I need help/suggestions please, with transporting a cake for a destination wedding.
Before now, I've always baked the cakes, and frozen while still warm. Then pulled the
frozen tiers out, filled and frosted before they thawed out. (so no real need for a crumb coat) Then decorate after they have come to room temp. and dried off a bit.
For this cake, (12-9-6) With ABC I'm concerned about the actual taste of the cake. I would like to bake and freeze as usual. (ahead of time, maybe a week ahead)
Would it work, if I pulled tiers from the freezer, working quickly I think I could fill and
crumb coat before they thawed out completely. Then place in a well wrapped cake
box and put back in the freezer.
Then let it thaw out, in the boxes, on the drive to the wedding. (5.5 hours before
arriving at where the reception will be)
At that point, I would frost and decorate. Then the next morning assemble for the wedding.
I spent hours searching for and reading posts about this subject. And now I'm just confused :) I want the cake to taste good, (no freezer burn or too soggy from condensation) Can someone please advise if this plan will work? Or suggest a better way? Thanks so much.
If you are just doing American buttercream with no fondant, then you can totally fill and do crumb coat/finish icing of each tier, then freeze, wrapped in plastic wrap and heavy duty aluminum foil. On the day of the wedding, leave the frozen cake tiers in the plastic wrap/aluminum foil as they are transported to the venue. On the way, they will slowly defrost and all the condensation will occur on the outside of the aluminum foil. Once you arrive, assemble the tiers , finish with any borders, and they will taste just fine.
Thanks for answering! Do you mean wrapped in foil on the box? The way I usually do it,
frosting while it's still frozen, causes dampness on the icing as it thaws. That's why I let it dry out a bit before decorating. I freeze while still warm to keep the moistness in the cake.
Would it work better if I baked, let it cool, then fill and crumb coat/frost THEN freeze in the box, well wrapped? Thanks
Yes. Bake, let cool, fill, crumb coat, final frosting coat, buttercream decorations, borders, etc., THEN freeze in the box. Wrap the box in plastic wrap, then with heavy duty aluminum foil. When you are all ready to leave to drive to the wedding, put the STILL wrapped boxes in the car as the last items. Put the still-wrapped boxes on rubberized shelf liner, on a level surface, to minimize sliding around. I'd also suggest you keep the A/C on and cover the boxes with a thick towel so they do not defrost too quickly on your 5-1/2 hr drive.
Bring along a "repair kit" with spatulas, piping bags, tips, frosting that is the same color as the cake tiers and place that in a Igloo to keep them chilled in case you need to do piping or repairs once you arrive and stack the cakes.
If you bake, fill, crumb coat, and do the finish icing & put the cake in the frz for an hour of two *UNwrapped*. Then pull it out & wrap as Apti said. This way the final icing will not be disturbed from being wrapped. This is how yrs ago all those wedding cake top tiers were suppose to be saved. In fact I remember it being stated to put a + of long wax paper sheets on a cookie sheet, placing the cake in the center; fz, then wrap. Of course today plastic wrap is the way to go instead of wax paper. Then put the plastic wrapped cake into a cake box which is then well wrapped in foil. Either way do NOT put foil directly on the cake.....always cover the cake w/wax paper or better yet plastic wrap before using foil as a final outer wrap.
BTW: The one & only time I iced a fzn cake the icing fell off the cake in large sections while transporting it to the venue! Always cool the cakes before doing the final finish icing. You can fill and crumb while a bit warm & freeze but don't do the final icing until the cake is completely cool and defrosted. You will not have sweating problems then.
ahhh.... so you complete the cake tier including final icing and buttercream decorations and put the tier in the freezer UNwrapped for at least 2 hours, THEN wrap in plastic wrap, THEN put in a bakery box, THEN wrap in aluminum foil.
I've been putting the completely decorated cake tier in the bakery box, then wrapping the box in plastic wrap and foil. I have not been wrapping the pre-frozen cake itself in plastic wrap then placing inside the bakery box then wrapping the box in aluminum foil. I was concerned that putting plastic wrap on the buttercream iced cake tier would harm the buttercream decorations. It has worked well for me to double wrap the box.
Early on when I was still a newbie, I experimented with putting a crumb coat on 2 still mostly- frozen layers which I filled and stacked. It exuded about 1/2 a CUP of condensation! Oh my....! I crumb coat and frost my layers/tiers when they are at room temperature since that little episode.
MsMiani, can I hijack your thread for a second and ask a related question?? Please….
I have a cake which will be covered in fondant and
painted. I wanted to bake and freeze
ahead of time so I’m not overwhelmed on the day of the even. Do I -
Freeze the warm/hot individual layers, and then on the day of the event let them defrost before I fill, ganache, and then cover in fondant.
Freeze the warm/hot individual layers. Once the layers are frozen, remove them from the freezer and fill, crumb coat, and refreeze as one unit. On the day of the event allow the cake to defrost and then ganache and cover in fondant.
Allow the cakes to cool completely, fill, crumb coat, and then freeze as one unit. On the day of the event allow the cake to defrost and then ganache and cover in fondant.
I’ve never frozen an event cake before so I’m not sure if I’m supposed to freeze them hot, warm, or cool, and do I freeze them with or without the filling. In the past I have just done (or tried to do) everything within a 24 hour period.
Thanks, Carol
This is what I do: Bake the cakes. Let the cakes cool for 2 hours. Put each cake layer on the same size cake board (8" cake board for 8" layer). Wrap the cake layer and board in plastic wrap. Then wrap that again with aluminum foil. Place in freezer to completely freeze (generally overnight). After the layers are frozen, I can safely stack them to make more room in the freezer.
The night before I plan to do the crumb coat, filling, stacking, and finished decorating; I take the frozen/wrapped layers out of the freezer and place them on my cooling grids to defrost overnight. In the morning I take off the aluminum foil and plastic wrap.
I have also taken the frozen/wrapped layers out in the morning to come to room temperature and started work on the cakes about 3-4 hours later.
I do not freeze warm or hot cakes -- just my personal preference.
Using a cake board under each layer helps to prevent the cake layers from breaking while they are being moved around and being wrapped.
Yeah, what she ^^^ said. It is not recommended to freeze warm or hot cakes or for that matter any food.
Depending on how long the cake will be in the fzr...just over night vs say a week or two -... if I wrap in foil. Usually just slip them into a plastic bag if just overnight/up to 36 hrs of fz'ing. It also depends on the size of the cake. The larger the longer it will take to fz all through. It also takes a 16" much longer to defrost than say a 6,8 or 10.
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