How far in advance can I make a cake? Well there isn’t a one size fits all answer here, but there are a few tips to know that’ll help determine your cake baking timeline.
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I get asked this question so many times, I thought it would be helpful to write a post about it with my thoughts.
No, it’s not a complicated subject, but there are a few things to keep in mind before I can just say,…you can bake it this many days beforehand.
First you have to think about a couple of things:
- When are you going to be serving the cake?
- Is this a cake that will be decorated? If so, how many days will it take to do that? Is it really involved and will take a couple days, or is it just a quick birthday cake and will take an hour or two to decorate?
- Are you just wanting to make it ahead of time because you won’t really have time to do it the day of, or the day before the event? (This is most often the case.)
- Are you totally against freezing baked cakes?
These are all things to consider before determining how far in advance you can bake your cake.
So let’s go through these.
WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO SERVE THE CAKE?:
You’ll obviously need to know when you’ll be serving the cake.
My general rule of thumb is if you won’t be serving the cake within three days of baking it, then freeze it.
You can defrost it a day or two before the event and then decorate it then.
Yes, I am a big believer in freezing cakes, but if you don’t want to do that, then just bake it a day or two ahead of time. It’s not necessary to freeze it if you’ll be serving it in another couple days.
Here are my tips for freezing cakes: Tips for freezing cakes and cupcakes
WILL THE CAKE BE DECORATED AND HOW LONG WILL THAT TAKE?:
Ok, this question is one that a lot of people struggle with. Depending on how involved the cake design is, it could take several hours to several days to decorate it.
If you plan on serving the cake several days from the date you bake it, you don’t need to freeze it. Several days is fine for it to sit out and be decorated.
Obviously if it’s got perishable filling in it, it’ll have to be chilled though.
If you’re like me and want to get a head start and work ahead, then freezing your cake layers is a must. Figure out your decorating timeline and determine how many days you’ll need to decorate the cake.
If it’s really involved and your timeline says you’ll need a couple days to decorate it, then just defrost it the night before you need to start decorating it.
If your timeline says it’ll only take you several hours to decorate, then just wait to defrost it, or just bake it the night before.
It all just depends on your timeline. Those timelines are really important, especially for large cake projects.
When I was selling cakes, some of my cake designs would take several days to accomplish.
One day would be filling and settling the cakes. The next would be to cover it in ganache and fondant, then another would be the actual decorating.
So none of that even included all the other stuff like actually baking the cakes, making the icing and making the decorations.
My point is, if you have a big design, you need a plan and that’ll help you determine what day you can bake your cakes.
ARE YOU JUST WANTING TO BAKE THE CAKES AHEAD OF TIME?:
Hey, there is nothing wrong with this AT ALL. Actually, this is where I usually am on this list. I like to work ahead. It’s for my own sanity really. I’m not one to work under pressure… I just simply crack under it.
I like to bake my cakes ahead of time, freeze them, then defrost them when I need them.
ARE YOU TOTALLY AGAINST FREEZING CAKES?:
I’ve been contacted by people who think they’re supposed to ALWAYS freeze cakes and I’ve also been contacted by people who are adamantly against freezing cakes.
First, you don’t HAVE to freeze cakes. If you’ll be serving the cake in another day or two, there’s just no need to freeze them. Just make sure they’re wrapped really well.
If you’re adamantly against freezing cakes, then that’s okay too. I have to ask this question though… Have you tried it? I mean more than once? And I don’t just mean freezing your top tier from your wedding cake and defrosting it a year later. That’s really gross and most of the time that’s not actually a good representation of what a cake that’s been frozen tastes like.
I’m just saying you might want to try it, the CORRECT way. I’ve done it tons of times and it is such a time and sanity saver because without it, you won’t really be able to work ahead. You’ll be baking your socks off days before the event.
If you want to give it a try, just one more time, you can find my tips here.
MY RULE OF THUMB:
(And just know that this is my opinion based on what has worked for me in the past…other cakers have different opinions, I’m sure.)
