All of you at Cake Central have helped me so much. Can you seasoned decorators tell me what you do once your cake comes from the oven? Do you level it while it's hot, or freeze it first? When do you put it in the freezer? After it cools completely, or straight from the oven. What would you say are the first 3 or 4 things you do when that oven timer rings?

I always "wing it" but want to learn to do it the proper way.

Thanks again to you ladies who always take the time to answer a "newbies" questions.

The food scientists say it should be cooled completely before freezing. There is a risk of mold if the hot cake is wrapped, moisture collects inside and takes too long to reach 'safe' temperatures.

I generally do NOT cut the cake until I am ready to start assembly. The cut sides can dry out.

Also, I usually only freeze cake for about a week, allowing me to bake ahead, but not for the cake to develop any problems in the freezer.

Let the cake cool for a few minutes then depan, cool completely then wrap for the freeze if that's what you're going to do. Level the cake when it ready to assemble as it will dry out

I trim/level my cakes and flip them out of the pan within 2 minutes of coming out of the oven. When they are barely warm to the touch, I wrap them in saran and put them in the freezer. To thaw, I just throw them on the counter, still wrapped in saran. THey don't get dry when thawed properly. Sometimes, they are almost wet, they are so moist.

I love testing brides during samplings! If they ask if I freeze my cakes, I ask them, "You tell me ... which of these came from the freezer and which one did I bake just 3 hours ago?"

They always pick the wrong ones! They think the freezer cakes are more moist and fresh tasting!

I take the cake out the oven plave on top of the oven, cover with a CLEAN cotton cloth (teatowel napkin etc) and leave to cool completely, this means a very long time for the larger cakes for example i am due to take a 12" out the oven at 8 tonight so iwill leave this (covered with cotton cloth) overnight then in the morning i will level the top remove from pan remove baking paper wrap and freeze for late in the week whe i am ready to decorate, leaving in the tin to cool is an absolute must as your cake will shrink and/or go crusty on the outside. keeping it in the pan means it stays incredibly moist as it traps the steam inside the cake and covering the top with cotton means (not only keeping anything undesirable of it) the mogority of the steam can escape with out the top drying out. once completely cooled you can use the sides of the pane to level your cake (if it is the desired height -i buys only 3: high pans for this reason) and your cake will slide easily out i then wrap in plastic wrap well and freeze, when it thaws (overnight on the bench it is always perfect! hope this helped

I saw a program on food network and a bakery in Las vegas took the cake out of the oven and immediately turned them over on a baking sheet. They said that makes them stay moist.

You can ask 100 people the same question and you will get 100 different answers. There is really no right or wrong way to do it although if you keep your cake in the pan too long then it will stick to the sides and the bottom ( unless you have parchment on the bottom) when you go to take it out.

Me personally I flip my cakes out on parchment covered cake boards just as soon as they come out of the oven. If they are uneven I flatten them with a clean towel to even them out. Wrapping them with saran right out of the oven causes the saran to shrink and can warp your edges so be very careful doing that. Just experiment and see what works for you.

Everyone has their own method.

I let the cakes sit 10 min before flipping onto a cooling rack. I let cool completely before leveling, wrapping, freezing.

i agree, everyone has their own method, but everyone still seems to bascially do the same thing...

I do all my cakes in stages: I prepare all the same flavors and put them in pans, I bake all of them, I take them all and put them on a baking rack. I let them cool for about an hour in the pans (I use baking grease and parchment paper and never had any issues with them sticking..sometimes I may need to run a flat spatula around the edge a little, but thats it) I then place them on cardboard rounds for stabilty, double wrap them in saran, label them with the customer name and then put them in the deep freeze

I also do my torting and filling in stages, I take all my cakes out and let them defrost on my baking rack in the saran, get them all torted and filled...some I go ahead and buttercream, some I do a crumb coat, depending on if they are fondant or not and then back into the fridge they go. I dont even wrap them. They sit for a day, then I do my final work on them! (make sure you label them or you won't know what has what in them! hahaha)

It was REAL popular on here a few years ago where everyone was hot wrapping their cakes right from the oven. I guess that isn't so popular anymore?

and I agree with Debi....freezing a cake makes it more moist! I dont know why, but it does!

At the bakery we pull our cakes from the oven and let them cool completely in their pans. We use cake paint to prepare teh pan for baking and we don't have a problem with the cake sticking. Then we level we we are preparing to ice.

I take them out of the oven , let them cool for 10 mins and then turn them onto a coolng rack.
I let them cool until warm to the touch and then wrap in plastic wrap. Then in the fridge they go. I've only fozen cakes a few times or when I need to carve them. I'm scared to freeze my cakes for any longer then a day or two, and thats only if I have too.

I'm just a home baker, but it depends on what my schedule is and how late at night I'm cooking. I use homemade cake release and have NEVER had a cake stick whether I take it out of the pan immediately or leave in the pan to cool overnight. I've leveled it immediately and leveled it the next day -- same results. When I freeze a cake, I normally will place wax paper on a cookie sheet and put the cake on that and put it in the freezer for about 30 minutes. Then I put the cake and wax paper in a 2.5 gallon zipper bag. That way the cake doesn't stick to the inside of the plastic bag. HTH

I get my cake out of the oven and then push down the middle so it is flat and then turn it over immediately.

I take them from the oven.. let them cool in the pan for about 10 minutes and then take them out of the pans and let them cool completely then level and torte and then double wrap in plastic wrap and place in the fridge. If I freeze them (which I rarely do) I will do it at this point and to thaw them I take them from the freezer to the fridge and the to the counter. A cake left in the pan for a long while will keep cooking inside so I don't like to leave them in the pans.. plus moisture can collect between the cake and the pan and make it a little mushy.

That was a great question Charleezgal. Everyone, I have a question to add. So up to how long can you freeze the cake to where it will still be moist and not dried out? Not trying to hijack, still wanna hear more answers to the OP.

When my cakes come out of the oven, I press a clean dish cloth on top to level immediately. No need for cutting the dome off this way. And I am one to wrap my cakes in plastic wrap within 5 minutes of it coming out of the oven and let cool from there. Like someone else stated, they tend to get very moist and I've never had a problem. I'd say 90% of the time I bake and decorate on the same day so I have never had a problem with this method.

KimAZ

I do basically the same thing as everyone else.

I just recently figured out how to bake flat cakes and they are finally rising a full 2" if not higher. They look just like indydebi's! I'm so proud! Now if they need leveling, I level in the pan since they are taller than the pan. Then I flip out and let cool. I flip whenever I get around to it. Immediately, if I need to reuse the pan. In 10 minutes, 30 minutes, whatever. Usually not longer than that though. I prefer to do the cakes ahead of time and freeze them. It makes them so much easier to handle. I've frozen cake before for 2 weeks and it came out amazing!

Then I defrost the morning I'm going to decorate. I decorate in the evenings after work. Torte and decorate.

Pressing them down the middle to level your cakes can make for an unstable cake since the center is heavier and denser than the outside of the cake. Most everything I have read has advised against the smooshing method of leveling a cake.

Of course if it works for you then great, but for a sculpted cake or something more involved I wouldn't chance it.

I would also like to know how to get your cakes to rise evenly above the pan, What is the secret.