Hi,

I'm having a surprise party for my husband on 10/14. Guests will arrive around 1:00 and my husband will arrive at 1:30. I will be going in earlier in the morning to set up and decorate.

I'm planning on doing a 3 tier cake on the new wilton Cakes 'N More 3 tier party stand set. I'm going to do something similar to the water slide cake in the 2007 wilton yearbook. The theme for the party is Gone Fishin', so it is supposed to be a waterfall and will have fish candles and candy rocks and a frustrated fisherman topper.

Could someone give me a timeline for when I can bake the cakes, freeze them if possible, fill them, frost them and decorate them? My parents are coming to visit starting a couple days before the party and they stay about 1 1/2 hours south of us because we live in a very small town in the middle of nowhere. So not only will I have to prepare food and cakes right before the party, I will also have to drive south to visit with them, like they are the only current event.

I have the church gym and kitchen reserved for that day and there are no events for at least 2 days before the party, so I can make some stuff ahead and put it in the fridge at the church.

I plan to fill the cakes with cream cheese fillings, so they will need to be refrigerated.

How should I prepare the cakes for freezing? How should I defrost them and when? Will they taste as good after freezing? When should I fill them? Do I need to frost them right after filling them or could I wrap them and refrigerate them after filling and frost them the morning of the party? If I frost them the day before and store them in the fridge, how will that affect the frosting?

Also, I am planning for one layer to be a white cake with a raspberry cream cheese filling. Can I just add raspberry jam to a cream cheese frosting or would that be too rich? Could I add plain cream cheese to raspberry jam, or would that not be sweet enough?

I also plan to do a layer with chocolate cake and a coconut cream cheese filling. I was planning to make a cream cheese frosting and use coconut flavoring instead of vanilla and mix in some coconut. Does that sound like it would work?

Sorry that this is so long and full of so many questions, but I really want this to come off well and I want to really be able to have the party be a real surprise.

Thanks for reading all of this.

Lisa

Did you search TIMELINE ? This was just talked about this week!
or on freezing cakes? mentioned all the time. *

Bake whenever - cool - wrap in plastic wrap then foil - freeze. Don't stack them until they are frozen in the freezer.
Cream cheese & jam - needs chilled.
Choc/coco - sounds fine, needs chilled.
3 days before get cakes out of freezer and just let the thaw - don't unwrap. 2 days torte, fill, ice, decorate. Wrap the best you can and put in fridge. When you get there that day - sit them out to warm up.

You might want to rethink your fillings. If you use all buttercream or fondant you can make it 2-3 out and leave it out on the counter. That is a lot less stress IMO.


* I'm sorry but I try to go to the unanswered everyday and answer but I get tired of saying what has been said so many times before. When I first found this place I loved it - I read every page! If I had a question I searched. I have asked one question since I was here - I think 3 people answered me. It seems that there are only 3 or 4 of use that go thru the list and answer them.

Thank you for the reply. I'm sorry, I did do some searches, but could never find what I was looking for. I guess I didn't search timeline, though, so I will try that.

Lisa

Feel free to ask questions!
That's what we are HERE for - to help each other... it's difficult sometimes to find what you are looking for in the searches, I know.
Try this:
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-fsearch-results.html

I sometimes ask the same question as someone else, but usually the replys back are different so I get more information that when I find an old question/answer. Ask away...there is always different people willing to answer, no matter how often it is asked.

Thank you. I am just really stressed right now trying to get everything organized and done without my husband finding out. He is very observant, so it can be hard to get something like this past him. Also, I invited about 60 people and have hardly gotten any RSVPs. So far I've gotten responses from about 1/3 of those invited.

Lisa