I have a cake order for Thursday and I was not sure about the steps. Will it be ok to bake my cakes Tuesday and crumb coat them then cover them with the fondant and decorations Wednesday night? I wasn't sure if Tuesday would be too soon to bake and crumbcoat? Also would I need to refrigerate the cake before covering it with fondant? I've taken the classes but wasn't sure since this was never addressed.

It would be fine to bake Tuesday. I put my cakes in the fridge before I put the fondant on, but not everyone does. The reason I do it is that I want a thicker coat of buttercream than usually goes under fondant, and if I put the buttercream on that thick and then cover it at room temp, most of the BC will squish out under the fondant as I smooth it.

I bake on Monday, cool, level, torte then wrap each layer seperately then together with press and seal and freeze. The day I want to decorate I take the layers out of the freezer, fill, crumbcoat and let them come up to room temp and settle at least 3 hours. A cake can settle as much as an inch and if you cover a cold cake you can end up with bubbles of air/gas trying to escape and ruining your cake. The air/gas can escape the crumbcoat but not the final coat of fondant while the cake is coming to room temperature. You CAN chill your cake for a few minutes to help set a thick crumbcoat but not too long or the cake itself gets cold and then you'd have air/gas issues again. And, yes, I almost always finish a cake the day before delivery. The only time I may still be working on one is if it's not due till the evening on the day of delivery. HTH

Cat

can i jump in and ask a question,please i have a cake in the freezer for sunday i was going to take it out on sat and fill and crumb and put the fondant on it. now i relized i can`t do that on sat, cuz its 911 and i have to go to a service for my nephew that died on 911. is it to soon to do it all on fri. TIA

Yup...I try not to finish a cake more than 3 days in advance to help insure freshness but if you finish it on Friday and serve it Sat night or Sunday then you'll still be just fine.

thanks, catlharper

Againg the CC Angels came to my rescue! I will bake and crumb tomorrow night then cover and decorate on Wednesday. I have to deliver it by 10:30am Thursday morning.