Hi, I am a complete beginner at cake making and decorating and would really appreciate some tips on best practise! I have made one or two cakes so far and have taken 2 one day courses to learn some techniques but would love to learn some of the techniques that everyone here uses. I have heard alot of people talk about freezing or refrigerating and allowing cakes to settle so would love to hear more about this!!! I have a childrens birthday cake to make next week so would be good to have a heads up!

Thanks Sarah

you will learn a lot by reading the boards, and probably get a better response if you then ask specific questions.
you should let cakes settle, cause then you are less likely to have problems with bulges in your icing.
you eed to refridgerate your cake if your filling requires it. i do it briefly to let my bc firm up. otherwise, you dont need to. and if you use fondant, you may get condensation issues.
xx

thanks for your help, I am using fondant as I haven't tried ising with buttercram yet. Is it best if I bake he cake, let it cool over night, fill it then refrigerate it before icing the next day??

do you use bc under the fondant? or jam?
i only rifiderate cakes for very short periods of time. refrideration = stale cake (if theres any gap in the wrapping/icing - seems ok if its properly covered). if theres no need for it to be in the fridge, why bother?
you can do it however you want - 100 people would give 100 differnt responses. my routine epends on my time limits. as soon as my cake is cool, i fill and crumb coat it. i let it settle for as much time as i have. then fondant.
xx

I use buttercream, so I wasn't sure if you need to refrigerate it to stop it turning....

most bc recipes dont need refridgerated.
xx

welcome...i have learned alot just from just reading the forums...the biggest tip i never got when i for started....

BE ABLE TO OPEN YOUR WALLET! THIS HOBBY/BUSINESS COST ALOT OF MONEY!