My general rule of thumb is: If you won’t be serving the cake within three days of baking it, then freeze it.
You can defrost it several days before the event to have time to decorate it if you need to.
Four days is pushing it…five days is not good.
I hope this helps!
OTHER POSTS YOU MAY FIND HELPFUL:
- Cake Mix vs Scratch Cakes (The Great Debate)
- What Happened to My Cake?
- Must Have Tools to Start Baking Cakes
Don’t Forget to Pin it for Later!
Lamya
Golden tip
Thank u x
Katy
If I’m baking on Thursday, decorating Friday, & serving on Saturday-can my cake stay on my counter (appropriately wrapped, no parishable fillings) until Saturday?
Kara Jane
Katy, as long as your house isn’t too warm, I don’t see a problem with that. That’s what I do. I know some really prefer to chill theirs, but most of the time, I just don’t. If you’ll be traveling with it, you can chill it for a bit before you go to give it more stability. You could always chill it over night on Friday, then bring it out Saturday, an hour before you serve it if you feel more comfortable doing that. But like I said earlier, if my house is on the cool side, I just leave it out and covered. Hope this helps!
Ebony
I’m making a 2-tiered cake for an event on Sunday. I have an event I’m going to all day Saturday. Can I bake the cake/layers on Thursday, put together and frost on Friday, refrigerate on Saturday, and add final decorations on Sunday before delivery? Or what would you suggest?
Kara Jane
Ebony, yes I think that would be fine. Are you familiar with the cake recipe you’re using? Have you tested it and know that it won’t get too dry over the course of a couple days? That’s something else to think about. I think most are fine as long as they’re covered very well or sealed with buttercream or ganache. Also just make sure that you’ll have enough time on Sunday before the event to decorate everything. I wouldn’t wait until the day of the event if it’s super involved, but if there isn’t a ton of decorations then you’ll probably be fine…just leave yourself enough time, so you won’t be stressed.
Rachael DuBose
How far in advance can I make the cake and then freeze it? Like how long can it be frozen before it starts to not be fresh when thawed out?
Kara Jane
It’s probably best to use it within a month. It might be okay a bit longer than that, but to make sure it’s really fresh I try to use mine within 2-3 weeks. You also want to make sure you cover them very well before freezing. I have a whole post on how I freeze cakes and cupcakes so that they stay fresh with no freezer burn and the best way to defrost them. Here’s the link if you’d like to check it out: https://iscreamforbuttercream.com/freezing-cakes-and-cupcakes/ I hope this helps!
Rachael Greening
I am baking 4 cakes for a birthday party next Friday, how early in the week can I bake them? I have a pretty busy week next week so I was hoping to bake and do a crumb icing layer on Tuesday, then decorate Wednesday and Thursday for the cake to be served Friday night. Do you think that would work?
Kara Jane
That should be fine. I wouldn’t stretch it out any longer than that though, but as long as the cake is covered really well, so it doesn’t dry out, then I think it should be fine.
Kim
Hi,
I’m making a cake for my neices birthday which is on a saturday. Usually i bake and decorate on the same day but this time i haven’t got the time due to work commitments so need to spread it out over a few evenings. My intial plan is to bake on the thursday evening and decorate friday evening ready to serve saturday morning, would this work without drying out the cake? It will be a scratch cake
Kara Jane
Hi Kim, I’ve done that a ton of times and it’s worked out just fine for me, so I think it should be okay. I can’t promise 100% because each cake recipe is so different, but I’ve done it with multiple different cake recipes and it always ended up just fine. You just want to make sure to cover your cake well. After you bake the cake layers and they cool, you can just cover them really well in plastic wrap until you go to decorate them the next evening. Once it’s decorated, just make sure it goes into a cake box or a covered cake server, so it doesn’t dry out. I don’t normally keep my cakes refrigerated unless I’m using perishable filling or icing. Sometimes the fridge can dry them out a little. If you’re using perishable filling or icing then you’ll just have to keep it chilled, but just make sure to put it in a cake box or cover it and it should be just fine. I’d let it come closer to room temperature before serving though. I hope this helps!
