I am making a 2 tiered cake, with strawberry fruit filling (like a compote) and buttercream frosting. My friend is picking it up 2 days before she will be serving it. I don't have a lot of experience with cake, much more with cupcakes, so I need some advice.

1) Should I bake the cakes and refridgerate them overnight before I frost and assemble? I read that it's easier to frost but was always told never to refridgerate cake so I wasn't sure about this advice.

2) Once assembled (filled with fruit, frosted, and decorated), can I tell her to store it in a cool place, but not in the refridgerator? I let my cupcakes stay out, is cake any different?

Both you and the customer need to keep the filled and frosted cake refrigerated at all times. Otherwise the fruit will ferment or start to grow mould.

Just as fruit pies like apple and cherry pie are non-potentially hazardous, many fruit fillings are non-potentially hazardous and can be safe at room temperature. However, due to the length of time and the unknown pH and aW of your compote, I would also recommend keeping the cake refrigerated until a couple of hours before consumption.

Refridgerate...got it...thank you so much for your help!!!