OK, so I know I'm repeating myself with similar questions here, but I'm really having problems!!! Do you all decorate your cakes the day you need them? If not do you decorate and store until you do?? Ugh...I really thought that one day I'd want to do this for a living, but now I'm really at a loss as to how this is all done!!

I usually ice the cake the night before and decorate it the morning I need it. Gives me a chance to smooth a bit more. I do it at night because that's when the little ones are asleep and I can do it without (much) interruption!

Melissa

I try to get it done the day before I need it. If it's an order (don't get many of those) it's ready to go first thing in the morning and if it's for a birthday party or something for the kids I have time to get the house clean.

I try to decorate the day before, because I would hate to have something irreparable happen the day that the customer needs it.

I use to decorate the day of, but I don't take that risk if it's for someone else. I decorate the day before, that way if something goes wrong or I'm running behind, it allows me time for finishing touches or do-overs.

and do you freeze or put your cakes in the refrigerator overnight when there is a perishable filling????

For a Saturday order I bake on Thurs, ice & decorate on Friday, Fine tune on Sat. a.m. if needed then deliver or have it ready for pick up on Saturday. I like to make sure everything is done before I go to bed the night before cake is due. I don't do that many, but I have never had any trouble with it going bad by sitting out overnight. Of course if you have perishable icing or filling such as pudding, you will want to refrigerate it. I don't like to refrigerate my buttercream after it is on the cake, because it will get condensation and may cause the colors to run. I just like to play it safe. I usually keep my finished cake in the coolest room in my house (easier to do in the winter).

I decorate the night before just incase something goes wrong...

I will bake as early as Wednesday night for a Saturday cake. I'll ice it that night, put it in the fridge that I have just for cakes and pop, beer, etc. (Nothing with odors!) I decorate on Thursday, finish on Friday. I always keep the cake in the fridge, and it seems to taste best if left to "cure" for that final day.
I'll pass along this story: A decorator I know had a cake due in the morning for a 7:00am pick-up. The client called at 9:30 the night before to change the order. When told the cake was already finished, the client said, "I thought your cakes were FRESH!" She did not come and get the cake. (I think she was just looking for an excuse to not get the cake.)

I try to do it the day before so if I mess something up, I'm still ok.

We all know the trade secrets for keeping cakes fresh. The most popular ones are to bake ahead of time, then wrap the cake in plastic and freeze until necessary. The second is to crumb-coat the cake. This is the one I prefer.

My decorating depends on the amount of work I will be doing on the cake. When I am doing a piped cake, I decorate the day before. That way if any settling happens (overfilling and bulging, etc) I have enough time to correct it.

If I am doing fondant, I will fill and ice the cake the day before, then do the fondant work and details the day it's due.

Theresa

I start my baking on Wednesday. All of my cakes due on Saturday are finished before I leave the shop on Friday. It really takes a load off my mind to have them done the day before! Also, payment is due at the time of order unless it's a wedding cake. Wedding cakes take a 50% deposit and the balance due 3 weeks prior to the event. No balance paid=no wedding cake. I have even been stiffed with this policy!! One birthday cake ($50) and one wedding cake ($175 already paid)! But for the most part my customers are great and show up on time to pick up their orders!

It all depends for me, on my schedule and when my hubby can help with the kids. So usually, my cakes get done the night before or the day of. If I am using a butter bc, I make it the morning of - I don't have fridge space to store cakes. If I am using crisco- I do it the day before, since it can sit out overnight. I bake for friends and family though, so I don't have early morning pickups to work around.

Here's my schedule for a Wedding Cake with buttercream icing:

Wednesday - bake and prepare base boards
Thursday - make icing and crumb coat cakes
Friday - ice and decorate
Saturday - deliver

When you bake even as early as Wednesday the cakes have time to sit and get really moist. I have sometimes made the icing on Wed. and baked and crumb coated on Thurs. If you're pressed for time you could even combine Wed. and Thurs. jobs and do it all on Thurs. and then ice and decorate on Fri.

I use this same method on all my cakes. I have made a few birthday cakes on the day they're due but not very often. That's too much pressure. Plus the icing needs time to crust over good so your decorations don't get ruined in travel.

As far as storage, buttercream needs air otherwise you risk the colors bleeding and the icing melting or drooping. I leave them on my table uncovered. If you prefer to cover them make sure nothing touches the icing and leave an opening for the air to flow to the cake.

Another lady and I made cakes for our sons graduations this year. She was disappointed when the colors on her cakes had bled. I noticed that she had her cakes covered with Saran Wrap. I shared with her the importance of letting the decorated cakes air dry.

Ive always decorated the day before because usually I drop the cakes off on Saturday , early afternoon, and I don't want to wake up at 3 am to do a cake and then have something go wrong

I always decorate the day before as well as I have learned in the past that sometimes clients come early to pick the cake up....like the day before even though they told me a specific date.

I always bake and decorate day before delivery exception fruit cakes 3 months in advance.... I want my cakes to tast fresh, more important

I crumb coat mine the night before and then get up really early to do the decorating. I am usually too tired on Friday night and I do my best work in the early morning hours.

This is a whole lot of help that everyone is giving me....so general consensus is to bake a few days before, ice the day before - but my biggest obstacle is storage!!

If you ice & decorate your cake the night before it is due and there is a filling that is perishable like pudding, do you always refrigerate??? I'm so nervous about the colors bleeding, but I'm even more nervous to have a perishable filling go bad! What's the trade off?

I have an extra fridge for small cakes (up to 12 inches) but I just won't do large cakes that need refridgeration, because i am also chicken of something going bad. I have no idea how people do fruit filled wedding cakes (with real fruit, not the pastry filling)

I have never had a problem with the colors bleeding. It may be the icing or colors that I use, but do others have a serioius problem with this? I always refrigerate the cakes, just because it makes them more stable for transport. I don't do large weddings, simply because I do not have the fridge space.

I bake on Wed. put int the freezer overnight take it out on Thurs to thaw and decorate on Fri. Flash freeze for a moist cake.