Tessa
I have a question. My future father-in-law and his fiance are getting married on Saturday. They have asked me to make their wedding cake. I planned on baking the cake layers tonight, decorating Thursday night and we will be traveling 3 1/2 hours to their house with the cake on Friday, for the wedding on Saturday. Do you think the cake will okay with that time period? I work an 8-5 job and also make cookies as well (I have an order of cookies due this weekend as well), so I only have the evenings to work on the cake. I’m just curious if you think the cake will still be okay for the wedding on Saturday.
Kara Jane
Hey Tessa, depending on the cake recipe you use, I think it should be fine. I’ve done that exact thing tons of times. Wednesday night to Saturday night is three days and a cake should still be good at that point if it’s properly stored and covered. I don’t normally keep my cakes chilled, but you do want to chill it if you’ll be using perishable fillings or frosting though and chilling it helps when you transport it as well. Just make sure it is in a cake box or otherwise covered well so it doesn’t dry out.
Maria G
Hi! I am making an involved dessert cake for Christmas that requires two sponge layers (but a single cake) that will then be moistened with syrup, filled and then frosted in whipped cream with bits of meringue as decoration. How soon could I make the cake to serve on Christmas day? I was thinking maybe Friday or Saturday for the baking and then putting it together on Tuesday. Any thoughts? Thanks so much!
Kara Jane
Hi Maria, I would try to bake the cake closer to Tuesday. I’m afraid that baking it on Friday or Saturday is too early (unless you plan on freezing the cake layers until Tuesday). If you bake on Friday or Saturday, the cake layers would be about 4-5 days old on Christmas day. By that time, they’ll likely be dry and stale. Now, if you bake them, freeze them, then defrost them on Monday or Tuesday, then that might work. But the cake layers would need to be covered really well so that they don’t dry out. A cake that is going to have a syrup, then covered with whipped cream and meringue would probably be best if made as close to Christmas as possible to make sure it’s as fresh as possible. Hope this helps!
Victoria Kean
Hi,
I will be making cake centerpieces for my son’s wedding. In total I will be making (16) 6 inch cakes I’m trying to decide if they need to be 2 layers or 3 layers. Each table will have about 8 people. I had planned on making all the layers a couple of weeks ahead of time and freezing them. I planned on using your chocolate cake recipe for at least half of the cakes and then a yellow cake for the others. the decorating will just be icing. My questions for you are these: What is the best icing to use that will not be too sweet? How far in advance can I ice the cakes and then store them? I will be unable to ice them the 2 days before the wedding. Can the cakes after they are iced be stored in the refrigerator? I appreciate any help and insight that you can give.
Kara Jane
Hi Victoria,
That’s a lot of work you have coming up! I agree that freezing the cake layers ahead of time is the best option here. As far as how many layers for each cake, I like to go with three layers. That just makes the cakes a little taller, but with 6 inch round cake layers, it may be just fine to go with two layers. The smaller the diameter of the cake, the taller it will look, so two layers might be just fine depending on how deep each layer is.
As far as icing goes, I normally use American buttercream, which is sweet and is made with confectioner’s sugar. I do make mine a little different though as I use a bit less sugar and more butter, which helps with the sweetness. I also use two different types of butter and that helps as well. If you use a shortening based icing, it will seem even sweeter, so I wouldn’t suggest doing that if you’re worried about the sweetness of it. If you want to try out my buttercream recipe, you can find that here: https://iscreamforbuttercream.com/vanillabeanbuttercreamrecipe/
A less sweet icing would probably be Swiss Meringue buttercream. It’s more of a whipped consistency, but smooth and it’s a lot less sweet. It will not hold up well in warmer weather though. At least it hasn’t for me. I don’t work with that type much, so I’m not sure how long it will hold up in the fridge once your cakes have been decorated. I would imagine it would be find though. If you’ve never made or worked with Swiss meringue buttercream, you’ll want to try it out first because it’s a little more challenging to make than the American buttercream.
