My last two weeks in May is completely booked. Yes, it is possible for me to bake everything fresh like I normally do if I go on robot mode and lack of sleep!

I just bought an large upright freezer to dedicate to my cakes (grew up with a chest freezer...hated them!) because I really need to bake ahead of time.

I have seen mixed posts about how soon the cake should be placed in the freezer after baking.

My gut feeling is to let it cool before putting in the freezer. It seems to me that putting a warm cake in the freezer could cause ice crystals to form on the cake and may actually make it soggy upon thawing out.

I am planning on leveling and torting each layer before placing it in the freezer to save me time when I pull them out. Should I place wax paper between the torted layers? Some of the larger layers are so much easier to stack when cold and I was thinking that if I had something in between them this would allow me to be able to move them cold (not frozen).

How long does it normally take them to thaw, and I assume that I need to keep the plastic wrap on, right?

When I fill and crumb coat a cake, I always allow it to sit overnight, so I assume I won't have problems with any condensation buildup if any thawing is left to be done and potentially causing a bubble?

I feel like this is a complete newbie question but I've been decorating for over 12 years and have prided myself on all fresh cakes but things are just way too busy....plus reading all the freezing posts makes me feel really good about freezing them, since alot of people seem to think it actually makes the cake better!!

If it matters, I use doctored DH mixes with additional egg, pudding, and half buttermilk.

I have never frozen a very large cake for a wedding or anything like that. My largest was a 10" round. But they thaw very quickly for me. I just take them out sit them on the counter and wait for them to thaw, then unwrap them and get to work. Good luck with everything. I was looking into buying an upright freezer, but a family member has a chest freezer she is willing to give me, so I'm going to try to work with it since I won't have to spend more money.

I'm also curious about this. I would love to start baking ahead of time so I'm not on "robot mode" for days on end. We also got an upright freezer and now that I have the extra freezer space, I'd like to know the ins and outs of freezing a cake. How long can I freeze it for? What specifically should I wrap it in before freezing? etc...

I freeze all the time and have no trouble. I wrap with double layers of plastic wrap and foil, but when possible I also use my food saver (obviously not an option for super large layers!).

I bake, cool, level and torte. I just put a piece of parchment in between the cuts. Then I wrap well and freeze. When I take them out, I remove the foil but not the plastic wrap. I just put them on the counter and them seem to defrost in just a few minutes (likely longer, but it doesn't seem to take much time at all). I like the layers to be chilled when I work with them, as it lessens the chance of cracking and breaking. It doesnt' seem to affect taste or texture or anything to work with them that way.

Yes there should be no problem wit freezing the cakes, I generally freeze all mine, because work 2 jobs and have very little time to work on them. When I do my cakes after they come out of the oven I let it cool in the pan for a few mins, then turn it out onto a cooling rack and let it cool completely. Then I would wrap it . If you want to torte them freeze if for about a hour them torte them, put parchment or wax paper in between and then wrap and put in freezer. Once you pull them out to decorate I would let them thaw a little before decorating. I brush almy cakes with simple syrup, just tomake sure that they are moist, I might work on a cake for 3 days and don't want it to taste dry. I've never had a problem wit a bubble. If you going t refreeze the ake after frosting, I wold let it come back to room temp before applying fondant or it won't stick. Good luck, wish I was super busy making cakes next month

My layers will vary in size from 6 to 15 so I plan on double wrapping with the extra wide plastic wrap and then foil, and then of course writing on the outside which cake is for which wedding!!

My freezer will be delivered this afternoon....I am so excited!!

I am planning on freezing the cake layers only, no filling or buttercream.

Normally I bake on early Thursday morning, allow the cakes to cool, then level, torte, fill, and crumbcoat Thursday afternoon-evening.

I then ice and decorate on Friday so I don't have anything to do (just in case) on Saturday except for delivery.

So my assumption is that I can just take the cakes out on Thursday morning and do my regular routine! (Without the mess of baking!)

Hi. I often freeze cakes and I agree that you must put parchment in between each layer and also must double wrap. I wanted to add that you should also put parchment between the cake and cake board as the cake will stick to the cake board after a freeze/thaw cycle. I also agree that you should let the cake cool completely first before wrapping. If you are going to stack the cakes in your freezer, let the bottom cake freeze first before putting the next cake on top so you do not smash your cakes. I would not stack more than two cakes high in the freezer. Good luck and I think it is good for you to be so busy. You must be excited.

