Cupcakes for a Wedding

Our answer

If you have plenty of time in the run up to the wedding then you could make the cupcakes 2 days in advance, cool them completely, store them overnight on clean baking sheets overwrapped with clingfilm, then unwrap and ice them the day before the wedding (providing that you are not using an icing or frosting that needs refrigerating). Try to store the finished cupcakes in cake boxes or airtight containers.

If you want to make them further in advance then we would suggest making the cupcakes up to a month in advance and freezing them. Cupcakes can keep longer than this in the freezer but as a rule of thumb smaller cakes don't keep as well in the freezer as big cakes and they will also take up a lot of space in your freezer. Put the cakes in resealable boxes and if you need to stack them then put a piece of baking parchment (parchment paper) between each layer. We would suggest avoiding using bags to store the cupcakes as they can become too easily crushed and mis-shapen as the freeze.

The cupcakes will take about 2 hours to thaw at room temperature. If you are decorating them with a basic buttercream then you could add the frosting while the cakes are still frozen and let them thaw with the frosting on. This could be done the afernoon or evening before the wedding. However if you are using a ready to roll (rolled fondant) icing you will need to let the cakes thaw and come up to room temperature before adding the icing as otherwise the chill from the cakes will cause small drops of water to form on the icing. If you are using a ganache (chocolate and cream) type icing we would also suggest that you wait for the cakes to come to room temperture as otherwise the ganache will set too quickly and you may have trouble spreading it evenly.