cake baking/decorating time lines

[Sweetum]

I'll be baking a cake for DS' birthday this year. I'll be baking a two tier cake, with buttercream frosting and gumpaste decortions. I need to plan the whole thing. please help me. Btw, I'll be doing a trail run over the holidays.
2 tiers - 2 large cakes, 2 small cakes
buttercream frosting (thinking swiss meringue)
balloons, words, etc cut out of gumpaste (hopefully cookie cutters)
lines using a black gel tube (will that work? or does it have to be royal icing tinted black?).

I need to know what comes first, how long to wait before the next step, and what to do while cakes are cooling or while something else is setting. Please assume that the birthday part is at 3pm on Sunday (not this sunday).

also, do I need to place the smaller cake on a cake cardboard before placing it on the larger cake? Do I need use dowels that go trhough the cardboard as well. A little confused about that part. Thanks.

ETA: please also recommend a cake recipe to use - want it to be moist. any non-chocolate flavor.

[mctlaw]

Since your party is at 3 PM Sunday, I would suggest doing all the baking and frosting on Saturday, and only your fine detail work and assembling on Sunday.

Bake Saturday morning, plan on several hours to cool. Make your buttercream while cooling. Do your buttercream frosting in the afternoon and it will keep the cake itself fresh. If you have any very time intensive gum paste decorations, I would make them that afternoon/night. If you are hand-tinting frosting/icing for piping or decorations, consider doing it that night as well.

Sunday, assemble your layers and add your gum paste decorations and complete any other fine detail.

I did a two-layer cake last year for DS birthday (I posted it in the lounge if you want to search to get an idea of the detail and how long it took me). However, it was a sheet cake and did not need the dowels/cardboard. It sounds like yours will need that. I had several hand tinted frosting colors that I piped on and handmade gumpaste decorations. I baked my cake, assembled and applied the first layer of buttercream the night before. The day of (it was just family so there was no set time for the party) I literally spent all day tinting, piping, and decorating and we had the cake between 5-6. Next time, I will have all my piping and decorating items ready to go and do all but the fine detail work the day before.

You can tint buttercream black but it takes an awful lot of tint to buttercream ratio and you might be better off with the gel.

Hopefully someone else will pipe in with a recipe; I spent so much time on the homemade buttercreams and hand tinting, and decorations, I knew that part would overwhelm me and I just used a box mix!

Good luck!! Post your results!

[Sweetum]

alright, mama! now I'm totally intrgued - looks like you removed the picture after a few days (I would do that too). Wondering if you could briefly post it here too. thanks!

[happymom]

Ok, I do a lot of cake decorating and here's what i would do. I would bake the cakes whenver is convenient for you, level them each (cut off the top part so its flat) and then freeze them. I like baking my cakes early so part of the job is out of the way.

*Here's how I freeze my cakes- each cake (you will have 4- 2 for each tier) goes onto its own cakeboard. Then I wrap in saran wrap, then foil, and then put into a large ziploc.

The cake will taste fine if you put it all together on Saturday (you really don't want to be rushing to do it the day of the party) but you need to have something to cover it with once its done. I often cover my two-tier cakes in fondant, and then they can sit on the counter without a cover because the fondany keeps it fresh. If you're using buttercream though, it needs to be covered.

Anyways, assuming you're going to do this on Saturday:
Make your buttercream and tint it whatever colors you want. Take cakes out of freezer and start to stack and frost. Do each tier separately. So, lets say youre doing a 10" bottom and 6" top. You'll stack the two 10" layers and frost. Of course you'll need a cake board underneath. Then do the same for the 6" tier- also with a cakeboard. Btw, if you have a turning cake stand, its soooo much easier to do.

If your two tiers can be decorated independant of eachother and then stacked, I would recommend that.

You definitely want to put dowels in. It sounds much scarier than it is. I can help you thru that if you need.

Once your cakes are frosted you can start the decorations. I use fondant, not gumpaste but it doesnt matter. If any of your decorations are going to be standing up or something, you can and should make them in advance so they can dry. Otherwise, just cut them out and lay on the cake.

About the black, what do you need to pipe lines for? If its for the balloon strings, I would probably just roll them out of gumpaste or use buttercream piped on....

Let me know what I can help you with.

[mctlaw]

alright, mama! now I'm totally intrgued - looks like you removed the picture after a few days (I would do that too). Wondering if you could briefly post it here too. thanks!

Here you are! Only took me about 15 minutes to figure out how to get it in (not a techie, here!)

I didn't mean to turn this into a brag for me but I love doing this kind of stuff so let me know if I can offer any more help! I'm already thinking of next year's cake.

