Kay, I know a ton of people out there don’t like the word “moist” BUT I’m not sure how else to describe a cake that’s not dry in any way. SO I’ll probably use it a few times in this post – sorry.
Alright. You take the time to bake a cake, then you let it cool, and what happens? STEAM escapes and leaves your cake as it dries. All that moisture is going OUT of your cake into the air, and it’s drying out slightly. For most cakes its probably okay, BUT I don’t just want an OKAY cake I want to serve an amazing cake.
So the second my cake is cool enough that I can tough it without getting 3rd degree burns I wrap it at least twice in plastic wrap and throw it in my freezer. Yup, trapping that steam and cooling the cake.
BIG tip here – NEVER refrigerate baked goods. Nothing dries out cake or other breads/baked goods faster than the fridge. It’s a killer, better to leave in on the counter. BUT freezing is different, it STOPS, rather than slows and so your cakes will stay not dried out and still taste amazing when it thaws (without losing all that steam).
Of course if I’m CARVING a cake I let it stay in long enough to freeze completely, but you can just leave cake in until it’s cooled then immediately trim, frost and serve as well.
Kimberly Ann
This is awesome! I always freeze my cakes like this solely because they’re so much easier to stack and decorate when slightly frozen. Good to know I’m not doing any favors to the dry cake gods. 🙂
Ashlee
HA, nope, your good!
Brenda
How long can you freeze the cake
Ashlee Marie
about 3 months!
Tammie
I am going to make a naked cake. Can I freeze the cake with the frosting in the center?
Ashlee Marie
yes you can, remember as the cake thaws it will condense so watch out for that.
Kentuckylady717
Glad to hear this…..I have never heard this before……but I will try it the next time I bake a cake…..this has sure been kept a secret ……but if it works , it is well worth the trouble…so you don’t have to leave it in the freezer until it freezes solid, just leave it in long enough to get completely cold, correct ?????
Thanks for telling us…..
Love your recipes too…..
Ashlee
either, I’ve let it freeze until just cool when I’m in a hurry, but usually I’m carving cake so I let it freeze completely.
April
can I go ahead and cut my cake in layers and freeze it that way. Do I need to wrap each cut layer separate or can I keep it together?
Ashlee
I def recommend wrapping them individually – the warm cakes and steam would stick together (plus the crust on the cake will help hold in the moisture too vs cutting it and letting even more steam out. plus cutting a cake that hot would be difficult – once it’s cooled the benefit of freezing it is lessened.
Laura
I bake every week, and as soon my cake is out of the oven a cover with plastic and put in the freezer . Some times for two weeks, and the cake is better than fresh,in the freezer concentrates the flavor.
Toni Torres
How do you thaw the cake..leave it wrapped? or unwrapped. I want to do this with cupcakes but I’m worried about the wrappers peeling. I’d appreciate any help you can give.
Ashlee
leave it wrapped, let it thaw, it will condense on the outside of the plastic that way.
CLAIRE WOOD
I bake a lot of pound cakes, and I always freeze them even if just overnight because it improves the texture of the cake. I have kept them frozen up to 3 weeks.
My husband insists that chocolate pound cake is even better still frozen; it does kind of remind one of ice cream- must be all the butter. His grandmother mailed a chocolate pound cake to him every Christmas and birthday if he was not going to be with the family at the time. I never froze cakes until I ate her cake; of course she froze them, and shipped them frozen. They were perfect.
Insiya
Hi ashlee i don’t know what is happening i tried different recipe but my cakes become hard my client complain it was hard wht could b the reason I put cake in freezer after icing that makes my cake hard it isn’t moist or using incorrect portion of ingredient plz help me thanku in advance
Ashlee
I’m not sure I understand the question – but 1. I freeze them FRESH while they are warm, so the steam stays in the cake and keeps the cake moist vs drying out. then I thaw it before leveling, filling and frosting. ONCE it’s frosted I don’t refridgerate or freeze again. The main thing is not to overcook the cake to begin with of course too.
Christina McCain
For the first time, I wrapped unfrosted cupcakes in plastic wrap and froze them for about a week. I took them out, thawed and frosted. I just heard from my customer and she complained that no one ate them because they were dry. This was for a wedding, so I’m completely freaked out! I always get excellent feedback from my customers and this was first bad feedback. What do you think might have caused them to be dry?
Ashlee Marie
Either they were dry before they were frozen OR its a client trying to get their money back (and the cupcakes were totally fine). I would assume the second as there are lots of people who try to scam their wedding vendors. Always make sure you try one of your own (make extras) so you can confidently respond – they were fine I tried them – and you don’t have to wonder if she’s telling the truth or not.
