Hi all! I'm still fairly a newbie at doing cakes and I have never frozen a cake and then decorated it. My question is this: How/when do you frost the cake? I've heard to crumb coat before freezing. I've heard to let thaw completely before frosting. I don't really know what to do. I"m trying to figure out the best way to frost with BC to make it the smoothest I can. I wasn't sure if frosting the cake while it's frozen would help the smoothing process with the BC or if that's all basically dependent upon the method/style of smoothing after it's frosting. I do the Viva paper towel method and still have some rough corners/bumpy edges. Would freezing the cake help with this? I doubted it but wasn't sure! Any tips would be great!

Thanks,
Jamie

Hiya Jamie-
Well me personally I bake the cake let it cool slightly to where its still warm but not HOT. Then I wrap in plastic wrap and aluminum foil and place in the freezer. I freeze for a few days and then take it out let it thaw partially and then ice your cake.

I noticed icing the cake frozen or half frozen makes the icing smooth on easier. Although do remember if your icing completely frozen to cut your cakes before hand because cutting while frozen solid sucks.

After icing the cake I usually stick in the freezer for about 5 minutes to harden up the frosting and then i do the viva method.

Lemme know if this works for you.

Good luck!!

The great thing about CC is you will get LOTS of different ideas on how to do things, then you get to pick and choose the ones that work best for you.

I remove my cakes from the freezer about an hour before I'm going to start working on them. The colder the cake, the longer it will take for the icing to crust, so watch that (meaning, don't worry if it's not crusting right away if you iced a really cold cake). Sometimes .... I will crumb coat and pop it into the freezer for less than 5 minutes ... just enough to set it, since it's a thin coat.

I don't really like to freeze my cakes. I do crumb coat them after cooling, and then stick them in a very cold fridge for 12-24 hours...If I did freeze them, I would probablly do it already iced, and covered with plastic wrap.

I frosted a cake once while frozen and will not do that again. After the cake thawed and frosted, condensation built up on top of the icing. I PANICKED... but, after posting it on here, I was assured that it would absorbed and it did. But, I don't think I will take that chance again.

I do let my cool and then wrap in saran wrap and aluminum foil... I like to freeze mine at least a week ahead.