I am very new here and have only decorated mayber 3 cakes(not iced I mean decorated) I dont have a business but do it for my family(I am thinking I should charge). Anyway, I am makinga hannah montana cake for my DD's 9th b-day party this saturday. i am making a guitar and ant find a picture I like or an idea either. But for the question, I want to know how far ahead I can bake the cake and cupcakes and should I wait and decorate them on saturday or should I do it before that? If anyone out there can help me with answers I would appreciate it

Erin

Hi mamasmakincakes welcome to CC!
You can bake your cakes today if you want. Just make sure you wrap them well in saran wrap and refrigerate or not. As long as they are wrapped they should stay moist. Then you can decorate whenever you have the time.

Hi Welcome! I usually bake my cakes 3 days ahead and wrap them. If you cover them with a crumb coat they will be fine.

Okay I dont want to sound so nieve but is a crumb coat a thin layer of icing? Okay good I wanted to know if I can bake today! That would really help out with my list of things to do. I also need to know if its okay to make rice krispie treats this early or wait until the day of/before. I have read somewhere that if you decorate your cake too early the colors of the icing may bleed together? is that true?

You're good to go on all points
Color bleeding happens when icing is overly moist &/or made right before using. Make your icing now; color it now. Some colors will intensify - depending on the colors used, how deep the color is & type of icing used.

Thanks Kakeladi on the color bleeding. I haven't had that problem yet but I didn't realize colors darken after sitting for a while. You rock!

thanks