I used 2 different buttercream recipes from allrecipes.com so let me know if you need any recs there, too.

http://images5a.snapfish.com/232323232%7Ffp6327%3A%3Enu%3D327%3B%3E937%3E4%3A5% 3EWSNRCG%3D3435%3C296%3A932%3Bnu0mrj

[Sweetum]

mctlaw, your cake is really AWESOME! I hope I do half as good a job as you...

happymom, thank you soooo much for your detailed response. Yes, I will need your guidance when I get to some of these parts. In the meantime, I'm thinking of practicing with a single tier cake over the holidays. I'll update as I'm doing it.

I need the black lines to put smiles on faces, and yes, balloon strings too. you don't think piping gel will work well?

I'm thinking of doing swiss meringue butter cream - do you recommend against it? and how would I store this? I was thinking of refrigerating the entoire cake in case I get it all done on saturday night. would that ruin the taste or texture?

Thanks for the great idea that I can decoate each tier separately - I will likely do that. No, no figures, just flat, stenciled faces and objects.

I've never worked with fondant or with gum paste before. do you recommend one over the other in terms of ease of working with? also, I'm thinking of buying readymade gum paste (or fondant if that's the reco) from wilton. good idea? also, what brand of colors do you recommend for tinting?

I'm assuming I can get the dowels and the cake boards at a place like michaels. right? or should I seek out some specialty bakery stores?

thanks soooo much for such detailed responses and offering to help more....

[happymom]

mctlaw, your cake is really AWESOME! I hope I do half as good a job as you...

happymom, thank you soooo much for your detailed response. Yes, I will need your guidance when I get to some of these parts. In the meantime, I'm thinking of practicing with a single tier cake over the holidays. I'll update as I'm doing it.

Good idea!

I need the black lines to put smiles on faces, and yes, balloon strings too. you don't think piping gel will work well?

I've never used it. I would just pipe in buttercream or royal icing. I think you should use some piping gel on the practice cake and see how it goes. If it works, it would save you lots of time!

I'm thinking of doing swiss meringue butter cream - do you recommend against it? and how would I store this? I was thinking of refrigerating the entoire cake in case I get it all done on saturday night. would that ruin the taste or texture?

I've never made swiss buttercream. What is it exactly? You can definitely refrigerate the whole cake (if it fits!) but I wouldnt do it with the fondant or gumpaste on it. They don't do well in the frig. If you want to add the gumpaste details on Sunday, then you can refrigerate the buttercream covered cake on Saturday no problem.

Thanks for the great idea that I can decoate each tier separately - I will likely do that. No, no figures, just flat, stenciled faces and objects.

I've never worked with fondant or with gum paste before. do you recommend one over the other in terms of ease of working with? also, I'm thinking of buying readymade gum paste (or fondant if that's the reco) from wilton. good idea? also, what brand of colors do you recommend for tinting?

I've never used gumpaste, but its more for figurines and things that need to be stiffer. For what you are doing, I would recommend fondant. You can buy pre-made Wilton's fondant, but be aware it doesnt taste good! It shouldnt matter though since you're only using it for details. I personally like the Satin Ice fondant much more, but its harder to find. I order it online. It tastes better and is easier to work with. For colors, just buy the Wilton color gels at Michaels. They come in small containers with screw on caps- similar in size to a film canister (remember those?) You can buy a box with all the basic colors if that's easier. A little bit of gel goes a long way. It can be hard to mix the gel into the fondant, so get ready for an arm workout!

I'm assuming I can get the dowels and the cake boards at a place like michaels. right? or should I seek out some specialty bakery stores?

Yes, they should have everything there. If you plan on doing mkroe cakes in the future, invest in a turning cake plate. You can use a 40% off coupon and it wont be expensive. Makes such a difference, IMO.

thanks soooo much for such detailed responses and offering to help more....

No problem! I'm self-taught and have been doing this for a few years. I really enjoy it and I'm sure you will too. I've learned a lot along the way, so I'm happy to share! Btw, there is a discussion forum on the wilton website that is very helpful! Check it out. Look in the Life Celebrations subforum and you can search for whatever you want. Good luck!

[pastrygirl]

Swiss Meringue buttercream is awesome!! It's my favorite easy buttercream. It can sit at room temp for a while, so sometimes I make it in the morning and frost a cake in the afternoon. Usually after it's frosted, I refrigerate the cake, then let it sit at room temp for 30 minutes to an hour, so that the buttercream gets back to a nice texture.

I use Martha Stewart's recipe:
http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/swiss-meringue-buttercream-for-white-cupcakes

I always bake my cakes the night before, or way ahead of time and freeze. I level them after thawing; keeping them intact in the freezer will keep them fresher. The reason you want to bake the night before (or earlier) is to let the crumb settle. Otherwise it will be really soft and smushy when you try to cut the layers.

