I am making my first tiered cake for my sister's surprise 25th anniversary party. The party is at another sister's house on Saturday.
I'm baking the cakes today (10, 8 & 6) and will freeze them.
Because I have kids and other food to bring to the party, my plan is to assemble & decorate the cake at the party house the day before (Friday) & leave it in their refrigerator. They have a large empty fridge in their garage so I can leave it in there finished, though I'm not sure if/how I should cover it.
What I'd like to do is to thaw, torte, fill & ice the cakes on Thursday, then bring the iced cakes to my sister's house on friday to assemble and decorate. I'm new to this and my biggest fear is dry cake. Two tiers will be chocolate cake with chocolate ganache filling and one will be yellow cake with a strawberry cream filling. All will be iced with buttercream that is 1/2 butter 1/2 shortening.
If my plan doesn't sound like a great idea, any alternative suggestions are welcome! The reason I'm not doing the entire thing on Friday is that I have two girls age 3 & 5 that will be hanging out at my sister's with me on Friday and I don't want to park them in front of the TV for the entire day. I thought maybe just doing the decorating/assembling there would make it a little less boring for them.
Once I figure out the hows and whens, I get to stress about how it's going to turn out! Ha ha ha! 
Welcome to CC... i dont personally freeze mine, but many ppl do... From what i have learned most bakers will cook them, let them cool completely, wrap them in plastic/saran wrap, then wrap them in foil before freezing... the let it thaw to room temp. i would assume you unwrap to thaw as it could create condensation if wrapped, but that im not sure about... I do know you do not want to decorate it while its still frozen...Hope this helps
Sounds like a good plan to me! Once you crumbcoat and ice your cake (or cover it with fondant), the moisture is pretty much sealed in and will stay fresh for several days, so don't worry about not doing it on the same day as the party. If it doesn't have any fillings that can go bad, you don't even need to worry all that much about refrigeration. Icing and stacking on Friday (or even Thursday, if that would help) assures that you will be relaxed on Saturday and can enjoy the party - or go crazy in other ways helping out with all the details! Hope the party is a rip-roaring success!
I'm new to this and my biggest fear is dry cake.
Once your cake is iced, it won't dry out.
(I think it gets better/more moist as it sits!) For example, I made an Independence Day cake for my neighborhood block party... it was a 2-tier, made on the 3rd, only one tier was served on the 4th (I was a little disappointed--thought it was dry). We cut into the second tier on the 5th, and it was excellent!!!!
Hi, MessMaker, I just read your post. I always freeze my cakes, but - as most people do who freeze them - I thaw them wrapped. The condensation gathers on the outside of the wrapping, that way, not on the cake. HTH.
Hi, MessMaker, I just read your post. I always freeze my cakes, but - as most people do who freeze them - I thaw them wrapped. The condensation gathers on the outside of the wrapping, that way, not on the cake. HTH.
Thanks Marianna, i learn something new everyday from CC, this info from you is very helpful as i am needing to freeze one for a shower cake i am making for a friend nxt week... how long can they be kept in the freezer? could i make it on a Sunday and thaw on a Friday?
Actually, you can keep them in the freezer for up to six months or so, with no discernible difference in taste or quality, which is great if you have a huge freezer and long weekends (or whatever) where you do nothing but bake! In other words, bake when you can and decorate when you need to.
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