Hi all.

I need a little help.

I have two large halloween cakes ordered for the same day. Usually I would not have taken two large cakes at once and technically I didn't. My best friend's daughter is having a costume party for her birthday and a couple of months ago I had promised her I would make her a cool bday cake. She was so excited she picked her cake months ahead which thrilled me to death as most kids wait till the last minute. Well they were waiting to nail the date down and I have been waiting.

The other halloween cake is for a costume party that my family is going to. Everyone is to bring food so I volunteered the cake. It's a great place to get my name out for cakes as well as I get to make a halloween cake which is my favorite holiday.

Well I get an email from my best friend last night telling me the info on the party. It is scheduled for the exact same night as our costume party we are going to.

I hate to disappoint this little girl as she is just like my daughter since I have known her since she was born.

BY THE WAY~~ MY best friend is just that... My best friend who is awesome because she always insists on paying me for cakes! Not only that she never asks for discounts EVER! She will get angry with me if I try to give her one. I never worry about being jilted with her! So I am always happy to make her cakes!

Anyways long story short. Here is my question..

I work fulltime and need to know how early can I start on these cakes? The parties are two weeks away from now. When can I bake these cakes and start decorating them? If I wait I know I will spend a few nights not sleeping in order to get them perfect and to get them ready on time. I would love be able to to start sooner rather than later. I have never refrigerated or froze cakes before so if that is what I have to do then I will but will need some direction on that as well.

Hope I am not asking too much!!!!!!

Thanks

I bake all of my cakes one week in advance and place them in the freezer. i take them out the day I plan to decorate them. They are always fresh. However, last week I had to have a wedding cake done earlier than expected so because I work I baked them on Saturday and placed them in the freezer and took them out on Thursday to crumb coat them and place them in the fridge and covered them in fondant the next day. The bride and groom loved the cake.

Now my follow up question would be-- do you freeze them after you fill them or before?