Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A

Hi….I have been asked to make a cake similar to the ivory 3 tier with roses top and bottom. The cake has to travel for 4 hours on Thursday and the wedding is Saturday. I have a couple of questions
1) when do I bake the sponges and how long will they stay fresh for once covered in fondant
2) how long will buttercream last. the customer wants a 6 in eggless sponge with buttercream and coconut covering
3) due to travel time and two different venues, would you suggest the cake is stacked or each tier is separate

Many thanks
Mandy

Hi Mandy

You can bake and freeze the sponge cakes and bring them out when you need them. Here you’ll find information for freezing and defrosting cakes http://www.cakeflix.com/questions/freezing-and-defrosting-cakes
The egg free cake I would make as close to the time as possible. Egg free cakes stay fresh for about three days, after that the texture goes a bit funny, but then it depends on the recipe.
As a guide only, sponge cakes are good for between 5 and 7 days, madeira for approx 2 weeks, some, not all chocolate mud about 10 days. Butter cream can last any where between 2 weeks to a month in the fridge held in an airtight container away from strong smells and approx 3 months in the freezer.
To keep cakes moist and extend shelf life by a couple of days, brush both sides of each cake layer with simple syrup before filing. Make simple syrup with equal quantities of water and sugar or juice and boil for a minute or so. A vanilla pod can be add for extra flavouring, the scrapped out beans will definitely enhance aroma and taste. Cool the syrup and use a pastry brush to drench the cakes. Don’t add the syrup at point of freezing as it can sometimes crystalize and go crunchy.
I think it’s always better to stack cakes at the venue if you have the time and if the venue will make the function room available. Some where in the pages of Q & A Paul advises to have the cakes stacked when ever possible. If you want to do that boxes for stacked cakes can be purchased online like this http://www.cake-stuff.com/search/stacked-cake-boxes The rose cake has simple but elegant decorations so you could decorate and take as singles. Travel the cakes flat in the boot of the vehicle on non slip mats and bolster with soft bedding like a duvet.
I think you’d need to give yourself a couple of day to decorate because of the amount of roses which are made fresh for placing reasons. It may help to ice the board a couple of days ahead and get the small boards ready too. Once iced, dowell the cakes while the icing is soft. Allow to dry before shifting into place on main drum to prevent finger marks.
Make up an emergency repair kit to take with you, ie piping bags, palette knife, royal icing or ganache for sticking down board when stacking and some extra decorations in case of breakages.
Hope some of this helps, if you need more information please post again and don’t stress!

Thank you so much for your advice. Unfortunately, I will not be travelling with the cake…the bride is picking it up on Wednesday and taking it up to Derby herself. I am really concerned about the eggless sponge as I will need to make it up Tuesday night and the wedding isn’t until Sat. I wouldn’t usually purchase a sponge ready made, but sweet success do eggless sponges and they will last a couple of days longer. Any suggestions on this. The bride also wants me to buttercream and then cover in coconut….what are you thoughts on this?

Mandy

Hi Mandy

Apologies for this late reply. I’ve had a quick look at the Sweet Success egg free sponge and I see it contains the normal preservatives you’d expect from shop/industry bought products. If you bake the sponge on Tuesday night and give it a syrup drench as with the other cakes I think it will be fine. The butter cream will also keep it moist. As for the coconut covering that too should be fine as long as it isn’t fresh. Toasted desiccated coconut is lovely and also gives off a great aroma. Unfortunately I have very little experience with bought sponge cakes so don’t really know how they behave. Perhaps if you contact Sweet Success in the morning and ask them what shelf life they would advise for their product. How have you decided to travel the cakes, stacked or single? I suppose really once the bride collects the cakes from you their safe delivery would be her responsibility.