This is a first for me. I have 4 cakes due next Sunday and I am notorious for waiting till the last minute to start my cakes. I know that I absolutely can't do that this time around so could someone please give me some advice as to how to keep organized and stay on some sort of schedule?

I can give you a WOOHOO and a big pat on the back, but I'm the last person in the world to give advice on not procrastinating.

As we speak, I am NOT making light green peppermint candy clay, I am NOT making a flourless chocolate cake, I am NOT rolling dessert sushi, and I am NOT thinly slicing a papaya without a mandolin.

All of which are things that need to be done by TOMORROW for the 1 year anniversary of the restaurant I do desserts for.

Instead I'm on CC. Again.

What kind of cakes? How many "cakes" per cake? Fondant or BC?

I would bake on Wed/Thurs.

Fillings THurs.

Start filling and crumb coating on Thurs/Fri.

Ice on Friday.

Decorate on Friday/Sat.

Made rush on Sunday because I never finish on time.

Hope this helps!

S.

I agree with sonoma9 on her time table, just try and not make it a last minute thing that will stress you out more. Last weekend I had a busy weekend from thrusday till monday, I had 9 cakes due, some being a couple of layers each but I managed to get them done and enjoy the nice weather as well.

Good Luck

You might even consider baking, filling (if using BC), and freezing. As I get more and more cakes due on the same day, and because I work a full-time job during the day, I've been experimenting... I've found that when I freeze the cakes with that BC filling inside, they taste even better after they've thawed out--is that possible? Certainly saves on time and stress when you're down to the wire! That is, if you have the freezer space!

I think I would bake and freeze Tues crumb coat fri. and ice when crumb set do all my decorating sat so you don't rush and stress out on Sun. Just deliver but that s me I don't like the pressure. HTH

Next Sunday, as in the 26th? or the 19th?

If it's the 26th, I would definitely get any decorations out of the way starting now....

Look at each and write down what they need....

then begin the decorations for them by the medium required for the decoration...that is, if you begin with royal icing, do all of the decorations that are to be done with that...laying out separately for each cake...don't forget to make extras.

Then go on to the next medium...fondant...do all decorations that require fondant for each.
and so on until all the decorations are done.

Certain icings can be made in advance...make any that can be made ahead...make plenty. store properly.


Doing things in advance allows you to breathe easier and the cleanup won't overwhelm you either. Nothing worse than looking at the cakes I need to complete and turning to see what a mess I've accumulated.

Set a timer...2 hours....do everything you can in that alloted amount of time...take a break, mental regrouping and reflect on what you've done and mark it off the list. This helps me...I am unable to just start without a list when I have several cakes to do.

I would start now and freeze them.......

Thanks, everyone!

All cakes have 2 layers and I have 2 1/4 sheet cakes (bday), 1 1/2 sheet cake (bday) and 1 1/2 sheet cake (a baptismal carrot cake). I'm really not too worried about the bday cakes and I think I'll start making them this weekend and then freeze them. (Do I thaw in the fridge?) I have some colorflow designs that I can get out of the way but I also have some little BC flowers that will need to dry but I don't want them to taste bad so how far in advance can I make them and where should I store them? (It's very humid here, btw.) I have no idea how early I can make the carrot cake. Oh, and can I put the colorflow designs on the cake and in the fridge the night before or will that ruin them? I can't remember.

alimonkey - That is too funny! Do you have a storefront? I noticed you're in TX, too, and I have a restaurant that wants me to make some things for them but I'm leery b/c I'm a home baker. What do you think?

That's my usual schedule, except that my four cakes would be due on Saturday.

Bake now. Get off the computer and go to your kitchen. Torte wrap and freeze. Pull everything out of the freezer and fill on Friday. Frost and decorate on Saturday and stay up doing cakes until you are finished. Leaving nothing till Sunday morning. Deliver on Sunday.

Sleep on Sunday.

I have this delema all the time because I am the only cake decorator for my bakery. When I make them at home I spend one night just baking all the cakes. I have a double wall oven so that helps with time. I put them on the cake board and just before they are all the way cool I lay a clean plastic trash bag over them. It kind of seals in the moister. Just make sure you don't use scented bags. Then I get up the next morning and start icing and decorating.

wow....these are great tips...I always do everything the night before!!!

I agree with the baking and freezing what you can now. It works well.

Sonoma9 gave a really good outline and I also really like what all4cake wrote: I like that work for 2 hours cake a break and then go on.

I dont know if people do this, but in order to keep my sanity ( because I am also a procrastinator extraordinaire.. earned this title in college!)

Anyhow... when I make my design, I make sure to write down everything on that sheet. All the colors, how much Icing I need and other decorations. If I need to use a spray, will I need some type of template - which color I need to spray first... then I print it out to have a picture to look at, then adjust as I go, but at least I have the basics.
That comes in handy when I am doing a couple of cakes the same day, I then make sure I have enough of each color and mix and match whenever possible. I usually make a list with check box of what needs to be absolutely made by when so I know I will do it ... well hopefully.

Yes I am a listmaker, but then I tend to not forget too much. I am making 5 cakes in the next 8 days. I might have a few people come by and learn a little while I play, so that mght be fun too.

I also try and have many pastry bags ready to go ahead of time and I make sure I have all my tips organized - just so I know if I have to finish something before I have to wash it to change color. (I have also learned to have 3-5 of the basic ones)

I also always have a few cups of white Icing in the freezer, so that in a pinch I can pull some out if I need it. I rotate it often so it's never in there more than 1 month. -- Anyone else?

Hope this all makes sense to you.

Good Luck!

Thanks so much for the great tips! I was going to start baking today, but we've been watching Hurricane Dean in the Gulf and hoping it wouldn't come our way and make it so we'd have to evacuate, so I put everything off. It looks like we're going to dodge a bullet with this one, so I'm going to start tomorrow. I'm not panicing anymore, but I'm mostly concerned with the carrot cake b/c I'm worried about freezing it. Hopefully, it will be OK.

I think carrot cake is better after it has been frozen. I freeze them all the time iced (with the cream cheese icing) and when my family wants a piece they just saw a piece off and set it out for a little bit and it is better then freshly made. Trust me on this one my grandmother has been doing this for 70 years.

ALL baked goods are perfect candidates for freezing. Really. Do not worry about it.

That's great to know! Thanks!