Advice On A Wedding Cake For Next Weekend.
Decorating By ConnieSue Updated 3 Jun 2007 , 9:07pm by ConnieSue
Attached is a pic. of a my project for a dear friend next weekend. They want the cake iced in buttercream with fondant accents. The closer this wedding gets the more nervous I become. This is a BIG project for me. Any advise would be greatly appreciated. The wedding is Saturday 2 pm. The bottom layer is 18 inch so we are talking a lot of cake. Is Thursday too early to bake? I usually chill each layer, but there is no way that big cake is going in my fridge. . . . HELP 
bake and freeze as much as possible in advance (like today even)
make fondant medallions this weekend and through out the week.
by Wed or Thurs have BC batches made up and stored in air tight containers.
then Fri AM cakes out of freezer and then go to it icing it.
Place medallions on Sat AM... leave as separate parts, assemble at venue
at least that's how I'd try to do it (and probably not considering what a procrastinator I am)
Wow thanks! Should I put the buttercream in the fridge?
can, or can leave out on counter for a day or two.
safety conscious me, since I like to use real butter in mine, would stash in fridge if going to be more than a day
Thanks! Do you ever use the butavan? If you do how much do you use?
I bought some, but don't really know what to do with it! I guess it was silly to purchase something you don't know how to use but . . . .
haven't tried it yet....
my current flavor of choice is creme bouquet
Thanks! Do you ever use the butavan? If you do how much do you use?
I bought some, but don't really know what to do with it! I guess it was silly to purchase something you don't know how to use but . . . .
I use Butavan all the time and love the flavor! I do not measure but it's probably approximately 1/2 to 1 teaspoon per cake or icing recipe. Makes cakes and icings smell and taste really yummy!
That central tier is a dummy so why not decorate this in advance - that way you've practised the techniques and you'll have a more realistic idea of how long it's likely to take you.
looks like you got your work cut out for you!!!
I recently went to a cake decorating workshop within our cake guild and the demonstrator worked with buttercream doing pretty much the wilton style i think... anyways... she adds glucose to hers and never milk uses water instead so it doesnt go off and also adds a little brandy to help preserve it.. she uses about 350g butter and 1 kg of icing sugar about 1 tablespoon of the glucose apparently this makes it slide easier on the cakes but reccomended for piping the flowers. good luck cant wait to see a pic of the finished cake
Thanks everyone for the tips! Emmascakes the center is actually a ceramic ring so it is ready to go! That is one I don't have to deal with 
Ariginal I will have to look around and see if they have glucose around here. It is probably too late to order at this point. I am not close to a cake decorating store.
That central tier is a dummy so why not decorate this in advance - that way you've practised the techniques and you'll have a more realistic idea of how long it's likely to take you.
I think that's a Wilton ring...already decorated. It's the one Wilton product I actually like! 
BTW...they sell half pans (for the larger sizes) that you can bake and refrigerate easily.
I would bake and freeze this weekend. Go ahead and made your icing too. I made the wilton buttercream with all shortening and water so I put it in a HUGE tupperware bowl and leave it out. Just be sure to keep the house cool. You can pull those cakes out of the freezer on Thursday a.m., fill and crumbcoat Thursday, ice and decorate on Friday. Once again, keep the house cool on Thursday-Saturday.
Personally, I like to do as much ahead as I can no matter how large or small the project, since I work full-time. this includes baking one week ahead and freezing, making icing, cutting and covering the cake boards, making fondant, decorations, etc.
Good luck and be sure to post a pic!
I have the medallions ready, however they do have to be piped with buttercream. I guess I will have to do that after I place them. I made the buttercream this morning. I had to search far and wide to find the old formula of crisco. That transfat free stuff is aweful!
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