Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A

Good Morning All. I am making my own wedding cake for this Saturday. I have only made a few cakes before so all quite new to me! I have made 4 tiers of Paul’s cake, they are in my freezer now. I want to cover in Chocolate Ganache and then ready roll icing, my question is: how long before Saturday can I stack and cover the cake. I have not used ganache before and so Im not sure if the shelf life. I have been making flowers for the last few weeks so I have the decoration going on! I love this site, Im quite new to it all but its very useful. Thank you in advance for any help.

Hello caroloconnor

Congratulations on your forthcoming wedding and congratulations too for making your own wedding cakes!
You can start ganaching your cakes three days before the wedding. Defrost the cakes at room temperature the evening before you need to decorate. Paul’s chocolate cake has a shelf life of 5 days but It does stay lovely and moist for much longer, the ganache will last for a couple of weeks, your cakes will have been eaten well before then!
It helps to knead the icing the night before and place in plastic bags to settle, sometimes fresh icing can be prone to air bubbles after kneading. Let the cakes sit at room temperature before icing to ensure there is no dew on the ganache. Moisture can cause wetness on iced cakes which, although will dry eventually, is best avoided at such a busy and stressful time. Dowel the cakes while the icing is fresh and leave overnight boxed up in a cool room ready for stacking the next day. Follow the tutorials and keep posting if you have more questions, you will have plenty of support, help and guidance from all the members. Just don’t get overwhelmed, take a deep breath and work methodically. Good luck, we’re here for you. xx

Hi Carol

You are very brave to try a 4 tier cake if you have not done a tiered cake but sure it will be great if you follow all the excellent instructions on this site. If you have not used chocolate ganache before I mix milk and dark chocolate – perhaps 2 parts milk to 1 part dark as I find the dark chocolate one can be a bit bitter and not to everyone’s taste. All the best with the cake, let us know how you get on x

Hey, it Carol – I did it!!! and I pulled it off!! Im so amazed, thank you all so much. I learnt so much as I did it! ‘Madeitwithlove’ and ‘gracecay’ thank you so much for your advise. I started my Ganache Thursday and left to for a bit then Iced, Dowelled them and left overnight. I stacked it in the morning – holding my breath!!!!! and then decorated with the flowers that I had made over the previous few weeks. It all worked, I packed it up and took to the venue, it got there in one piece. I was so excited!! I got great feedback from the guests and the wedding went excellently!! Thank you again for all your advice. Very much appreciated!! I feel a bit lost now – need a new project!!!!! lol xx

Hello Carol

Congratulations and celebrations, well done, it’s so wonderful to hear you sounding so happy! You don’t have to feel lost, there are so many lovely tutorials to choose from, why not start on one of the bigger ones to keep your adrenaline going! Or start planning a special Christmas with your new found skills, Paul has his fab new book out http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1844488837 with some great tutorials small and large for everyone. Happy married life Carol and happy baking and decorating!! xx