Argggh! Scintillating questions re advance food preparation for a party... yawn...

[zippy539]

I'm having a party for DH's 40th on Sunday afternoon and I'm trying to get as much stuff done in advance as I can. Unfortunately I seemed to have reached my grand old age without acquiring any culinary know-how whatsoever, so I'm really hoping someone will be able to help me out with the answers to these questions...

How far in advance can I make the sponge birthday cake, and also how far ahead can I ice it (I'm attempting Delia's chocolate fudge topping/filling). What's the best way to store it to keep it fresh?

How far in advance for making a cheese cake (just regular kind - biscuit base, white chocolate, cream etc topping).

How long do you reckon a frozen quiche would take to thaw? And is it a good idea to freeze one in the first place (recipe says fine, just thaw before cooking?)

Finally, is vanilla extract the same as vanilla essence?

If you detect a note of hysteria in this post it's because DH's Mum is coming to the party and she already suspects that I'm a complete domestic incompetent - so I REALLY don't want to serve her half frozen quiche, soggy cheesecake and de-hydrated sponge.

[Bellie]

Hi zippy -no culinary genius here either but - I would try to make the sponge cake the day before as I find they tend to start getting staleish (sp) after a couple of days - although you can freeze but I have never done this. I would ice on the morning. - store in an airtight cake tin.

No idea about cheese cake I'm afraid - apart from eating

I would defrost quiche in fridge overnight - if you don't have enough room in fride probably take 2-3 hours at room temp.
Sorry not good with vanilla q either.

Hope it goes well - sounds like dh will have a great party!!

[CarolinaMoon]

Think extract is the better one - essence is synthetic (?) - check the ingredients list on them maybe?

will the cheesecake freeze? Otherwise make it the day before.

agree with bellie about the cake - I would ice it that morning if poss.

[zippy539]

Thanks Bellie and CarolinaMoon - that's brilliant - really useful . I'll do the cake Saturday and ice it on Sunday morning, cheesecake the night before, quiche defrosting in the fridge...

Gawd. I'm getting my knickers in such a twist about the whole thing that I decided to calm down with a nice glass of wine - but have spent the last fifteen minutes trying to wrestle the lid off the wine bottle cause it turns out to be a screw top! Don't suppose you've got any tips on how to open screw top wine bottles???!!!

[zippy539]

Ahhh - bliss. Managed to get it open...

[toothyboy]

I believe my mum has always frozen her cheesecakes. So I'd make it as early as possible, and then defrost overnight.

[zippy539]

Oh, thanks toothyboy - that's brilliant! The more I can do ahead of time the better.

Umm - one more stupid question - when the cheesecake recipe says soft cheese, that means something like philadelphia doesn't it? Or am I way off beam?

[CarolinaMoon]

yep, should be cream cheese. You could get mascarpone if you are feeling flash or go to the deli counter in the supermarket and just ask for cream cheese.

[Sugarmag]

you can definitely freeze cheesecake and spongecake although if you store the sponge in a really airtight container it should keep for a couple of days. I wouldn't ice until the day of the party. Tip re the icing - Delia's all well and good but I prefer Betty. As in Betty Crocker's (ready-made) chocolate fudge frosting. It's an american brand and VERY yummy - no one will know the difference if you don't tell them !

Vanilla extract is better than vanilla essence - essence can be completely synthetic but extract has to contain some actual vanilla.

Ha ha, listen to me - you'd think I actuallly knew what I was talking about it. Maybe I know more than I think I do.

[Sugarmag]

P.S. Asda and Sainsbury's both sell Betty Crocker frosting!

[zippy539]

SugarMag - thanks for that, Betty Crocker sounds like my new favourite person - off to Sainsbury's this afternoon to get some.

CarolinaMoon - thanks for the cheese info - you're a star!