Can anyone advise me on how far in advance I can decorate a cake and store covered in the refrigerator without loosing the freshness of the cake? I have 5 orders the first week in March but when I took the orders I completely forgot I have a retreat planned for the same weekend so I'll be out of town. Can I bake the cakes on Tuesday and decorate them on Wednesday then store them in the refrigerator covered till Saturday and them still taste fresh?

In my experience, cakes kept in the refrigerator will dry out very quickly.

However, someone with a professional high-humidity fridge posted on here a couple weeks ago that they refrigerate all their cakes in these special fridges. She also said they bake 500 layers a week! LOL! Obviously it's a large bakery I'm referring to.

If you're talking about a regular home refrigerator, I wouldn't.

You'd be better off baking ahead of time, torte, fill and crumbcoat and then freeze them. Decorate at the last possible minute. Make all your icings ahead of time to save time.

Of course all of these thing depend on your recipe and method of baking.

I personally would not follow your mentioned time frame. Especially if these are paid orders.

Thanks. I'm leaving for out of town on Thursday morning so the last possible time to decorate is Wednesday night. The cakes don't have to be refrigerated so if I don't refrigerate them would a cake baked on Tuesday night be okay for Saturday consumption?

I thought I had ran across a post that a woman commented she baked her cakes on Tuesday, torted, filled and crumb coated on Wednesday and then decorated on Thursday and Friday for Saturday delivery. I hate to cancel the orders but then again I don't want to compromise my product as well.

If I am doing a 3D cake, or a few cakes in one week that includes a 3D, this is what I do. I will do any fondant/gumpaste figures that need to dry on Monday. Then Tuesday I will bake and freeze the cakes. Wednesday I will make my icing(if the colors need to set), and start to carve my cake. When I am done carving, I put back in freezer. I try to do it fast as possible, so it doesn't get completely unfrazen, then frozen again. IDK, but I feel like that might cause freezer burn. Then Thursday I decorate my cakes,and Friday I either finish them up, or add the last few touches. I have done all of my cakes like this(although I have only done like 5), and every customer has said that the cake was delicious.

I'm a stay at home mom, so it's not ideal for me to work on a cake for one full day. I have to attend to my daughter, so I must break up my cakes into a few hours each day, generally when my husband or roommate is home
Hope this helps

Edit* mine only stay out completely decorated for one night, so IDK about staying out that long sorry!

texas is a big state why not try to find a new comer to do your orders to help you, then you can deliver when you get back, and i bet they talk about trust at your retreat ha ha peace dennis

I've never iced/decorated on Wednesday night and left out til Saturday so I hate to say go ahead and do it without having done it myself.

Now, having said that, I baked and iced a cake last Thursday afternoon for home, and I just had a small piece this afternoon (4 days later) and it was ok. Now, was it as fresh as it was on Saturday? (2 days after baking) No, it was not. Would I want this to be the first piece that my client ate? No, definitely not. The texture does change. The icing begins to "seep" into the cake as does the filling. I can tell the difference.

When will you be returning from your retreat? Is it possible to freeze them already torted and crumbcoated then remove and decorate when you return?

I'm sorry, I wish I had an easier solution for you. 5 cakes is a lot, especially when you have to do them all in a 24 hr time frame.

I am a newbie, but I did this with my dads b-day cake a couple weeks ago. Heres what I did:


Tuesday- baked cake - 1 white, 1 chocolate from mixes
torted and filled with chocolate bettercreme/vanilla frostin pride and crumb coated
refrigerated

Wednesday - frosted in bc
refrigerated

Thursday - decorated
refrigeraed

Friday - a little more docorating
not refridgerated

Sat- final decorating and served

Result-
Frosting a little dry and some of the piping a little firmer that it should have been and cake was dry

I hope you have better luck...

Isn't that the truth! Three of the cakes I'm not worried about because they are to be delivered earlier but these two that are for Saturday really bother me. I just took those two orders today and they're just 1/4 sheet cake orders so I may just call and cancel rather than risking it. I just hate to cancel because it's one of my reoccuring customers...guess it's better to cancel than to disappoint her since she expects a certain level of product. My only other option is to postpone my departure till Thursday afternoon after I complete these two cakes but even then I'm not sure if it'd be okay. Dunno...never had this problem before.

If you just took the order today, I'd call them back seeing they're good clients and just tell them the truth. After looking at your calender you realized that you will be leaving town on Thursday and won't be able to fill their orders. Maybe offer them a small discount on their next order for the inconvenience.

Could you give them a referral to another baker that your friends with?

I'd go with your gut on this one.

Thanks for all your help dkelly...I really appreciate it!!

You're very welcome. I hope you have a great retreat