Cake Assembly Timing

Decorating By Girlfriendal Updated 1 Jun 2013 , 7:43am by Girlfriendal

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Girlfriendal Posted 30 May 2013 , 9:08am
post #1 of 7

AHow soon is too soon to start assembling and decorating a wedding cake? I'm trying to make a schedule for how best to approach my next few days regarding a wedding cake I am making for this coming Sunday, but I don't have any experience with cakes this large and am a bit unsure of my timing.

The wedding is at 11:30 AM on Sunday, so basically I pack up and deliver Sunday morning. Tomorrow night I finish baking the last of the four tiers - the others are baked and in the freezer. This is a buttercream cake. When should i plan to get all te layers out to thaw? When would be too soon to start torting, filling, crumb coating, and then decorating...with the understanding I can't pop it back in the freezer at that point, and it would just be sitting out till the wedding?

Any scheduling advice would be greatly appreciated!

6 replies
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Daisyblue002 Posted 30 May 2013 , 11:30am
post #2 of 7

There's some great info on making & decoarting a cake on the 'Inspired by Michelle' website. It's in her tutorials on the left, under Timeline for Decorating a Cake. Outlines when you should bake and decorate and was really helpful. Best of luck :)

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DeliciousDesserts Posted 30 May 2013 , 12:26pm
post #3 of 7

AHow big is this cake?

I'm a bit cautious, so I start early. I bake Monday or Tuesday ( day 1), crumb coat day 2, final coat day 3, decorate day 4, deliver day 5.

I like to have the cake ready to go the day before just in case something happens. If I get behind schedule, I have wiggle room.

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Girlfriendal Posted 30 May 2013 , 9:34pm
post #4 of 7

AIt's 4 tiers - 14", 12", 10", and 8". I've been baking all week. I have my last two layers that I'm baking tonight. Then tomorrow I was going to take all the previous layers I have baked and frozen out of the freezer so that they can thaw. And I was hoping I could torte, fill, stack, and assemble tomorrow night as well as crumb coat. Then spend Saturday decorating. But I was worrying that was keeping the cake out too long before delivery on Sunday, and it wouldn't be fresh. But that sounds a lot like what you do. Does that seem alright to everyone else?

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kearniesue Posted 31 May 2013 , 1:17pm
post #5 of 7

I think that's fine, as long as none of the fillings are perishable.  It'll still be nice and fresh.

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DeliciousDesserts Posted 31 May 2013 , 1:55pm
post #6 of 7

AIs the cake going back in the fridge?

The way I doing, each tier goes back in the fridge. If I'm assembling, the whole cake goes back in the fridge.]

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Girlfriendal Posted 1 Jun 2013 , 7:43am
post #7 of 7

AFillings aren't perishable at all. All the tiers are now happily torted, filled, and crumb coated. Tomorrow the icing, smoothing insanity (!!! so much to smooth!), and decorating (scary minor fondant work, but I'm not a fondant person.).

I thought you weren't supposed to put cakes in the fridge? Thought it messed them up? Well, regardless, I have a narrow side-by-side, so I'd be hard pressed to even get a 9" in there. Luckily I have a nice upright stand-alone freezer to freeze cakes after I bake them.

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