Do you bake and/or ice the birthday cake the day before or on day of party?

[Mum2Romone]

I use a heap of icing sugar a few tablespoons of butter and a few teaspoons of milk with an electric blender in low speed and see how it thickens etc, then i add more icing sugar to taste if it needs it... and colour away... i hate copha, the more butter the creamier and the more icing sugar , thicker.... and milk if you need smoothness,

[Purple Penguin]

Do you have time to do a test run cake so you can get an idea of the consistency of the buttercream icing etc?

Depending on the difficulty level of the cake and how much time I will have in the days coming up to the party, I often make the cakes ahead of time and freeze them, them bring them out the night before, it's easier to put icing on the cake if it's cold, the cake not the icing. ITMS