Robert Renteria
Is it ok to fridge a cake once it’s been decorated? And or if cake is not needed the next day but the day after? I fridge my cakes for the next day after I’ve decorated and cake is still moist and full of flavor. But willing to try any ideas you have.
Ashlee
I never EVER refrigerate cake, it dries them out. Once a cake is frosted the frosting will keep the cakes moist, not reason to refrigerate it.
Heather
But what if you have cream cheese frosting? How long can you have cream cheese frosting out?
Ashlee Marie
cream cheese frosting is obviously one of the cases where you need to refrigerate the cake
Betta
What if the cake has cream cheese and cool whip icing? You still do not refrigerate the cake??
Ashlee Marie
obviously sometimes you have to. mousse, curd, custard… those all need to be refrigerated too
Anna leesha
Even with buttercream? I thought you needed to keep buttercream refridgerated cause of the butter and milk? It’ll be great if I don’t need to!
Ashlee Marie
nope buttercream doesn’t need to be refrigerated
Cheryl
What if the frosting has a dairy base? Like whipped frosting? That needs to be refrigerated.
Ashlee
I rarely use cream cheese frosting but when I do, yes I refrigerate.
Kelly
What type of frosting do you generally use? I make a lot of straight butter cream frosting and whipped cream frosting with coconut cream and thought it needed to be refrigerated..no?
Ashlee Marie
nope – if it has egg in it like a custard, mousse or curd or whipping cream – only those need to be refrigerated. buttercream is fine
Cat
I am VERY new to baking, had thought I read this somewhere, nice to see it again. May I ask:
1. I usually bake for just hubby & I, a small-ish sheet cake, usually it’s left in the pan. Can I wrap pan & all then pop in the freezer or no?
2. I just learned how to make a killer buttercream frosting (the lemon flavor is to die for!) ….can this be left unrefrigerated or must it be kept cool?
Ashlee Marie
no – this isn’t for sheet cakes, yes lemon buttercream should be fine left out.
Maliha
How long can you keep the cake frozen ?
Ashlee
depends on how early I make it. Sometimes I just freeze it long enough to cool it down, sometimes it’s frozen for a week or two or more. But at some point it will get freezer burn so not over a few months
Erika
Great ideia!!! Ill try it soon. Thanks for sharing your expertise. Would you recommend a baking book for beginners? Baking Secrets ? Thanks!!
Ashlee
my favorite cookbook is “the joy of cooking” I love learning the why behind it all.
Dee
I agree. The “Joy of Cooking” is magnificent! I bought a copy for myself when I got married 46 years ago. I didn’t want to take my mother’s copy because she used it all the time.
Ashlee Marie
it’s the best
Mel
Hai Ashlee, if i make the cake two days earlier before i decorate, how much time does it take to thaw? Should i let it out in room temp night before? Thanks
Ashlee
it just takes a few hours to thaw!
Vanessa
Hi. You mention that cakes should not be refrigerated as it dries them out. I agree with this. However what do you do with a cake that has whipped cream as a frosting and it needs to be refrigerated? Any ideas?
Ashlee
1. use stabilized whipped cream and 2. frost it as CLOSE to the event as you can so it doesn’t have to be refrigerated too long
I don’t use whipped cream as a frosting but I do use it in trifles and that’s what I do.
Valerie
What recipe for a buttercream do u know that uses non dairy I am getting my home processor to bake from home and if I do a buttercream it can’t be liquid dairy which takes away my fav recipe milk conf sugar butter and vanilla?
Vchappy@gmail.col
Ashlee Marie
sorry I’m an all dairy gal so I don’t have any non dairy frosting recipes. I’m so sorry!
Sandy
Valerie,
My son has to eat dairy free and I love baking! I have found Earth balance butter sticks and original unsweetened almond milk to work great for my frosting. My dairy loving guests did not know the difference until I told them. They were surprised! I have seen people recommend soy and rice milk as well.
Also search Pinterest and online for dairy free frosting recipes.
Charise
Hi, to clarify, when you carve your cakes are they thawed or frozen? I am making a friends wedding cake and want it to be perfect! Thanks!
Ashlee
I carve them frozen
Tina
Hey, thanks for this tip. I’ve got frozen cakes waiting to be frosted. Wish me luck!?
Ashlee
perfect! and good luck!
Angela Kear
A professional cake decorator friend told me to frost while still frozen because it entraps the moisture even more. I’ve done this a time or two and have gotten tons of compliments on how moist the cake is. I have only done this when covering with buttercream, not fondant.
What do you think?
Ashlee
I carve when frozen, but I NEVER frost when frozen, the cake will condense with thawing leaving drips of water down the side which ruins whatever decorating I do. freezing it while still warm and steaming, trapping that in, has always been enough for me!
