Got a wedding next weekend..Need a time frame for making cakes and Decorating..I'm the groom's mother and making a stacked wedding cake...With all family coming in ..can i make the cakes and freeze the first part of the week..and should i crumb coat and freeze or is it better not to crumb coat and freeze? ..I'm so nervous about this..i'm almost in a frenzy since some of the brides family has put doubts in her head that she should have gotten a bakery to do it..I've been practicing for this for two years..also since family is coming in sooner in the week than i had hoped for is also giving me the jitters about time frame... Any help will be appreciated.

Last weekend, I had two weddings & 3 groom's cakes to do. I had never had that much in one weekend. I baked all day on Monday. I froze everything. Then I just continued on decorating til I was done.
For your wedding, I would bake early in the week. And I would crumb coat them, then freeze. I would also make any and all decorations you are going to put on the cake ahead of time. Make lists. Check items off as you go along. Be really organized. Have other people do all your other things you have to do for the week, so you can just concentrate on your cake. You will do fine! Helen

Yes, baking and freezing is cool. As far as crumb coating and freezing I'm not positive but I believe thats okay. How detailed is the cake?

Breath in--hold--let out.
again.
Now make your list of what needs done and you will succeed!!
Enjoy the wedding!

AAWWWW First of all, Deep Breath, in through the nose, out through the mouth!!!! YOU CAN DO THIS!!!! I would make my icing and bake my cakes 1 to 2 weeks in advance. Flowers, too, if you are making icing flowers. Just keep the flowers in a place without alot of light as this can cause fading. Freeze your cakes with no icing on them. Put them each on a board or plate and freeze (single layer) AFTER they are frozen, you can stack them. Just put a bit of wax paper between each layer to prevent sticking. Take them out the morning you are going to deco them and they will need some time to thaw. You can be setting up while they are thawing. If you are going to add filling, do this when they are still cold, as it makes it easier to handle the cakes when split. then, you can crumb coat them. After that, just go for it!!!! Sometimes buttercream will crack if put on a frozen or very cold cake, so you might have to do the little one first. HTH God Bless........Donna

I had a busy weekend with a large wedding cake. I had company coming in plus my daughter had several thigs to do.

I baked everything on Monday. Rather than crumbcoating...I use an apricot glaze prior to freezing. I frosted and smoothed all 4 layers of the cake and put them in the refrigerator. I also had doweled the tiers. I had plenty of icing already made to finish up borders and decorations.

I stacked and finished decorating on Friday morning. I left the cake in the refrigerator all day and night. I delivered it this afternoon(Saturday).

I got everything finished on schedule. I think you will be fine as long as you do as much prep work as you can.

SLB 1956 -

Thanks for asking these questions. I am trying to understand the freezing processes as well.

I have a question that goes along with this topic. Do you wrap the cake layers in Saran Wrap only or with Aluminum Foil too?

Thank you to all the experienced bakers helping out the newbies!

Ang

I wrap mine is Seran Wrap really well and then freeze!!

I wrap mine well with clear plastic wrap and then an unscented trash bag.

Oh you are such wonderful people.. Just talking to you i can feel my stress level diminish..and the support behind me.. Ang...thanks for asking the question about wrapping.. When this cake is finished ..I will post it for you..and then give a good sigh of relief..

Thanks for this post. I am a newbie myself and am still trying to figure out all of the secrets to cake baking and decorating. I just have to say....soooooooooooooooooo happy to have found this site.

How long can you actually freeze a cake before icing and decorating? Also, how long do you have to let it sit out and thaw? I don't know why (must be mommy brain) but I still am having a hard time trying to figure this one out.

SLB.....good luck with your cake and congratulations on the upcoming wedding.....when it's all over you can sit back, kick your feet up, and let out a huge sigh of relief.....everyone will have LOVED your cake

How do you wrap the cakes in plastic wrap without them losing their shape? I am a newbie as well and have noticed that the last 2 cakes I wrapped had slightly indented sides from wrapping too tightly? How do I stop this, it makes me crazy!

slb1956,

Don't let others give you doubts about your abilities!!

Don't give any negative comments another thought!!

You can do this.

You will be so proud of what you can accomplish!!!!

I have left cakes in the freezer for months and believe me unless you have an educated pallette(sp) or get paid to be a taster you can't tell. After I bake them I freeze them first without wrapping and then I wrap and wrap and wrap first with plastic wrap and then wrap and wrap and wrap with tin foil. After that I use the big jumbo freezer bags, squish the air out and put the biggest cake in there and so on. I have the food saver but sometime the cakes don't get hard enough to use. You have to leave all the wrapping on 'till they thaw.

Now for those relatives send them to me so I can deflate their egos. Oh, and don't forget to smile sweetly if they should voice their doubts to you and say, "oh, you know how to do this?" That stops them in their tracks. In the meantime, put them out of your mind. And stay out of harm's way. Meaning, don't expose yourself to them.. They sound jealous and petty. This should be a joyous time for you. Just think, you could always be MOB!

I recently asked for information on Time Frame for making cake for Son's wedding..and here are the results of that post.. So look at my first wedding cake..all suggestions to make it better the next time are appreciated. I thank all of you for your previous responses..You all are life-savers to those of us that are newbies.

slb1956,

Beautiful job!! I hope you received the recognition you deserve.

You did a beautiful job on the wedding cake. I hope your new d-i-l told you how much she appreciated all of the hard work that you did on top of being the mother of the groom.

Joan

Wow!! Gorgeous!!! I love it!

What a beautiful cake! You did a very good job! It's lovely!

Ok. You have lied to us.....that is NOT your first wedding cake!!!! LOL! It is beautiful! Great Job!

Honest, first wedding cake..thats why i was so stressed...prior to this I'd only done, sheet cakes..and round cakes..character cake pans...etc...but those definitely gave me the experience..but you guys..helped tremendously with "how to".. and i'm so appreciative of that fact..

Absolutely gorgeous!!!! I can't imagine a more beautiful cake and the flowers are magic. You did a FANTASTIC job!!! You won't be able to top this cake. I am dumbfounded that you were soo nervous about timing and all. You should be very, very proud. I'm sure you knocked their socks off with this.

Congratulations!!!!!!!!!

Absolutely gorgeous!!!! I can't imagine a more beautiful cake and the flowers are magic. You did a FANTASTIC job!!! You won't be able to top this cake. I am dumbfounded that you were soo nervous about timing and all. You should be very, very proud. I'm sure you knocked their socks off with this.

Congratulations!!!!!!!!!

Very beautiful cake. You did a great job!!!

That cake is beautiful! You did a wonderful job.

Do have pictures of some of your other cakes? I would love to see some of your other work, too.

Cindy

That cake is absolutely stunning!! Now, you're d-i-l's family will calling YOU for cakes!!!! Way to go!