I thought I would give myself some extra time by baking my cakes at the beginning of the week and freezing them until Friday to decorate for Saturday.

Well, all went well with the baking, cooling and freezing.

BUT, when I defrosted I had issues particularly when I tried to ice the cakes. I let them sit until completely defrosted, then filled them and crumb coated. They seemed okay.

But when I tried to ice them, they were soft and almost mushy and kept pulling the icing up with the knife and I had TONS of crumbs. Even after the crumb coat was dry. I had a nightmare trying to get the cakes iced without crumbs. It happened on both white and yellow cakes.

Do any of you who freeze cakes have this problem? Any tips on defrosting so this doesn't happen?

Thanks.

Did you defrost your cake out on the counter? If so, then that was your problem!!!

I always thaw my cakes completely wrapped in the refrigerator a full 24 hours before icing!!!! I learned this from my teacher with over 30 years experience in the business and a former president of ICES! I think I'd stick with her advice despite the popular contrary thawing on the counter!!!

Another thing, did you crumb coat your cake before it was completely room temp?


Amy!

I frost mine when they are still frozen. Am I the only one?

No, I frost mine right out of the freezer with no problems.

I'm glad to know I'm not alone. As far as I am concerned it is the easiest way to frost!

Absolutely!!!!!

Okay, clue me in! WHAT is the benefit of frosting right out of the freezer?

I've frosted many cakes while frozen....much easier IMO. Maybe your cake got "mushy" because ice crystals melted into it from air getting to it in the freezer? Did you wrap it very tightly in saran wrap before freezing? It's amazing how techniques work/don't work for different people!

I feel the cake stays very moist this way also it is by far the easiest way to smooth the cake. the BC gets hard but not dry and a hot wet spatula will get it very smooth with very little effort. Plus you can put alot of filling between layers with a good dam and it will not leak bc the BC hardens like I said.

Well said! I prefer decorating with fondant but when I use BC that is the only way I can get a smooth finish!

If getting a smooth finish is the only benefit then I'll stick with my method because I think I do a pretty good job already of smoothing my cakes!

Thank you for filling me in!


Amy


P.S. I emailed my instructor and asked her opinion on this topic. I hope to hear back from her soon!

looking forward to what she'll say amy...i haven't tried freezing my cakes yet due to different methods/ways of doing it..i always bake my cake the day before it is due, and it always, and i mean always results to stress..

It may be a few days, hopefully not! She likes to travel so I don't know if she's gone right now. Last time I emailed her I just caught her when she got back from a trip to Africa!!!! This woman likes to travel!

I have made so many cakes in the last couple months. One week this summer I had five cakes to do!!!!! I got them all done with no issues and that one week of stress gave me the confidence I need to get my cakes done with no stress any more! I bake my cakes two days before the event, like if I have a cake for Friday, I bake Wednesday, decorate Thursday for a Friday delivery. I bake my cakes in the middle of the afternoon now instead of the morning. I cool my cake in the pan, flip it right onto the covered cake board and leave the parchment paper on it from when I lined the bottom of the pan and then I seal the cake on the board with plastic wrap and throw a tea towel over it. I get up the next morning, make my fillings, icing, and start decorating!!! I do take a while to decorate my cakes because I dislike flaws (I still have some though that I can't help and it makes me upset, most of the time people don't notice them though). One of my 12x18 cakes, I'll take about 5 hours from start to finish AND that's being a SAHM with to preschoolers!!!!! Yeah, I don't have stress!!!!!!!!


This is why CC helps, because of all the hints, tips, and timesavers we learn here we can better ourselves and our methods. Definately what works for one may not work for another!!!! You'll develop your own method of doing things and when you do, you better come on here and share them!!!


Amy

I can't ice mine frozen because I use Italian meringue buttercream and it develops deep cracks in the icing if the cake is still frozen. But I have heard others talking about their cakes getting mushy once they have thawed, my thought is it is because they were thawed with the plastic wrap on and as it thaws it forms water beads inside the wrap which are absorbed by the cake. I unwrap mine when thawing and I thaw at room temperature. With using a brushing of simple styrup on my cake layers and with the icing being soft I have never had a problem with the cakes getting too dried out from thawing at room temp. And I have never had a problem with soggy cakes either.

I'm new to all this, so please excuse my silly questions. I need to bake a 12 x 18 cake for a wednesday event, and I don't want to stay up very late doing this. I want to bake and ice on Monday, then decorate Tuesday. If I ice it on Monday, what/how should I store my cake til Wednesday? Or is this a bad idea? And another question: I just read about somewhere about putting a flower nail in when baking a cake so the middle will be done when the outer part of the cake is done. What is this nail that they're talking about, and is it really necessary?

Elaine

They are referring to a flower nail! Supposedly if you put it in the middle of your cake pan, flat side down of course, and pour your batter in, it will make the cake bake evenly. It will ensure a middle that is done! I however have tried this and it was a pain. I level my cakes when needed before I take them out of the pan and the cake leveler caught on to the point of the flower nail and tore it though my cake! I've never had an issue with underdone centers of my cakes and I bake 12x18 all the time. I just thought I'd give it a try and it made no difference but making a mess!

As far as your cake, can you ice and decorate it on Tuesday? If you have to ice on monday then wait until your icing is completely crusted and then loosely lay plastic wrap over it or what I have done in the past is lay a tea towel over it. The icing itself will act as a "sealant" for freshness! I'm sure there is another way to refer to this but that's all I can think to call it right at the moment.

I hope some of this helps!


Amy

Hey! I thought frosting a cake before it thaws out will ressult in condensation and the icing sliding off?

I really can ice and decorate on Tuesday, but I just thought by icing on Monday, I could take my time and make it look nicer (less mistakes). Again, excuse the questions, but what is a tea towel? And did you place that directly on your iced cake? If you did, did it mess up your icing? And when you did that, did you ever have a problem ants. It just seems like if I left it out, I would have ants all over the cake--so much sugar. Do you know if they sell any tuperware-like containes to hold such a large cake?

For me, I just want to do things as early as possilbe, with the cake being as fresh as possilbe. Like I said, I could do it all Tuesday, but I work part time, and am a full time mom to a 3 year old and an 8 month old. So, my cake time is after the kids bedtime. And since I would like to get some sleep, I want to get started with the cake as early as possible.

Thanks for your advice and help, and responding so quickly!

Elaine