Any bakers on here?! Need some advice

[SteakSteak]

Rather stupidly I’ve decided to bake my daughter’s christening cake.

Her christening is next weekend. I’ve got all the equipment and my recipe ready to go. However a couple of things I want to check:

1. Do I bake it this weekend and freeze for a couple of days?
2. If I freeze, do I fully defrost before starting to ice it?
3. If I do it fresh, how long will a sponge cake last for in an airtight container?
4. If I frost it (planning cream cheese frosting over buttercream) can I do it on Friday and leave it in the fridge until Sunday?

You can defo bake and freeze sponge. No filling or toppings, just the plain sponge. Then defrost fully before any icing etc. 24 hours should defrost it.
I'd probably do that for an event rather than hoping it'll be ok in a tin for a couple of days. Then it's one job done well in advance.

I can't answer whether you can buttercream 2 days before because I don't do buttercream. Can you do it Saturday evening? Good luck!

I really wouldn't ice it that early.

It will make the cake soggy, any details will collapse and it will harden with a crust. It just won't be great all round. Saturday night might be ok, my personal choice is to do it the morning required.

Freezing cake is fine, just wrap it or bag it as air tight as possible.

I start decorating it before it is fully defrosted, makes the crumb coat set quickly, making the whole things easier to decorate.

You can bake ahead and freeze. I wrap it in cling film, do 2 or 3 layers to avoid frostbite.

Fully defrost the cake and leave it to come up to room temp before icing, you can end up with condensation forming if you don't.

A fresh un iced sponge will be best eaten within 48 hours.

Icing Friday night for Sunday should be ok, I would probably ice Saturday though if I could.

Just beware, cream cheese icing can be extremely unstable 😂 it has to be kept cold and so does the cake once iced. If you have a lot of layers and it's not kept cold, the layers can slide. Cream cheese frosting is good for icing the top of a cake, but tricky for the middle of cakes especially for a beginner.

Good luck! And enjoy! It sounds yummy!

Cream cheese frosting can also be a bitch for going runny if you over beat it - so just make sure you bring the cream cheese to room temp so it softens, and in turn reduces risk of lumps and over beating.

Yes can freeze, and ice straight from freezer, will set the icing. I wouldn't mix cream cheese and buttercream but would just use buttercream, but with a lovely flavour, lemon zest is gorgeous. Do a crumb coat then cake will defrost whilst it sets and then do top layer. It will set nicely and won't be sickly. Look up Peggy porschen for recipes and gorgeousness

Thanks everyone. I feel this is one of those occasions I should’ve thrown money at it!