I made my daughter's very 1st birthday cake a day in advance... that might have been my first mistake with this one...

I attempted a 2 tier cake. One of the ones with a cupcake on the top. The cupcake ended up somehow not sinking into the cake, but just slouching over... that was the first of it.

I thought, if I chilled it, it would tighten up and stop. Looked in the fridge the next morning and the icing on the cupcake was falling off... I transported it to the party and then neeeded to fix the icing. I thought of a quick fix... cool whip...mistake #3. The cool whip jsut slowly started melting off...and eventually, my cake was a ....cake disaster.

I am really new at all of this, but I feel like I am getting nowhere. So, please, any encouragement or advice is MUCH needed at this point. I have tried to laugh about it, but I think, will my cakes EVER look good?!?!

Disaster picture will be soon added to the cake disasters gallery...

Hi, it's very common that the cakes you see decorated at parties were made a day or two in advance, especially if they are elaborately decorated. Please look on the bright side, the next birthday (when your baby turns 2) your cake is going to blow everyone away! Especially you.
I am in no way affiliated with wilton, but I did take the classes all of them, one after the other, I highly recommend it! you are a true beginner you will learn so much. look up on line to see what it covers. Also in the mean time,
"you tube" how to ice a cake, how to make simple buttercream icing. That way you can watch the video's.

Hi and Welcome to CC, k_alie.

Hi and Congrats on your 1st post, saffie.

Decoding CC acronyms:

http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-2926-.html

Everything you need to know to make, decorate and assemble tiered/stacked/layer cakes:

http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-605188-.html

Above superthread has popular CC recipes for crusting American buttercreams, several types of fondant and doctored cake mix (WASC and other flavor variations) - and so much more.

There is:

baking help/cake preparation (how much batter per pan by size), hints and tips (flower nails, bake-even strips, lower oven temp., making your own pan grease, etc.)

smoothing and stacking help

illustrations of common cake support systems with complete directions (tiered/stacked)

and more....

Get comfy, it's a long read.

HTH

Does anyone know why my icing developed an odd taste after sitting out for a day? it no longer tasted like it did when i first made it. that was another frustration!