I started about 2 weeks in advance so I could break it down into manageable tasks. Anything I could
do in advance, I did in advance. Example, I made all 8 of my cheesecake crusts & popped them into the freezer around the first of the month. I assembled both apple tarts & froze so I could simply bake them the morning of the party on Sept 15. The dry ingredients for all cake layers were sifted together + the cake pans were greased & floured about 2 weeks in advance--that was lined up on our dining roomm table & all was marked w/ post-it notes so I'd remember which bowls of dry ingredients went with which cake recipe. I made & baked my 6 cake layers one Sat afternoon in advance & froze. The pie crusts were made & rolled out and either blind baked or frozen raw, whichever was called for by the recipes--and into the freezer they went.
The 8 cheesecakes were made & baked on Sept 12 and refrigerated until D-Day (Delivery!). Various fillings were made on Sept 13 (for the lemon cloud cake & for the Elegant Raspberry Tarts) + cake frostings + the chocolate glaze.
The Tiramisu went together on Sept 14, and my strawberry pie fillings were both made that same day & put into their frozen blind baked crusts. I frosted the Banana Cake that afternoon. I like for my frosted cakes to sit at least overnight so the layers can absorb the flavor of the frosting.
On Saturday Sept 15, I baked both my apple tarts (dirctly from the freezer but at a lower temp than called for & longer); the 2 chocolate-strawberry tortes were assembled & refrigerated; the Raspberry Tarts were assembled & baked & cooled & the curd was spread on--I added the raspberries on site; 2 batches of fruit topping were made for the Island Breeze Cheesecakes; Lemon Cloud Cake was assembled (filling was done & in fridge from day B4 except for folding in some freshly whipped cream + a stabilizer); I whipped a full quart of heavy whipping cream to take along for piping & garnishing purposes.
I snipped & cleaned herbs & fresh flowers for garnish; following a packing list I'd compiled 2 weeks in advance, I packed everything I needed to take; loaded up the old Taurus station wagon and pulled out of our driveway at 2 PM; arrived on site by 2:20 PM & was unloaded by 2:30 PM. The party started at 4 PM, and I had my 2 6-foot servings tables filled with plated & garnished individual dessert portions by that time. Then as the sweets disappeared, I'd grab something else from 1 of my iced-down coolers so I could just keep on slicing.
And yes, I have a big chest freezer and 2 full-sized refrigerators with freezer space, and all those were crammed to the hilt. I make a very detailed, day-by-day TO DO list well in advance and follow it verbatim. The week before this gala was pretty intensive because I worked M-W at the office so I was flying to the grocery on my lunch hours & going home to cook in the evenings. Then on Thurs, Fri & Sat I was in the kitchen early and up late each night, but always made sure I had 7 to 8 hours of shut-eye. If I don't have ample sleep, I don't function well.
That's the run-down, and I'm sure glad I have about 5 months to rest up and prepare for the annual chocolate festival in February!