I also freeze all of my cakes due to time constraints and I concur with the PP's. I don't put in the freezer until cooled. Also, I had cakes in the freezer for about 2 weeks and then the party was postponed for another 4 weeks. So the cakes were frozen for about 6 weeks. I was definitely worried, but they were perfect and delicious on party day. One was a white cake and the other devils food. One other thing, I also freeze my buttercream everytime, which also thaws and tastes perfect. HTH

I never find that thawing takes long. I would only assume that if you have already torted, etc. it will go even quicker than had you placed the cakes in solid. In March, I had extra WASC batter and baked a 6" as the extra. After it cooled, I wrapped it and threw it in my upright thinking I would take it out a few days later and use it but never got around to needing it. Last week, my family was wanting "dessert" (like they don't get enough cake around here) so I thought, "Oh, well, I'll thaw that 6 inch." I torted it and filled and frosted with Strawberry Cream Cheese BC and it tasted like I had baked it that morning! I'd NEVER endorse freezing a cake that long, but it was good to know that it was not affected in flavor, texture, or freshness by having sat frozen for a month. : )

Oh, I must have been typing the same time joenshan was typing her testimony!!! Awesome to know you froze your cakes for up to six weeks and they were perfect! It's great to know these things because as we all know, things come up that cause us to have to think on our tippy-toes!

What about making fondant ahead of time? I have a cake to do in two weeks along with two grooms cakes. I will be using all fondant. How long ahead of time and how do I store it?

ok, I am not sure if I understand fully. So you bake the cake, let it cool, level and torte. Ok, so my question is that I am not understanding the parchment between layers after torting. Would that not affect the torte? Sorry if this is a silly question, I just don't understand why we torte if we put parchment in between and the have to take apart to remove parchement. I must be missing something. Can someone fill me in please?

Janice

I freeze my cakes too~ Always have, they always turn out delicious & seem moister! I baked several mini ball cakes before Christmas. My intentions were to make Christmas ornaments with them, well I never had time. I froze them. Last weekend I took one out to taste just to see... it was delicious! As long as they are wrapped tightly they are fine. I wrap my cakes in plastic wrap & sometimes tinfoil but not all the time do I use tinfoil. The smaller cakes like 10" & down I put in a ziplock bag after I wrap in plastic. That's how I did the mini balls. They taste just like they were baked that day~ To thaw I lay the cakes out the night before I decorate, just gets me a heads up on the next day~

As far as fondant goes.. I make my mmf & it is good for a long, long time (approx 4 months). As long as it's not moldy (chocolate will mold, don't know why but it will), hard as a rock & tastes good it's fine Here's how I store my mmf. I roll it into a ball. I smooth crisco all over it. I wrap in plastic wrap. Then I wrap with tinfoil. Then I put it in a ziploc bag & put it in icecream bucket & store in my pantry. Works perfect~

I freeze all my cakes due to having 2 jobs as well, and I am one of those who thinks it turns out better.

My Wilton instructor taught us to freeze in heavy duty foil right from the oven, but it doesn't seem to hold its shape as well.
I now usually wait until cooled to freeze, but in a time crunch I've had to freeze while still very warm and there was a little frozen ice on the cake but it never got soggy, the condensation went into the icing. Most of the cakes I make are for friends whose functions I attend so I get to taste my cakes and know firsthand.

I even crumb coat or ice frozen (easier to ice as well) but wait until thawed to decorate. The icing locks in the moisture and any condensation gets reabsorbed into the icing, but colored decorations may bleed so I wait on decorating (learned the hard way).

Other than that, I agree with everybody above. You know, I actually made and iced a cake in one day without freezing, and it wasn't as moist!

By the way, do you mind sharing your modified recipe? I also use an extra egg and pudding mix but the buttermilk sounds interesting. And I have some I need to use up, but it's fat free--will that matter?

I use parchment in between so the layers don't stick to each other. There isn't any icing at that point, so I'm not sure why it would cause problems. I remove the parchment as I settle each layer into place.

Back to your recipe, mine calls for 1 1/4 c. water and 1/2 cup oil along with eggs and pudding. So I just sub out half the water for buttermilk and the oil stays the same?

Sorry, I'm not good at baking chemistry.

Cakebaker - your cake will be fine sitting out, I finish my wedding cakes on Friday night, and they they sit all night stacked and ready to go uncovered, even for Saturday evening weddings.

I would personally wait until Thursday morning to take it out...sounds like it doesn't take long to thaw out.

I am so new to cake decorating so thanks to the one who started this post I was coming here to ask about freezing but thought I would do a search first.

I do have one question, what is torteing the cake?