I have some large orders coming up and would like to get a head start on things. One of the orders is a three tier cake and I was hoping that I could bake stack and buttercream each tier before I freeze. That way in can thaw out the tiers stack and put the finishing decorations on it. Has anyone ever done this? and if so whats the best way to freeze and then thaw out? TIA

Of course, you can freeze cakes with buttercream on them... fully decorated cakes are shipped frozen all over the world, but I wouldn't do it for a 3-tier cake. I think that with larger diameter cakes you'll run a risk of the icing falling off as it thaws, then you'll be back at square one needing to re-ice with wasted time on your head start. I guess you could refrigerate if you had to, but only if using perishable fillings... otherwise, it would be fine at room temperature. I don't know how much of a head start you're wanting, but I believe your customers deserve as fresh as possible for their order. Starting a day before you normally would isn't a problem, but if you're thinking a week earlier--I wouldn't consider it.

Ummm, I don't think I'd do that. I freeze my cakes all the time and it's great...but I never BC them first. I've put them in the freezer to set if it's too warm in the room, but if it's left too long in the freezer it affects the look of the buttercream. At least I've found that to be true. Now if you want to freeze your cakes a few days ahead and then buttercream and stack them the night before you decorate, just put them in the refrigerator--not the freezer-- and they'll be fine.

I freeze, take out, unwrap and then fill and frost. I don't always wait for them to thaw out. It makes doing the crumbcoat or any carving I have to do much easier.

CWR41 is right, bakeries do this all the time, so the potential for a fresh tasting cake is there. But those bakeries have the freezer space and know-how. If you need a head start, you're better off just freezing the un-iced cake layers.

Thank you for the feedback. The tiers for this cake are small 6,7,8 and I was only looking for a few days head start. I always make my cakes fresh. Bake one day, decorate the next and then delivery/pick-up same day next morning. I just know that both these cakes are going to take alot of time to decorate. I usually wouldnt have taken them both for the same day but one of the customers is a regular and changed what she wanted to more. lol Maybe I will just stick to my usual schedule and work extra hard.