I know I can, but do I wait until it is totally cooled? or do i do it while it is still slightly warm?

I freeze directly from the oven. If you prep the cake pan properly (spray release like Bakers Joy, and put parchment in bottom of pan) and you wrap it properly with Press N'Seal wrap. Pop them in a dedicated cake freezer (don't put in a freezer with other foods) you will get a super moist cake.

I freeze after it's cooled a bit (warm to touch but not hot). I triple wrap the slightly warm cakes in plastic wrap and pop them in the freezer on a cookie sheet so they freeze flat. After they're frozen, I can stack them on top of each other.

I wait for my cakes to cool completely. I like to then level and tort my cake (so it's ready to go when i want to decorate). I double/tripple wrap in plastic wrap and put on a cookie tray and then in the freezer to freeze. Once completely frozen I stack them up in the deep freeze.

After. The cake will level out somewhat during the cooling/freezing process. Let it defrost UNWRAPPED about 15 minutes before you level and/or torte.

I bake, cool completely, level, torte and wrap each layer in press and seal and then stack the wrapped layers and wrap again. Freeze at least overnight then unwrap, fill and crumbcoat while frozen. Let settle and come to room temp at least three hours to help prevent gas/air bubble problems then do the final coating of BC or Fondant.

Cat

I'm so confused by all of the different advice. Some people say to thaw completely (covered) before doing any icing, other say not to. Some say to thaw the cake covered, some say to uncover. I'm guessing maybe there isn't a right way or a wrong way, just what someone prefers. Maybe? Anyone know differently?

I try to level and torte before if I have time. If I do, I put a piece of plastic wrap in between the torted layers so they separate easily while still frozen/partially frozen. Then I wrap and freeze. If I'm in a rush, or if it's getting late and I'm really tired, I wrap and freeze directly and then just level when it's thawed.

I allow the cakes to thaw while still wrapped so any condensation that forms is on the outside of the wrap so the cake isn't sticky. I try to work with the cakes when they are still slightly frozen so they're easier to handle. I fill and crumbcoat at this point then put in the fridge so the buttercream firms up before covering in fondant (I use a BC that doesn't crust).

I've torted a frozen cake before and one that wasn't frozen and I think it is so much easier to do frozen (especially if the cake is really moist) because it is hard to pull a layer of cake off without damaging it. I just wanted to make sure there wasn't a right way or wrong way to do it, especially a way that would hurt the flavor/moisture of the cake.

Also, if covering with fondant, does it matter if the cake is frozen at the time of covering?

I tried to level a cake after freezing it and it was a COMPLETE disaster. I ended up having to rebake another 14 in layer. I now level my cakes before I freeze them. It was the first time I have ever frozen a cake so I suppose I am learning through trial and error. I also use a cake leveler instead of a knife. Not sure if that makes a difference.

I've tried lots of ways because I frequently need to do my baking ahead of time. After trying many things that have only created more problems for me in the end, I now level the cakes, let them cool completely, fill, crumb coat, weight and let them sit for several hours. Then I trim the sides if necessary, crumb coat again, wrap with about 4 layers of saran wrap, put on a flat surface (cookie sheet, ceramic tile, larger cake pan, cooling rack - whatever I see first) and then freeze. After its frozen solidly, you can ditch the flat surface and just stack the wrapped/filled/leveled/crumb coated frozen cakes in the freeer. Then the night before I decorate, I take the cake out of the freezer, let it sit fully wrapped at room temperature overnight. The next day I cut off the saran wrap and let the cake sit exposed for maybe an hour before I start the decorating process. I check once more for any bulges or edged that need to be trimmed, then I decorate. Because I do charity baking, I have to decorate several cakes at the same time. This approach allows me to get all of the "engineering" part of the process out of way ahead of time and then just focus on the decorating process in a much more organized way.

The crumb coat crusts/dries pretty fast. Before I wrap it, I put a piece of parchment - a little larger than the top of the cake - on the top of the cake and let the edges hang over the cake.... this sort of tents out the saran wrap so that it doesn't touch the sides. The parchment always comes off easily when I open up the cake and generally doesn't even take off any of the crumb coat.

Cat, I think I may like your style...I can't seem to level an unfrozen cake well at all! I have a Wilton Ultimate cake leveler and the cheaper one (with just the wire) and I've only used the Ultimate one once (a present to myself recently) and it came out VERY crooked. My husband even tried and it was awful, but I seem to do okay with a frozen cake.

My question to you Cat, is when you leave it at room temp after the crumb coat is it wrapped up or not?

To anyone: I worry about it drying out, too. I've seen different thicknesses of crumb coat and always wonder if I'm doing too much or too little. How thick is your crumb coat?

Thank you all so much! I can't believe how much I've learned on here. Unfortunately I don't have a lot of money to experiment with and I'm a perfectionist, so I have to really know what I'm doing. Thanks again!

Yes, leveling in the pan is SO easy. As for leaving it out..yup, after I pull it out of the freezer I fill it, crumbcoat it and then let it sit for at least 3 hours...then I smooth it out again where the filling has bulged and cover it with the fondant or final BC layer. My crumbcoat is in the middle...just enough so that you can't see the cake thru the crumbcoat but not as thick as a final layer of BC would be.

Cat

Thanks so much!