ETA: A really cheap revolving "cake stand" that I used before I bought a real one was one of those two-tiered lazy susan things you can get at places like Linens n Things, in the kitchen organization section. It can't hold too much weight, but was fine for one cake.

[mctlaw]

mctlaw, your cake is really awesome! I hope i do half as good a job as you...

Happymom, thank you soooo much for your detailed response. Yes, i will need your guidance when i get to some of these parts. In the meantime, i'm thinking of practicing with a single tier cake over the holidays. I'll update as i'm doing it.

I need the black lines to put smiles on faces, and yes, balloon strings too. You don't think piping gel will work well?

i think piping gel would work fine - i would really avoid dying the buttercream black due to the dye ratio. Maybe try it w/ your practice cake?

i'm thinking of doing swiss meringue butter cream - do you recommend against it? And how would i store this? I was thinking of refrigerating the entoire cake in case i get it all done on saturday night. Would that ruin the taste or texture?
since you are going to refrigerate that should work fine - that kind of icing needs to be refrigerated, iirc. Sounds yummy!

thanks for the great idea that i can decoate each tier separately - i will likely do that. No, no figures, just flat, stenciled faces and objects.

I've never worked with fondant or with gum paste before. Do you recommend one over the other in terms of ease of working with? Also, i'm thinking of buying readymade gum paste (or fondant if that's the reco) from wilton. Good idea? Also, what brand of colors do you recommend for tinting?

i've only used gum paste but it can be flat or dimensional. The kit i bought came with a litle roller. I bought gum paste mix that you need only mix water with. I rec. That over the premade kind. Sorry, can't comment on the fondant. I like wilton gel colors for tinting.

i'm assuming i can get the dowels and the cake boards at a place like michaels. Right? Or should i seek out some specialty bakery stores?

i'm sure michael's or any craft store would have that.

thanks soooo much for such detailed responses and offering to help more....

Sorry, my answers were done in italics but I forgot that the quote would also be in italicized - my answers are contained within the quote.
good luck!

[Sweetum]

Thank you, all, for your really helpful responses. So, I've done a trial run, and here's how things turned out:
http://picasaweb.google.com/bhama.vemuru/BirthdayCake?authkey=Gv1sRgCKzQtJ_37cDOlwE#5555279 484407532642http://lh3.ggpht.com/_pyiSNGJtOdM/TRhRQgggTGI/AAAAAAAADi8/5rR6wjaMyas/s800/cake.JPG

I used a cake mix (from betty crocker). It's the butter yellow cake. And I wasn't exactly in love with it after baking it. Wondering if anyone has suggestions on what the moistest, lightest cake mix is in their experience. Or maybe I'm doing something wrong. Here's how it looked after baking and leveling it:
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_pyiSNGJtOdM/TRhNgc_1fCI/AAAAAAAADiE/5tUGQ7iMLqQ/s800/DSC_0922.JPG

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_pyiSNGJtOdM/TRhNgvRvuQI/AAAAAAAADiI/VxF-ns8geNM/s800/DSC_0923.JPG

Yes, to make things easier for the trial, I just baked in a sheet, cut it in half and used each half as a layer. I banged the cake pan a few times in the floor (dropped it from a few inches above ground to the ground) to get rid of air bubbles. I let it cool in the pan overnight. Wondering if I should have taken it out of the pan in 10 minutes and let it cool overnight on a cooling rack.

Like I said I would, I made swiss meringue buttercream, and honestly, I wasn't sure things were going fine when I was doing it. After I was done whipping the meringue buttercream, things looked like this:
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_pyiSNGJtOdM/TRhNfxuuxCI/AAAAAAAADh8/M-uJiRaI3Tk/s800/DSC_0920.JPG

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_pyiSNGJtOdM/TRhNgJjT5TI/AAAAAAAADiA/y3rkjeKfe1c/s800/DSC_0921.JPG

at this stage I thought it didn't look very light and fluffy. I continued to beat, but it was doing nothing. At the meringue stage the meringue didn't rise a whole lot. I did do a couple of things not in the recipe - added a pinch of salt and cream of tartar while whipping the egg whites over a hot water bath. While eating I thought it was a bit too buttery. Any suggestions?

(continued in the next post)

http://picasaweb.google.com/bhama.vemuru/BirthdayCake?authkey=Gv1sRgCKzQtJ_37cDOlwE#5555279 484407532642

[Sweetum]

Here's the cake after frosting:
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_pyiSNGJtOdM/TRhNg2UlReI/AAAAAAAADiM/aNk25qXXbao/s800/DSC_0924.JPG

It didn't look great at first, and then things started looking better. Phew! I used the dip-the-spatula-in-hot-water technique to smooth things.

