Hi All,

My Mother-in-law asked me to make her a buttercream cake covered in gumpaste flowers for a retirement party next Sunday. I agreed, not realizing at the time that I had a wedding on Saturday and would be going out of town on Sunday!! Now I'm trying to figure out how to make the cake ahead of time.

My thought was I could make the cake early and freeze it. Then on Friday I would re-frost and decorate the cake and deliver it to their house (boxed) and store it in their cellar until the party on Sunday. I don't want to put it in the fridge b/c I'm scared it will dry out. Do you think the cake will still be good after 2 days? Is there any particular bc recipe you would recommend that might hold up longer?

Also, can I make the gumpaste flowers this weekend (7 days in advance) and store them? I've never tried this, so any advice would be appreciated.

I've never had to make a cake this far in advance before- usually I'm finishing up decorating the night before, not 2 days before. I know it's not ideal but is it do-able?

Thank you pro's for any advice you can share :)

JD

Hi JD,

Yeah i think that your gumpaste flowers will be fine if you make them 7 days in advance cos they need to dry anyways.

However, once they are dry, you could keep them in an air tight container or a cardboard box. Pls make sure they are dry though. lol.

regarding your cake, if you bake it in advance, wait for it to cool, then wrap tightly in cling film and put in your freezer. make sure that your freezer doesnt have any funky smells. I usually out a bowl of baking soda in the freezer next to the cake.

However, i wouldnt advice you to frost the cake in advance. I guess you could make the frosting ahead of time, place in an air tight bowl, and keep in the freezer. Once again, make sure there arent any funky smells in the freezer.

So when you are ready to frost your cake: you could bring the frosting and cake out hours ahead to defrost,  whip the frosting when it comes to room temp & then frost your cake.

I hope this helps. This is just based upon my experience.

Good luck.