FranG
Hi Ashlee…I was wondering if you’ve ever had fondant blow out on your cakes. And, if so, what was the cause and how did you resolve it?
Ashlee
it’s one of the reasons I don’t like using buttercream – since it crusts the fondant doesn’t always stick properly and you get air pockets and blow outs. American buttercream is the worst – italian meringue or swiss meringue are better options. I prefer Ganache under fondant. Also letting your cake settle before adding the weight of the fondant will help.
iretha Hunt
Hello, great information. What is your Ganache recipe. I’ve had blow out with buttercream numerous times.
Ashlee Marie
I use 1 parts cream to 2 part chocolate for my ganache frosting
Valerie
Recipe for those?
Ashlee Marie
here are some cake recipes https://ashleemarie.com/recipes/cake-recipes/
Mesti Harrell
I only lightly crumb coat when frozen to kind of seal it then when thawing is complete I decorate….I grew up my moms cake shop and this is what she always did and her cakes were always super moist….if you completely decorate when frozen you will get condensation and ruin your decorations, but lightly crumb coating first I’ve never had a problem with condensation
Ashlee Marie
agreed, don’t decorate until the cake is totally thawed
Aisha
Hi Ashley! Thanks for sharing this gem of a tip. If i read you correctly, you mean wrap and store them in the freezer as soon as they are no longer extremely hot..? So i can put the cake in the freezer even though the cake still feels warm to the touch?
Ashlee
yup, you want to seal the steam into the cake so you don’t want it to cool down very much, as soon as you can handle touching it go for it
Zoe
How long do you leave out the oven before freezing i know your saying touch warm but would you say 30-1hr out the oven before wrapping
Cheryl Martin
I wrap my cake right after it comes out of the oven and freeze it immediately. Always moist and I frost and decorate it before it thaws!!
Kelli
Hi.. so I froze my cakes and now thawed and stacked them. I put them in the freezer again to harden abit before I crumb coat it. Is that ok?
Ashlee
I don’t, I just frost and move on, but it won’t hurt the cake to be frozen again.
Laura
Hi Ashlee,
Thanks for sharing, I am about to start make and freezing my cakes ahead of time. I am going to attempt at topsy turvey cake. I have seen them carve a frozen cake on youtube. It all makes sense now, and looks easy (who I am kidding). Wish me luck. love your ideas.
Ashlee
good luck! it’s seriously so much fun to carve cakes!
Heena Patel
I like this idea! My son’s first birthday is coming up the day after a family wedding. I want to make it ahead of time. I saw on a different channel you can freeze the cake with the filling and stack, wrap then freeze for upto 2 months. Thoughts?
When I take it out I thaw it for a few hours, ice then fondant? Can I do this 1-2 days before even if there is dairy in the filling?
Ashlee
I only freeze them before frosting, not after. Some fillings would be just fine – like a buttercream, some wouldn’t like a mousse. Just make sure that you let them thaw completely before adding fondant – you don’t want to deal with condensation.
Mary
Ashley where can I find some straight edge round pans
Ashlee
I get mine at a local store. I like Fat Daddio’s http://amzn.to/2zXLgZy
Kerri
Thank you so very much for the tip. I have always refrigerated mine but have had problems with dry cakes. Can’t wait to try this!!!
Ashlee
let me know how it goes!
Carolyn
I bake a lot of cakes and while I wrap them while still warm I’ve never put them in the freezer just merely left them on the counter to cool,sometimes for a whole day,they are always moist.
Nicole
Hi! Will this work with. Cupcakes too? Will the wrappers peel from the cupcakes once thawed?
Alyssa
Please answer Nicole’s question Ashlee I have done this for my carrot cake with great results. I am hoping to bake carrot cupcakes for a bake sale and would like to know how you would freeze them? Will the paper liners be an issue when defrosting?
Ashlee Marie
I don’t freeze cupcakes, they cool too fast for it to be worth it, and unless your going to individually wrap them it doesn’t do a lot of good and yes as they thaw and condense and cause issues with the wrappers
Ashlee Marie
I don’t use this technique for cupcakes
Paulette
Hi Ashlee
how do you deal with ButterCream and Fondant covered cakes in high heat? We live in SA and have summer temps easily into high 30-40 degrees…
I dont like my cakes making little bubbles / cellulite as some call it…
Please advise…
Stavroula
Thanks for the great tips! I’ve freeze mine to make it easier to carve but never knew that it keeps it moist. If I’m using buttercream or cookies and cream filling is it ok to keep it out or should that be refrigerated?
Ashlee
buttercream is totally okay to keep out – not sure what is in your cookie and cream filling so hard to say on that one
Arlene
Hi Ashlee! If I decorated a cake on Saturday with buttercream, is it okay to leave out on the counter and deliver the cake the next Day? Thanks!