thanks so much--i'll hold off on icing the cake for sure then. maybe i should hold off on mixing the curd into the buttercream too until the day of, have everything ready to go but not mix them together or ice the cake until the day of the event. i was planning on the dowels but wasn't planning on a plate between the layers as the top layer was only planned as a 6 inch layer (though i was considering a 9 inch). in this case the cake will just be iced in buttercream w a fondant ribbon w fresh flowers. issue will be i'm supposed to make the same flavor combination for a half sheet cake for a friend w fondant decorations on top which will take me much longer to complete. certainly the cake w the fondant would be iced less heavily--little more than a crumb coat but less than a full portion of icing--so there would be less "slumping" involved, but i won't be able to do it the day of and get all the fondant decorations done. hm. don't know if anyone i know has access to a fridge that can accommodate a half sheet cake. <=) Can you make the fondant decorations ahead of time, and just set them on the cake right before? I'm no cake expert, as you know, but I've seen people do this... PJH

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