Q: I want to make a birthday cake for a friend. Problem is, her birthday is not for two weeks, but I'm seeing her tomorrow.
Is there a way to freeze a fully-decorated birthday cake so that it will thaw into something beautiful? Are there certain cake or icing recipes that work best (my friend loves carrot cake).
Sent by Carolyn
Editor: Carolyn, the short answer is yes! Many cakes freeze very well even after being decorated. In fact, the icing can even help preserve and insulate the cake — it will stay moister after being frosted. Many baking companies ship fully-frosted cakes after freezing.
Having said that, I would choose a moist, dense, and rich cake that will stand up well to freezing. Carrot cake is actually ideal. And its traditional icing — cream cheese frosting — is also ideal for freezing. It is sturdy, with plenty of fat, and it will do better in the freezer than a more delicate meringue-based icing. Buttercream also freezes well.
The best way to freeze a cake is to bake the layers as usual, let them cool completely, and then ice them. Then clear out your freezer and put the iced cake on a tray in the freezer — completely unwrapped. Let it freeze until solid — at least four hours. Then remove and wrap securely in plastic wrap and a final layer of aluminum foil.
Readers, any tips or suggestions for Carolyn? Maybe some recipes?
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Comments (11)
yes, carrot cake freezes quite well. make sure she gives it plenty of time to defrost, though. also take into consideration her freezer space. she might not have room to keep a giant cake for two weeks!
I find all icing has a tendency to sweat while it's defrosting. Maybe doing it slowly in the fridge for a day helps with that??
I worked in a bakery that specialized in frozen cakes sold to restaurants. We froze everything, from carrot to ganache to italian buttercream. Cakes will most likely sweat but other than that, no one was ever the wiser. If you have something on the top for decoration like jam or lemon curd it could crack but you can always layer over it again.
Carrot cake freezes like a champ, even with cream cheese frosting. Just make sure to wrap it well to keep it from freezer burn. A 6" cake usually took us around 2 hours on the counter to defrost, probably closer to 24 if you defrost in the fridge.
She might just love having a cake all to herself for 2 weeks leading up to her birthday. I'd love to!
Just don't try it with any curd fillings, gelatin-thickened items... and whipped cream might separate as well. Buttercream is a-ok!
bakinginthebeehive is right. I professionally made wedding cakes and lemme tell you, I don't care how much your bakery promises a fresh baked wedding cake, you can be guaranteed there's a chance (not always) that your cake was stashed in a freezer for upwards of a week if they were busy (take note, June brides!)
Curds, whipped creams, you name it can be frozen. Fresh fruit fillings (sliced fruit, I mean) will weep, so they're best to avoid for that, but everything else is fine.
A good coat of saran wrap and you wont get sweating. Just dont mess with it til it thaws!
If you ice a carrot cake with a cream cheese icing (frosting?) it will be fine.
To echo jmorri26, I worked in an upscale bakery for some time, and we certainly froze many cakes. Again, the only item we'd leave out was fresh fruit. Also, I found with icing that had food colouring, if the cake had sweat, the beads of sweat would be ultra pigmented and give the cake a freckled look.
To echo jmorri26, I worked in an upscale bakery for some time, and we certainly froze many cakes. Again, the only item we'd leave out was fresh fruit. Also, I found with icing that had food colouring, if the cake had sweat, the beads of sweat would be ultra pigmented and give the cake a freckled look.
I am making a large number of cupcakes for an event and have purchased cupcake boxes, the plastic shell type from the bakery, they hold 1 dozen each. I was going to frost them, some with ganache and some with cream cheese frosting, put them in the "boxes", wrap the boxes well with plastic wrap and then freeze. Will that work or will there be too much air inside of the boxes? I like the idea because it will be easy for transporting. When they come out of the freezer should I unwrap and open them while they thaw? or leave them wrapped and closed? or unwrapped and closed? Thanks for your advice!
oops, I thought flagging a comment would help me find it quicker in the future, I did not mean it was an offensive post, sorry for the confusion.