as early as you would otherwise still consider the cake to be fresh. For example, we all eat cake leftovers, left on the counter, for days. However of course, from bake-to-serve, each day on the counter the cake's gonna start inching towards being stale.

How far in advance do you need to work? What about baking and icing in advance and then refrigerating (several days) or freezing (indefinite)...then cover with fondant 1-2 days before you want to serve the cake.

I was going to be out of town for 3 days. I need the cake for the day I return. So I was going to do all but the last minute touches the day before I leave. It is a two teir princess cake with a lot of detailed work. The order was a last minute thing. I was going to bake,chill, crumb coat, and ice on the 15th and cover with MMF on the 16th. and leave the 17th. I'll be back the 20th and deliver the 20th. Do you think this will work and not affect the quality of the cake too badly? Thanks .

I am hoping someone else will answer this for you; if no,t you may want to search the forums (I know it can be hard to narrow down good search terms to find the answer you want...but I can assure you the answer's in here somewhere!).

I myself don't really know how many days a cake can sit out and still be completely fresh, as I've never done anything that far in advance without refrigerating or freezing...it seems like 4 days is pushing it but that's more of a gut-feeling thing, not based on experience.

Thanks
I decide to bake early and freeze until the last possible minute.P.S. I LOVE ratatouille!