Hello!
I've only made a few cakes to date and I ALWAYS have one dilemna. My friend that has been decorating cakes forever says if she has a cake due on Sat, she bakes on Wednesday. Ok, I get not wanting to do it all at once. But.........what the heck do I do with the cake till Friday night? She says she leaves it on the cooling rack overnight then frosts it the next day. Hmmmm...just leave it out? What about drying out or little bugs or something? Am I being paranoid? I made the cake tonight (and the frosting) but I just wrapped them loosely in wax paper because I just kept staring at the cooling racks and hearing them dry out! 
What do you all do?
Thanks,
Lizzie
Hi Lizzie,
I wouldn't leave cakes sit out, wrap in foil or plastic wrap and if not using the next day, put right in the freezer and then defrost morning of the day you plan to decorate them. The cakes are actually more moist after freezing for a short time and they are much easier to work with! I always plan my big cakes in stages by baking first, then doing the buttercream and last day I decorate. Hope this helps! Good luck.
Dion
For Fri/Sat orders:
I bake them on Wed or Thur.
Cool and then wrap in plastic wrap. If it is a two-layer, I wrap them as one unit with the leveled sides facing.
Leave them at room temp (on my dining room table) until ready to use.
Once iced, I no longer wrap them or anything. Just box and they're ready for pick-up.
So, If I bake the cakes on Monday, torte them on Tuesday, buttercream them on Wednesday, I can decorate and serve them on Thursday? On Wednesday, after I put the buttercream on, should I wrap it up? Refrigerate it? Leave it out?
Help! So confused!!
Hi Lizzie,
I wouldn't leave cakes sit out, wrap in foil or plastic wrap and if not using the next day, put right in the freezer and then defrost morning of the day you plan to decorate them. The cakes are actually more moist after freezing for a short time and they are much easier to work with! I always plan my big cakes in stages by baking first, then doing the buttercream and last day I decorate. Hope this helps! Good luck.
Dion
^What Dion said. Makes your life so much easier and I even freeze and thaw cakes when it's just for fun because the cake is more moist.
If I get a cake decorated the day before the event, I just put the cake in the box I plan to deliver it in, cover the top with plastic wrap to keep dust, hair or fuzz, evil little bugs, etc. from falling on top of your cake, and store in a cool place until delivery (providing your cake doesn't need refrigeration). Depending on the type of cake and icing you've made, most cakes are fine sitting overnight as long as they're not in a warm place.
I bake, let cool, then wrap in plastic wrap and freeze till the day of icing. I take them out and Torte while semi frozen with a regular bread knife. Torting is so much easier when semi firm. I then lay them on cooling racks with plastic wrap over the top for about 30 minutes till thawed then assemble and frost and decorate.
They are always more moist after freezing.
I'm pretty new at this and this is one of the first questions I had as well. So of course, this is one of the first tips I learned. And I agree, It's so much easier to work with the cakes when they are frozen/semi frozen. They are not nearly as fragile. Frosting them is sooo much easier. And they thaw quite fast. This is probably wrong, but I took my cakes out of the freezer this morning and frosted them. Then I put them into the refridgerator and went to work. When I get home this evening I will cover in fondant and decorate and deliver. I'll bet people are going to tell me I should have left them out of the refridgerator. But I just feel like they will be sturdier and able to hold up to my handling them if they are chilled. Am I wrong on this point?
@debbief....you were right to put them back in the fridge. it's easier to fondant a chilled, iced cake for a few reasons. if for some reason your fondant tears while trying to put it on, you can peel it off with minimal icing coming with it plus, smoothing your fondant is easier on a chilled cake too! i usually pull my chilled cakes out of the fridge while i'm rolling out my fondant so the buttercream gets slightly tacky. and i empahsize the word slightly here!!!!
Thank you UpAt2am. That's exactly why I do it. And I also let it get slightly tacky before covering as well. Glad to know I'm not doing it wrong. But as I keep reading in these threads, if it works for you, keep doing it. And so far I haven't had any problems.
I'm pretty new at this and this is one of the first questions I had as well. So of course, this is one of the first tips I learned. And I agree, It's so much easier to work with the cakes when they are frozen/semi frozen. They are not nearly as fragile. Frosting them is sooo much easier. And they thaw quite fast. This is probably wrong, but I took my cakes out of the freezer this morning and frosted them. Then I put them into the refridgerator and went to work. When I get home this evening I will cover in fondant and decorate and deliver. I'll bet people are going to tell me I should have left them out of the refridgerator. But I just feel like they will be sturdier and able to hold up to my handling them if they are chilled. Am I wrong on this point?
The only problem with putting fondant on a cold cake is that the fondant will get condensation. If you let it sit long enough, it will dry up, but it will be difficult to add any buttercream/royal icing to it while it's wet.
The only problem with putting fondant on a cold cake is that the fondant will get condensation. If you let it sit long enough, it will dry up, but it will be difficult to add any buttercream/royal icing to it while it's wet.
I've read about the condensation issues before but I've never had that happen. I wonder if it is because I live in a very dry climate. I haven't covered very many cakes in fondant yet. Hopefully I haven't just been getting lucky. 
I have one in the fridge at this very moment waiting for me to come home and cover.
debbief-When you put your cakes back into the fridge what do you put them in? Sorry about so many questions!
Nothing. Just make sure you don't have any strong odors...onions, garlic...etc... I've always read that the frosting helps to keep the cake moist, and I have never had a problem with the cake being dry. And I don't do it for more than that day that I am getting ready to decorate. Otherwise they are wrapped very well in saran wrap and in the freezer. Remember, I'm pretty new at this too, so I feel strange giving advice. This is just what I've been doing and so far it's been working.
I wish I had an extra fridge just for cake stuff...and a freezer too. Heck what I really need is an extra kitchen just for cake stuff. Now I'm just dreaming. If only I had enough experience to quit my job and go into the cake business...where's that "sigh" smiley? But I totally agree with you JaimeAnn.
I always wrap in plastic, and then in foil.
I have some big night crawling creatures here at home (one is sixteen, the other is eighteen), and have to make sure cake is safe. 
But I don't put cake in the freezer, just in the fridge.
I always wrap in plastic, and then in foil.
same here, works great to do it this way when freezing them!
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