my husband and i are having a large party in a few weeks for our son who is returning from a deployment overseas. there will be about a hundred friends and family....while the easy thing to do would be to order a cake from a local bakery....i would really like to make it myself....i plan on making two 12x12 layers (i think that equals a full sheet cake)....and will be decorating with buttercream....but i have several questions...i plan on freezing them. so that i can at least make then ahead of time......can they be frozen with a crumb coat on.......can they be frozen fully decorated ( i'm kinda assuming not)....and if i have to decorate it right before the party can i make the buttercream roses a few days ahead and if so how to i store them (refrigerator, room temp)any suggestions would be helpful...thanks...
While I avoid using "full" and "Half" to describe the size of a sheet cake, in general, two 12x18's are considered a full sheet cake and will serve 108 pieces that are cut in 2x2x2" size.
I don't like to freeze a fully decorated cake .... seems the icing has an aftertaste (from absorbing freezer odors maybe?).
Congratulations on your son's homecoming! How long was he there and what branch is he in? (I'm a marine mom!)
my son is a Marine too!.....he just finished an 8 month deployment in Iraq..........so to say i'm excited to see him is an understatement...where is your son stationed?(we live near Camp Lejeune...my husband is a retired Marine)
so would you not even freeze them with a crumb coat?
and do you have any suggestions about making the roses in advance?
I've never done it, but I have read plenty of people on here that freeze a filled and crumb coated cake. I have frozen plenty of plain cake, and they turn out fine.
Buttercream roses can be stored at room temperature for WEEKS if you use an all crisco icing. Less if you're using butter (which I do), but really those can even stay out for at least a week or more... No problems there!
I would probably be ok with a crumb coat ... the only reason I say probably is that a crumb coat takes me less than 10 minutes for a 3-tier cake, so doing it ahead of time doesn't save me much time.
3DGirl is correct about crisco-based BC roses. I make them WAY ahead and they keep just this side of forever. But air-dried ... not frozen. Anything frozen will start to melt when removed from zero degrees to room temp. Air drying also removes the moisture from the rose, making it lighter and easier to work with (less weight to pull the rose down .... less likely to slide down the side).
My son served two tours of Iraq, twice decorated including the purple heart (when his vehicle ran over a land mine) & the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, with combat distinguishing device (disregarded his own wounds, took care of his serverely wounded commander, then helped set up the cordon to protect the platoon until reinforcements could arrive to evacuate them, during the same land mine incident). His stint in the regular marines is over (he was out of Pendleton), but he continues to serve in the Marine reserves.
Remember that "M.O.M." stands for "Mother of a Marine"!
......you would not even freeze them with a crumb coat? .....
*Yes cakes can be fzn w/crumb coating*. No problems at all. In fact you can even put the final icing coating on but I would not decorate it. that can be done 2 or 3 days before the day.
Yes, you can make your roses now w/air drying b'cream or IndyDebi's recipe.
As for cake size a 12x12x4 will not give you quite enough - only about 72 servings 1x2x4. OR the *same* amount if you put the cakes side by side for a 24x12x2 & serve 2x2x2 pieces. What is the biggest pan you have? Looks like that's what you will need for that many servings
You can make all your decorations & icing now and fz or keep refrigerated (yes, weeks ahead-it will keep just fine). You will just have to re-beat (mix on low about 3-5 minutes) the icing just before using.
Just be sure to wrap the cake well before fzing (I prefere to put it in a cake box also to help it from getting crushed if anything is put on top of it) and put the icing in an air tight container.
I freeze my cakes crumb coated all the time and they turn out just dandy. I also freeze them after they have the final layer of frosting on it. Sometimes I will do the piping also, but as for the final decorations I do the day of or the a day or two ahead.
Good Luck! Tell your son THANK YOU!!! From all of us!
I would probably be ok with a crumb coat ... the only reason I say probably is that a crumb coat takes me less than 10 minutes for a 3-tier cake, so doing it ahead of time doesn't save me much time.
3DGirl is correct about crisco-based BC roses. I make them WAY ahead and they keep just this side of forever. But air-dried ... not frozen. Anything frozen will start to melt when removed from zero degrees to room temp. Air drying also removes the moisture from the rose, making it lighter and easier to work with (less weight to pull the rose down .... less likely to slide down the side).
My son served two tours of Iraq, twice decorated including the purple heart (when his vehicle ran over a land mine) & the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, with combat distinguishing device (disregarded his own wounds, took care of his serverely wounded commander, then helped set up the cordon to protect the platoon until reinforcements could arrive to evacuate them, during the same land mine incident). His stint in the regular marines is over (he was out of Pendleton), but he continues to serve in the Marine reserves.
Remember that "M.O.M." stands for "Mother of a Marine"!
I would just like to say thank you to all the Mothers,Wives,Sisters,Brothers ect. for having wonderful children.. They put there lives on the lines so that me and my family can sleep at night. Once again thank you and GOD BLESS YOU.
First if all, you are a good parent for not raising a coward. Your son is very brave and he did the right thing, fighting for his country or for what he believed in.. too bad not ALL presidents elected are like him....some presidents elected were/are chickens.
Anyways, yes you can freeze, but undecorated would be better than fully decorated..
thanks for everyone's kind words........i am very proud of my son....and can not wait till i get my arms around himl....i haven't seen him in a year!
ok......i do have a 12x18 pan......the problem is that when i went to the store to get boxes and cake boards the biggest they have will only fit either two 12x12 layers (laying next to each other ) or 1 and 1/2 of the 12x18....
i think what i will also do is make a "yellow ribbon" cake....i have that cake pan and put on top of it........
is it possible on a cake that big to put layers on top of each other? or does that make it too heavy
and for the roses.....it sounds like i can make them ahead.....this is probably stupid but how long will they take to "dry" before i can store them?
i really appreciate everyone's help....i really want to pull this off and the only way i can do it is to do as much as i can in advance!
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