So I made my first practice wedding cake this weekend and ran into some problems.
First I had made the cakes 1 week ahead of time and wrapped it about 4 times in saran wrap. When I took it out of the fridge and thawed it, it had a thin mushy layer on top 
. Did I wrap it to soon after I baked it?
Also my white sour cream cake was very dense and I did not like the taste at all. Help me please!!! 
Any suggestions or new recepies? My wedding is in 2 weeks so I need to hurry and try some new ones. 
Did you thaw it in the frig & was it still wrapped?
When I take mine out of the freezer (and sometimes they are just in plastic bags with nothing else, depends on how long they are going to be there) I leave mine sit out on the counter to thaw and I lift the bag away from the top. I think that the mushiness comes from when the condensation is leaving the cake and has no where to go except to the plastic wrap and then it makes mush wher it's laying on the top. If it's not too deep it really doesn't matter since you will level the top of anyway thus cutting away the mushy part.
Can't help you with the white sour cream cake part...... sorry. Take a breath and relax. If it's your wedding (which is how it sounds) enjoy it. Good luck.
I thawed it on the counter with the plastic on it so that was probablly it. Thanks!!!
i could be totally wrong, but i have always learned the opposite, that you should not unwrap it until it has fully thawed. the condesation is moisture from the air in the room being pulled to the cold surface of the cake. if you unwrap it right away, the moisture in the air will condensate ON the cake. SO- in my opinion...i think you must have wrapped it too soon, or not quite tight enough, possibly both. if its wrapped before its completely cooled (depending on size, it could take more than an hour) the moisture from the heat/steam is trapped inside, possibly making the cake soggy, as well as speeding up the process of possible bacteria growth that can happen at room temperature if the cake is not refrigerated. sorry i cant remember the source, but i THINK it was from www.baking911.com
let us know which recipe you used, there is a good one here for the white almond sour cream- its a doctered mix recipe. it is in the recipe section, the only change i make is to add less liquid (i think it calls for 2-2/3 c, i put 1 c) so that the cake is sturdy enough to hold up to the weight of fondant.
i could be totally wrong, but i have always learned the opposite, that you should not unwrap it until it has fully thawed. the condesation is moisture from the air in the room being pulled to the cold surface of the cake. if you unwrap it right away, the moisture in the air will condensate ON the cake. SO- in my opinion...i think you must have wrapped it too soon, or not quite tight enough, possibly both. if its wrapped before its completely cooled (depending on size, it could take more than an hour) the moisture from the heat/steam is trapped inside, possibly making the cake soggy, as well as speeding up the process of possible bacteria growth that can happen at room temperature if the cake is not refrigerated. sorry i cant remember the source, but i THINK it was from baking911.com.
I didn't say that I unwrapped it, I just said I pulled the bag away from the cake top so that is wasn't laying againest it. And I have found that if the cake top is damp once it is thawed if you leave it sit long enough with alittle air, it will dry up. And there are some people on CC that put thier cakes in the freezer almost straight from the oven and don't have this problem. To me, I agrree with you about the steam being trapped inside and causing moisture but some have success doing it that way, os you can't argue with what works for them. Interesting about the bacteria growth............. but I'm not one who would know for sure the answer to that one.
Hmmmm...so is it better to defrost then unwrap? Or unwrap then defrost?
I'm asking becasue it seems like everyone does something different and this issue is coming up for me today. I have to decorate a cake when I get home after work. I usually defrost cakes on the counter for a few hours then unwrap and decorate.
But today I have a full sheet cake (I baked 4 1/2 sheet layers to stack) and I think they would be easier to handle if they were frozen while I fill them and then leave out to fully defrost before I decorate. But I don't want to get that layer of mush/condensation on the cake layers. So what does everyone recommend? Thanks for your help!
Sorry to disagree, melysa, but I wrap my cakes in cling wrap straight from the pan almost as soon as they come out of the oven and that is what keeps them moist. All the moisture that escapes from a cake when it is cooling is held in by the cling wrap. I have never had a problem and everyone says my cakes are very moist. I started doing this after I read it in a professional's book. My cakes don't usually stay wrapped like that for more than a day or two tops so I have never had an bacterial problems. I think they would have to be wrapped and on the counter for several days before that would happen.
IMHO,
HeatherMari
I don't usually freeze my cakes but when I have, I take them out of the freezer, fill and crumb coat them, then let them thaw before I final ice and decorate. HTH
I also take my cakes from the freezer, lightly unwrap on the sides to ventilate a little but still leave the cling wrap mainly on if doing a sheet, never had mushiness. If I am doing a layer, I also fill & crumb coat immed, they are easier to handle and letting them set to thaw after filling/crumbing, lets me see if there is going to be any bulging and fix it before the final coat. i Have just recently started to let my cakes set after filling crumbing and it has cut my bulges to nothing.
I have made the WASC cake twice now and both times it was way to dense and to moist if that can be, I have gone back to my plain ol French Vanilla which everyone requests around here. Just doctor with some extracts.
Hmmmm...so is it better to defrost then unwrap? Or unwrap then defrost?
I'm asking becasue it seems like everyone does something different and this issue is coming up for me today. I have to decorate a cake when I get home after work. I usually defrost cakes on the counter for a few hours then unwrap and decorate.
But today I have a full sheet cake (I baked 4 1/2 sheet layers to stack) and I think they would be easier to handle if they were frozen while I fill them and then leave out to fully defrost before I decorate. But I don't want to get that layer of mush/condensation on the cake layers. So what does everyone recommend? Thanks for your help!
I've read that you can fill them while frozen and crumb coat them but you want to leave a small section not crumb coated for the condensation to escape......I've never tried it but that's what alot of books say.... which is kind of funny since we are talking about keeping the cakes moist but I think that people confuse moistness with condensation.. they are kind of two seperate things. Yes, condensation creates moisture or should I say water and if that water sits on the top of the cake then it's going to absorb it thus leaving a mushy top, which is why I lift the plastic away from the cake top. You want that water out of the cake. Heck, one time one of the men in my house (gotta love those guys) left the freezer door slightly ajar and I had ice crystals in the bag. I just left it that way (and we're talking weeks) until I pulled the cake out then moved the cake to a different bag and it was fine.
At least that's what I've found in my kitchen, in my climate. I think everyone does it the way that works for them based on experience which is just like everything else. Some people do it this way and then other people say it's wrong and do it a different way. Well it's not wrong if it works for you (as long as it's food safe).
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