Here are the fondant decorations: (supposed to make a party hat)
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_pyiSNGJtOdM/TRhNhWQmnwI/AAAAAAAADiQ/wScPGJpEi0o/s800/DSC_0925.JPG

Few things: I bought wilton's readymade fondant. Was surprisingly simple to use. I thought tinting would be really really tough. Well, it was tough but not as much as I had expected it. Of course, I was hoping for more primary colors. I guess I need to add more color gel. But next time I think I'll just buy the pretinted fondant. Anyone recommend against that? Also, I used confectioner's sugar while rolling. While it made rolling easy, it did leave some white on the finished items. I thinking I should've brushed it all out with a pastry brush, right? And, what's the best way to store unused fondant? Can I store it at room (cool) temperature? And what about the above prepared fondant? should I have covered it with a wet cloth or something?

Some more pictures along the way:
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_pyiSNGJtOdM/TRhNh0c-oZI/AAAAAAAADiU/VuCypZUwQVQ/s800/DSC_0930.JPG

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_pyiSNGJtOdM/TRhNh041eNI/AAAAAAAADiY/PbZgYzfbnTg/s800/DSC_0931.JPG

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_pyiSNGJtOdM/TRhNiRt-QQI/AAAAAAAADic/o-FX5LmOEIw/s800/DSC_0932.JPG

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_pyiSNGJtOdM/TRhNi5kn9nI/AAAAAAAADig/CKGr0-ll6js/s800/DSC_0933.JPG

I used wilton's tubed icing for the black portions. I just attached an icing tip with a narrow opening and started to pipe. Was simple. I hope that's not a bad product to use. Does anyone have any experience with it? also, what about storing after opening it? It does say "do not refrigerate" but I'm a little unsure. Will it last long? How long can I use this tube? Can I still use it after a month?

Here are some picture after cutting (shows the layers):
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_pyiSNGJtOdM/TRhXAhr8hVI/AAAAAAAADjA/sS3Ech0fO-k/s800/cut_cake.JPG

I still feel that the cake looks a bit dense and the icing looks a bit flat.

Alright, people, please let the criticisms pour in! Thanks soooo much.

ETA: forgot to mention the timelines: I baked the cake friday night, let it cool overnight. Made the buttercream saturday evening, frosted the cake the same evening. Prepared the fondant decorations sat night. Decorated the cake with piped decorations and fondant sunday afternoon. I think it was overkill for this cake (the time) but for a bigger one, esp one with layers, it should be just enough.

[pastrygirl]

I think it looks great! I had a hard time tinting my buttercream, and decided that next time, I would buy that Wilton bright white coloring to give it a white base first. I was trying to get a robin's egg blue and it took a TON of color and even then I barely got the color I was looking for. I'd never really tried to tint buttercream before, so maybe there's a technique that I don't know about.

I'm pretty sure that the rule about fondant storage is never in the fridge, because it will sweat. You should be able to just wrap it up tightly.

I don't know about a better cake mix. I always make cake from scratch, and it's usually chocolate. :) I'm not even sure I have a tried-and-true yellow cake recipe. I have chocolate, lemon, coconut, carrot...

[mctlaw]

Looks great! I like the colors you chose. I would do a shell type border at the bottom, too (as you did at the top), instead of a straight line. Looks like you are all ready for the real thing!

[Sweetum]

Thank you both for your responses and encouragement! Hope it'll all turn out well. I'll post pictures.

[happymom]

I just came across this thread...I missed the update when you posted. You did a great job! To answer some of your questions, there is nothing wrong with pretinted fondant. Its just more expensive. About storing it, I have yet to find a way to store Wilton's fondant in a way that it doesnt harden into a rock.

I starting using Satin Ice fondant...I ordered it from globalsugarart.com. Its cheaper and sooo much easier to work with. And it doesnt harden when stored! I just put it into plastic bags and make sure its sealed with no air inside. Also, Satin Ice tastes better too. But if you're just using fondant for decorations, go with the Wilton's pretinted. I often cover entire cakes in fondant, so thats a whole different story.

Are you planning to do 2 tiers for the real cake? Make sure to use dowels and put a cake board under the second tier.

Don't know about the Wilton's gel...but I wouldnt be suprised if you can just store it in the cabinet.

About the prepared fondant cutouts. You do NOT want to cover with wet cloth. That would ruin it. Whatever decorations you prepare in advance will harden somewhat. No way to avoid that. If you don't want it too hard, do it the day of the party.

Here are a couple fondant cakes...if you have any questions, ask away !

[Sweetum]

Happymom, I can't believe you're not a pro!! those cakes look fantastic!! O M G!

Turns out I waon't do tiered cake. So, I guess I've done my practice! And thanks so much for the info and for link - it's fascinating! I'm such a foodie and love to bake, and I've never been this much into decorating - it's a lot of fun, and not as difficult as I thought it would be. But to create something like yours, I know I'm going to need a lot of practice...