Help! I am making a Harry Potter cake for my son's upcoming 10th birthday and want to make sure I get it right. I'm pretty new to this. The recipe calls for ganache then fondant, but I was thinking of using buttercream instead. Would that be ok? And I was thinking of baking it one day, frosting it the following, then decorating with the fondant layers and decorations on the 3rd, the day of the party. Thanks!

Before the ganache thing, we always used buttercream under fondant.  I would have the cake completed the night before the day of the party, though.  You'll be busy enough without the stress of caking.

Thank you! So do I stick the frosted cake in the fridge? Freezer? Wrapped? 

I just leave mine on the counter, but I don't use perishable fillings.

Thanks!

Hi! I made a Harry Potter book cake (in my pictures and I used A stiff buttercream under the fondant. However, when it was time to place the "page lines" on the side of the cake the buttercream under the fondant was almost at room temp and soft so it was harder to keep my fondant in place. What design are you going with? Oh, and breaking the cake baking, icing and decorating up is an excellent idea. It saves your hair and fingernails from all the stress! lol. 

Hi! Thank you for that insight. See, I was worried about the buttercream getting soft at room temp and causing an issue. That's why I'm thinking it might be better to go with ganache but I've never worked with it. It's a book design. I actually saw it here, and that's why I signed up. Love this site. I'll look at yours now! 

Ok wow! You are super talented. I am just started out so this will be the hardest one I've ever made. Loved your pics!!

Oh great! Well from experience I would suggest going with the Ganache. You should make the Ganache ahead of time, (Maybe 2-3 hours. I make mine a day before) so that it will stiffen up to the consistency of a buttercream, If it gets too stiff while icing your cake you can put it in the microwave for 10 SECOND burst. Keep your eye on it!  I have learned the hard way, walked away from the microwave and when I came back the Ganache was way too runny. There's a man "Yener's way" who does an excellent book cake on Youtube.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVgr9pl5P0M&t=10s 

Thank you!  I am completely self taught with a whole bunch of trial and error lol. I'm not up there with heavy hitters yet, but practice is definitely making "better." 

Goodness - in my book you are totally a heavy hitter! I feel like the elf in the Rudolph cartoon who hates making toys and only wants to be a dentist so all he does is reads about teeth. lol. I'm scared but it's all I think about -- getting good at decorating cakes! You're an inspiration for sure! 

That means so much to me! I think the only way you can succeed in this crazy cake world is to fail first! lol. Give yourself PLENTY of time. Things that you can make ahead (figures, cake boards, etc) that aren't perishable will keep you sane if you do them early. I believe I made the wand, Sorting hat and the ball about 4-5 days before I started assembling the cake. HTH!