My mom is making my cake...

[frenchie]

Just a quick question for you ladies who made your own cake, when should we make it and when should we do the frosting, and the decoration?

[BnB]

bake the cake 2 days in advance, if you don't, it will be 'too' fresh and crumble when slicing, especially white or yellow cake

DO not make it and freeze it ahead, it will taste like, well, like it's been frozen

you can make the icing up to a week ahead, as long as there is NO dairy in it

make sure it it covered tightly, and do NOT refridgerate

I always ice(flat ice) my layers the night before, then the morning of, I do the rest

a lot of it I do at the site, as I set it up

I never construct it at home to transport

there is a lot less chance of something happening in transit that way

always take a lot of extra icing with to the venue, just in case

I've been doing wedding cakes for 20 years, if you need any other advice, let me know

If I could see a picture of the cake you are doing, I may have a lot of other advice

and has she ever attempted this before?

hm, let me think if there is anything else

[Rainbow Brite]

I'm glad you asked this question - FH's grandmother and my mother will be making our wedding cake as well.

Thank you for the advice BnB!! Our cake is going to be half buttermilk cake and half red velvet cake. We're going to have a cream cheese frosting. Would love to hear any specific advice about that combo if you have any :)

I'm kinda nervous about the cake, simply because it's got to be such a last minute thing. But I'm sure it'll be fine :)

Oh yeah - how do you transport the layers? Can you buy cake boxes somewhere?

[BnB]

Rainbow, tell gram to be very careful with the cream cheese icing, it has a tendency to separate after decoration, especially if you 'add' things on top of it

tell her to add about 1 tbsp flour to each cup of icing to stiffen it up and keep it from separating

that should help

how far must the cake travel?

I use the bread racks that the bread people use in the grocery stores

then I put them in my trunk

drive very slowly

make sure there is absolutley NO dust or dirt in the trunk, you dont' want the particles to stick to the icing

I would think you could buy boxes at a bulk food store, or even Walmart, but I never have

[LILBOBO1980]

What they said :)


I was going to attempt to make my own... I was practicing with the fondant etc.. but I decided that was wayyyy too much stress. Wish I had someone to make mine for me... that is a big money saver.

[NOTKT]

Post some pics of your cakes! I LOVE looking at cakes! especially real ones, not in magazines. :)

I wish someone would make mine too, it is costing us $300!

[Whitewater]

I was going to make my own, but the fondant I made tasted like sweet Play-Doh -- very unappetizing -- and it never did get non-sticky. No matter how much powdered sugar I put in there, it never did act like the fondant I see on Ace of Cakes, just as an example.

After I tasted it, though, we're *definitely* going to go for buttercream, which might cut costs some? There are a couple people here in town that use buttercream but provide a smooth, silky fondant-like finish, which would be very cool. I'm envisioning an ivory-white cake with symmetrical (but pretty, like freestyle paisley or grecian swirls, or something) gold piping, not a whole lot, just enough to give some visual interest. Maybe around the bottom two inches of the layer, who knows? The cake is just about the last thing we'll be thinking about during our planning.

Can't have my family do it, nobody bakes cakes but me!


Whitewater

[BnB]

Post some pics of your cakes! I LOVE looking at cakes! especially real ones, not in magazines. :)

I wish someone would make mine too, it is costing us $300!


unfortunately I haven't done any since I got my digital camera, so I can take pics of the pics, but they always look bad

but I'll try:D

[Rainbow Brite]

Just talked to my FMIL last night about the cake (since the same grandma that's making ours - her mother - made hers with the same cake pans) and I think we're going to tier the layers with some type of stand. One of my FH's cousins may have a stand we can use - otherwise we'll purchase one. And since there will be some space between the cake layers and the next tier up, we're going to try to put colorful flowers on top of each layer. Oh i'm so excited!!!!

Also had an idea about transporting the layers - pizza boxes!! They may not be tall enough to close, but you could rip off the top part and just place the layers in separate boxes...then carefully transport them in a car.

[SerendipityCrafts]

DO not make it and freeze it ahead, it will taste like, well, like it's been frozen

I used to do children's character cakes. I didn't totally freeze the cake but I would wrap it up tightly in saran (3 layers + foil) and put it in the freezer for up to 4 hours before icing.

It made spreading the icing so much easier and it also eliminated the dreaded crumbs the get mixed up into the icing.

Another favourite tip of mine -

After frosting your cake, dip a palette knife or small spatula into hot water and wipe. Then slide the heated knife over the cake, it'll melt the icing just enough to make the surface smooth and shiny.

[BnB]

I used to do children's character cakes. I didn't totally freeze the cake but I would wrap it up tightly in saran (3 layers + foil) and put it in the freezer for up to 4 hours before icing.

It made spreading the icing so much easier and it also eliminated the dreaded crumbs the get mixed up into the icing.

Another favourite tip of mine -


yup, they both work great

[NOTKT]

unfortunately I haven't done any since I got my digital camera, so I can take pics of the pics, but they always look bad

but I'll try:D

Well I don't want to go thru all that trouble! I just love looking at cakes!