Hi Everyone...

First of all sorry this is going to be so long. I need some help. I offered to do my cousins wedding favors about a year ago. At the moment it sounded like so much fun but now it is not any more. They are going to be 3 inch rounds.

Attached is a picture of a trial run I did that my cousin loved but here are all my questions.

1) I am doing doctored cake mixes and plan on freezing them. Don't know any other way of managing the quantity. How long in advance can I bake them? Can I start now?

2) I was planning on doing 10 or 12 inch square cakes and with circle cutter, cutting the cakes I need. Should I cut the cakes first and then freeze or the other way around?

3) The cakes are going to be placed in clear food safe plastic boxes. They will be refrigerated until we leave for the reception (hopefully they will fit in the fridge) and then refrigerated at the reception until the bride gives them away. the cakes have gumpaste flowers that have taken me about 2 months to make. Will the flowers be ok with being in the fridge and taken out? I am using IMBC filling and fondant covering, that is why I asked the reception place to keep it refrigerated.

OMG...if you are still reading...thank you, thank you, thank you..

4) The trial I made I used rolled fondant, but with the quantity and the all of a sudden panic on my part of realizing that I can't do this, I am looking for an easier way of doing this. Has any one used poured fondant. I tried searching here but for some reason I have been having problems with my searches. Do I just microwave regular fondant (I am using Satin Ice)?

Again thank you if you made it to the end of this message.

Vivian

I'm sure someone with more know how than me will answer but I do know that you can freeze cakes for quite some time (not exactly sure how long). If it were me, I think I would freeze then cut. I don't know anything about poured fondant. Sorry. I just want to tell you that your cake is beautiful. I can see why your cousin wants to give them out as favors. Good luck!!!!

CakeJournal's blog has a tutorial on poured fondant
http://www.cakejournal.com/

She does cupcakes, and I know this is how people do petit fours. No personal experience, but seems much more workable than fondant or buttercream for this quantity.

Good luck!

PS: she also shows petit fours! On the main page, scroll down a ways- small cakes with flowers on top!

Thank you for all your help and the link to cakejournal. I am going to try making the poured fondant and see how that works.

Hi, i have done mini cakes before and doing the sheet cakes and cutting with a cutter will work well, but there will be wastage. If you have enough time, you can collect cans...like tuna or jam/jelly tins and bake in those. Just a thought.
Also, I worked with all the cakes at the same time. So, if I was adding the buttercream, I did that for all the cakes. Then when i did the fondant, I did that for all the cakes.

HTH a bit.

Don't know if this will work for your situation or not but some people crumb coated the cakes then froze them. This may help with the crunch time right before the wedding.

You don't have to keep IMBC in the fridge, it is room stable for a good few days. The fondant will also help protect it.

Frozen cake is easier to work with all around. You can make your cake up to three months ahead without any effects.

As soon as you can, bake the cakes and freeze them. Wrap in plastic tightly, and then in foil. Once frozen, use a cookie cutter to cut out cakes. You can also use the cookie cutter to level the cakes by cutting off the top above the cutter. Don't worry about waste, the final product is what you care about. Have your buttercream ready. Torte and crumb coat the cakes and freeze.Once the cakes are frozen again, you can easily wrap them in plastic and foil, or wrap a box of them in plastic and foil. Seal it well to protect against drying and odors. This is your timesaver.

When you are ready, they should thaw quickly, 2 hrs max, wrapped in the box! Don't unwrap until thawed, it prevents condensation. I would plan on a poured fondant or some petit-four covering. You will probably need to coat them twice for best look. This could easily be done 3 or 4 days before the wedding and refrigerated. The final cake can be kept at 65 farenheit for several days. Higher temps shorten the lifespan, obviously.

I just wanted to say that your cake is beautiful. They are going to look so elegant when your cousin gives them away. I wish you the best of luck completing these.

Alot of great info...here's my 0.2...you run a huge risk when refridgerating gumpaste. Can you attach those very pretty flowers at the venue? Yes you will need some extra hands but that is what the houseparty is for.

you cant refrigerate gumpaste flowers... just like fondant, condensation will destroy it... its not worth the 2 months work of flowers to be wasted. i did 81 pcs 3" mini cakes last week. started baking 5 days before the event. only got 10 tins of 3" pans so got the whole day baking, washing, putting parchment on it, etc. then covenred them in rolled fondant for 1 whole day then decorate the next day and packed them with food safe plastic containers also. good luck! you got alot of work to do....

listen take a breath if you can do 1 you can do 75!!!! i have faith in you and it seems like everybody else here does to!!! i say you can do it with the rolled fondant , day 1 bake your cake and clean up if you feel up to making your iceing do that to. day 2 make your iceing ice them all and freeze them.day 3 make your fondant and get everything preped to assemble day4 roll and asseble if needed take 2 days to rolland assemble. keep in mind these arent 75 wedding cakes there 75 simple mini cakes its just white fondant. you can do it!!

Another .02

I would bake, cool, fill, crumb coat the cakes to be used. Then, freeze until firm but not hard hard. With icing ready to be used nearby, remove one pan/sheet of cake at a time, cut your shapes, then crumb coat them and get them back into the freezer until done with that stage.

I would recommend rolled fondant....poured does get stickier than rolled when chilled then thawed.

Color your fondant. Pulling a few shapes out at a time, cover them with fondant....

A note about gumpaste flowers...

they're not as tempermental as some think. For years, I made cakes for a company. We placed(and they still do as well as other companies)gumpaste sprays onto decorated cakes and placed them into the freezer. Then, brought them from the freezer and placed them into a refrigerated case or onto a display on the sales floor....not once did they go limp. Same exact gumpaste flowers sold by many suppliers. If your flowers are completely dry, there shouldn't be a problem.

all4 made me stop and think...am I just following the crowd? It makes sense that if you defrost in fridge the gumpaste will remain dry. Thanks all4!

Thank you everyone. There is some great advice here. You made me feel so much better about everything. I just keep telling myself " I think I can, I think I can", that seems to work most of the time. The wedding is sunday the 19th, I'll post an update as soon as I can after the wedding.

Even the ones that went from the freezer directly to an unrefrigerated display on the sales floor never went limp. Ever been in Sam's Club at Easter, Mother's Day, graduation time and seen all the cakes with gumpaste flower sprays? From freezer to floor.

The fondant shouldn't give you problem if you freeze it either...but it should go from freezer to fridge then to room temp if possible to prevent excessive condensation.

I thought my post didn't post...

all4cake, thats good to know. thanks for the info... how about fondant w/ tylose? would it have the same after refrigeration?

I'm sorry I don't know the answer to that for sure. According to the claims on one recipe, by using tylose, gumpaste holds up better in humidity.