You can chill cakes after they’ve been iced if you want. You want to make sure they’re in boxes though and that they are sealed well so they don’t soak up any other food smells and so they don’t dry out. I don’t normally store my cakes in the fridge, unless it’s got perishable filling or icing, or unless I’m pre-chilling it before traveling with it. However if it’ll be a couple days before you serve it, that might be your best bet to keep them fresher longer. If you use Swiss meringue, you’ll definitely have to keep them in the fridge. Either way, you’ll want to serve them once they’ve come to room temperature. You don’t want to serve them cold, so just make sure they have time to come closer to room temperature before serving.
I hope this helps!
sapilo
thanks a lot for the little information.now I know the step to take when making
chocolate cake, and i love chocolate cake is really Delicious
Janet C. Green
My church is hosting a Lenten luncheon for the community in early April. The morning of the luncheon we are making brownie lava cakes (individual) and lemon lava cakes for dessert, Can you tell me the maximum amount of time the batter can be and stay on the counter before we place them in the oven. Since time will be of essence that morning, I am wondering if we can make the batter earlier in the morningaround 10:00 a.m. and bake them last minute about 11:30 a.m. since they need to be served warm. We need to bake 120 of them.
Kara Jane
It really depends on the recipe. If it’s going to be made using a cake mix, it’ll probably be just fine, but I’d keep it in the fridge and not let it sit on the counter that long. If it’s a scratch recipe, then that may depend on if it has baking soda or not in the recipe. Sometimes cakes with baking soda don’t do as well if you don’t bake them right away. A cake recipe using only baking powder can sometimes be just fine, but one with soda might not. I can’t 100% predict whether it’ll be okay or not…it really just depends on the recipe. You might run an experiment though at home with a half recipe or something and see what happens. That’s probably what I would do. I’d do it for both recipes. Hope this helps!
Kim Wagner
Thanks for all the advice!
I have a question: I’m making rum Bundt cakes for thanksgiving and delivering to friends before I leave town. I have to deliver them Tuesday. When you say “wrapped appropriately” what are we talking about? Should I deliver them in cellophane with twist ties? Or wrap the cake boxes in plastic wrap? I’m pretty scared I ruin their thanksgiving now lol. Thanks in advance!
Kara Jane
I think either way would work actually. I’d probably keep them in a box with plastic wrap over it, or just wrap the cake in some plastic wrap until the night before or the day you’ll deliver them…just so they don’t dry out and then wrap them in the cellophane with the twist ties. I kind of think the cellophane will make a better presentation. I might make sure to mention to them to wrap leftovers in plastic wrap so it doesn’t dry out though.
Rebekah
Uh oh, I may have already messed up. I baked the cakes on Tuesday and should have frozen them. My event is Saturday, so 5 days. I stacked and frosted them on Wednesday. It is not fully decorated though (I’m adding a buttercream transfer and sprinkles). It’s been in my fridge. Today is Thursday. 1. Should I freeze the iced cake to buy some time? Then I can decorate Friday night. If so, should it thaw in fridge or counter? Thank you.
Kara Jane
Oh this is tricky. If you were to freeze it today (Thursday), then you’d just have to turn around and defrost it tomorrow. I don’t know if that would give you enough benefit. It’s been in your fridge though, so that’s helped to preserve it somewhat. I’m thinking you might just have to keep moving forward as is. On Saturday, it’ll be four days old, which isn’t too old to eat necessarily…it just might not be as moist and fresh as it could be.
So the only other thing I can think of is, if it’s possible, to re-bake it today and re-frost it. I totally get it if you can’t or don’t have the time though…I’m sure that’s why you did it early in the first place (I always bake ahead too).
I hope this helps a little!