I am brand new to cake decorating and I have a couple of basic questions.
My Wilton instructor told us we had to freeze our cake and then defrost it before we decorate. I've read posts on this site though where people say they never serve frozen cake. Does that mean that they do not freeze it at all before they decorate or that they do not have cakes just sitting around in the freezer waiting to be used?
Also, how do I make fondant black? I have been told that if you add a lot of black coloring it will taste bad. I have an idea for a black and white cake but I want to make sure it will actually be edible.
Thanks for your help!
Lots of people on here bake fresh cakes and don't freeze them at all. I mostly do cakes at home and for friends, but I've never frozen one and never had a problem decorating them, either.
As for the fondant, try making chocolate fondant and then adding the black color. I've seen that suggested on here a few times.
Good luck, happy decorating!
darby822,
I never froze any of my cakes for my Wilton Courses and I have taken three of the four. I am not sure why the instructor wants you to do this. As for the black fondant, I cannot give an answer to that one. I have not done black BC or black fondant. Hopefully, someone else on here will have an answer for that question. I know that Americolors are some of the best for getting dark colors. That and time. HTH
Bradymom
Welcome to Cake Central.
It isn't necessary to freeze a cake before decorating. Many decorators bake a day or two early, freeze the cake, and find the resulting cake more moist with less crumbs. However, for class cakes, I wouldn't think that would matter that much.
Black Fondant is difficult to make-I suggest if you really want black, that you buy it. Wilton fondant is easy to use, but the taste is not very good (better than it used to be) But for a lesson, it would work fine. Satin Ice and other brands also make black fondant. I get mine from my cake decoration supply store. I don't know what you will find in your area.
You could try dark brown and make chocolate fondant?
You can freeze cakes. I personally think they come out very moist which work for a doctored mix and not so much for a scratch cake - ie carrot. would NOT serve it still frozen - still frozen/hard that is. I have decorated a cake while it was still frozen and you have to watch because the butter cream like to freeze.
I just did black fondant on my Monster Truck Grave Digger cake - in my photos. I had lots of left over colors so I mixed them all together and added black paste color to it. It was fine. Took a lot less than I thought it would. I have also done cakes with lots of black butter cream - but let me tell you - bad taste and black mouths.
Try your color out a few days before you need it. Sometimes it intensifies with a little time.
Good luckl!
You will find some members freeze and some don't=) I do personally, I like to wrap em up warm in suran wrap,then a big zip baggie and it ends up a lot more moist for me. When I am ready, I take it out of the freezer and let it defrost before I decorate it. I have not done black MMF yet, but have read a few post about it. Some say to start with Chocolate MMF and add black. Some say that the MMF doesn't take as much black gel color as buttercream=) So, you prolly should test which way you like=) But I am sure someone who has done it before will have better advice for you, Jen
When I am making a cake, I bake it a few weeks ahead of time and freeze the cake. This saves me time because I work full time. My frosting in made ahead of time and anything else I need so I can just put the cake together.
If you decide to bake ahead and freeze make sure you put a box of baking soda in the freezer to absorb any smells. You may not smell them but the cake will abosrb the smells. I double wrap mine in scran wrap never had a problem over the last ten years.
Black fondant - start with a base of brown; add black mix really good and let sit in a dark place. As it sits it will get darker. This goes for red start with a pink or coral base; add red and let sit for a day or two to get the color you want. Americolor is a really good for coloring fondant, frosting, royal icing. If you are using wilton you will get a bad taste from the black and red colors.
Good luck. Any more questions just ask.
Hi darby822,
Yes, there are decorators who never freeze their cakes, at any point in the baking/decorating process.
Black fondant threads:
http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-89351-.html
http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-85421-.html
http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-34064-.html
http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-81781-.html
http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-76021-.html
HTH
Some people like to start off with a chocolate icing and then tint it black from there.... it takes a LOT of coloring to achieve black... Americolor is by far the best to get black, red and many other colors for that matter... The best rule of thumb, and this is what I tell my students, mix your icing colors the night before and let them sit overnight. They tend to get darker after sitting for a few hours. If they're not dark enough, then you can add more color to it... you can make your colors up a couple of days ahead of time and just seal them in an airtight container... as far as the cakes, baking freezing, that option is strictly up to my students if they want to do this.. if they'd rather bake and bring their cakes the night of the classes, that is their choice.. your instructor may be thinking of having you do all your baking at once to get all the cakes done so you won't have to do one every week of the course.. HTH 
hiya darby822! welcome!
sometimes I freeze...sometimes not.
freezing your cake and allowing it to thaw changes the texture of it. I have found that this process does make it easier to ice with less crumbing.
Do you think the instructor would be able to tell if you did or not? If you can ice your cake for class without crumbs I don't think the instructor would tell or ask for that matter.
jmho
Jeanne
Wow! Thanks for all the info!
This site is amazing. I can't believe you all are willing so willing to share.
All4cake- No, I don't think my instructor would know the difference. I was just curious if it was something I had to do. Our instructor will tell us what is in the Wilton book and nothing else. She owns a bakery here in town and I think she looks at all of us as possible competition. If we ask her any questions she tells us she cannot share that information. The funny thing is there are only three of us in the class and not a single one of us intends to do this professionally. We just want to be able to make cool birthday cakes.
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