Those Of You Who Freeze Your Cakes... ???

Decorating By Mikel79 Updated 22 Aug 2009 , 5:12pm by Mikel79

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Mikel79 Posted 22 Aug 2009 , 12:14pm
post #1 of 17

Hi All!

I always make my cakes in advance and freeze them. I triple wrap them in saran wrap and then triple wrap them in foil. When I take them out to thaw, I leave all wrapping on for a minimum of 12 HOURS. When I UNwrap them the outside of my cakes are ALWAYS saturated with "wetness". Before I ice my cakes, I let the bare cake sit out for about 45 minutes to get to room temp. and hopefully dry the "wetness". However, it still stays wet.

The reason I am posting this is because I usually (65% of the time) have a "blow out" on my cakes. This is that aggravating, pain in the a** air bubble that forms under the icing several hours after I ice. I am convinced it is because of the moisture that is left on my cakes.

My question, how do you thaw your cakes and do you folks have the same problems?? If you do not freeze your cakes, do you bake and decorate the same day???

Thank you!!
=)

16 replies
-K8memphis Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
-K8memphis Posted 22 Aug 2009 , 12:27pm
post #2 of 17

I freeze my assembled filled cakes--with a lot wrappers--not as many as you but several. When I remove from freezer I immediately remove wrappers and brush off the ice crystals--there's nothing to melt into my cake and get it wet. There's also no possibility of any 'freezer' odor in the ice crystals "enhancing" my baked goods.

I shave aka trim the sides and then immediately ice my cake.

I do get a stray bubble on rare occasion but nothing regular. I keep my cakes chilled through delivery.

Baking and decorating same day leads to my cakes not serving well. My freshy fresh fresh cakes tend to crumble some when sliced. I think my previously frozen cake serves the cleanest.

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poohsmomma Posted 22 Aug 2009 , 1:00pm
post #3 of 17

I wrap my cakes in waxed paper when they come out of the oven and let them come to room temp. Then I wrap them in a plastic wrap and pop them in the freezer. I let them thaw on the counter-sometimes I even crumb coat before they are completely thawed. Then I let them set at least 6 hours or sometimes overnight before finishing. I don't have a problem with soggy cakes, but they do stay nice and moist.

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sheena Posted 22 Aug 2009 , 1:15pm
post #4 of 17

I would suggest removing all wrapping and then thaw your cakes.

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PuffCake Posted 22 Aug 2009 , 1:42pm
post #5 of 17

I would only leave them wrapped if you're thawing in the refrigerator. I typically ice right out of the freezer and press each layer down as I'm filling and stacking to prevent air bubbles.

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Makeitmemorable Posted 22 Aug 2009 , 2:20pm
post #6 of 17

I freeze the majority of my cakes because they are mostly carved cakes. I take the out, unwrap them for about 15 minutes. I cover carve them, cover them with ganache and leave them for about another 15 minutes before I put on the fondant. They are typically still about 20-30% frozen by the time I finish the main fondant cover.

I winter this is no problem, in summer the humidity does make the fondant moist until it is properly thawed. It depends on the weather as to whether or not I thaw it completely.

Once your cake is covered in fondant, the fondant once dry does shrink in slightly so any slight thing you can see after you have freshly covered the cake will become more apparent when it is dry. This is not major and on some cakes you will not even notice.

I find the cakes are more moist if they are covered and defrost within the fondant.

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Mug-a-Bug Posted 22 Aug 2009 , 2:27pm
post #7 of 17

REALLY??? icon_confused.gificon_confused.gificon_confused.gif

I've read tons of "warnings" about unwrapping cakes before they are thawed. I've also read not to crumbcoat while still frozen. Will it really be okay if I take cake out of the freezer, unwrap, fill and crumbcoat, them let sit overnight??? icon_surprised.gif

Seems wrong. Thanks everyone for all the good info.

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saberger Posted 22 Aug 2009 , 2:36pm
post #8 of 17

I bake my cakes, let them cool for @ 15 minutes, wrap them in plastic wrap an stick them in the freezer overnight. ext day, I make icing, take them out of freezer, unwrap, and ice. Stick in fridge while making any fondant accents, take out and decorate and then I am done. Same thing for fondant covered cakes. have never had a problem, thank goodness. When I am filling the cakes, I press down fairly hard to avoid as much "settling" as I can.

Hope this helps.

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Makeitmemorable Posted 22 Aug 2009 , 2:36pm
post #9 of 17

It might be different with BC icon_rolleyes.gif - I don't use BC, I only use Ganache and Fondant.

What was the warning??

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Suzycakes Posted 22 Aug 2009 , 2:38pm
post #10 of 17

I only wrap each layer once - really well with lots of excess wrap involved - and put in the freezer. Sometimes they are only in the freezer for a day or 2 -- at the most 5 days. Then I remove them at noon on the day that I want to decorate in the evening - so I usually let them thaw about 5 or 6 hours and they are always thawed and I have never had any ice crystals or damp areas. My freezer is only for cakes so I con't have to worry about wrapping to keep out 'ugly' flavors and no longer than what they are in the freezer I don't worry about freezer burn and have never seen any on cakes that I pulled out for personal use weeks later.

Maybe the temperature control on your freezer is too low (too cold) you might check that to see what it is set on.

HTH

Suze

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Mikel79 Posted 22 Aug 2009 , 2:42pm
post #11 of 17

Makeitmemorable....

I always have read on posts that if you unwrap your cakes while still frozen, they will not be moist. For some reason keeping the cakes covered while frozen is supposed to keep the cake moist???


Thank you all for all the replies....

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Makeitmemorable Posted 22 Aug 2009 , 2:49pm
post #12 of 17
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mikel79

Makeitmemorable....

I always have read on posts that if you unwrap your cakes while still frozen, they will not be moist. For some reason keeping the cakes covered while frozen is supposed to keep the cake moist???




That makes sense. With the fondant, if they are covered when frozen solid, excess moisture comes to the surface of the fondant and drys off however it they are coverd in plastic, the moisture has now where to go except to stay on the cake and make them 'wet'.

Thanks for letting me know, I thought it was something worse than that.
Cheers

-K8memphis Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
-K8memphis Posted 22 Aug 2009 , 3:11pm
post #13 of 17

My recommendation here is for everyone who wants to, to test all this out for yourself. Bake off a cake, cut it into however many pieces you want, stick some in the frige some in the freezer, thaw wrapped, unwrap & thaw.

Maybe bake off four inchers so you have all the effects of a regular cake with the browned edges to get wet or not get wet etc.

I like how I do it because it works for me.

Test it out and see how you like it best.

But I mean cold/frozen cake handles so well--that's one of the properties I would loose by letting it all thaw before handling.

See how you like it best.

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sadsmile Posted 22 Aug 2009 , 3:54pm
post #14 of 17

Dissplaced air grows air bubbles. Cake bakes up nice and fluffy with gazillions of tiny air pockets.
Make sure your cakes have settled really well or squish them so they won't shrink under the added weight of frosting/icing/fondant. That air in the cake has to go some where when gravity takes over and gets trapped under the icing.
Squishing forces out the air pockets that aren't strong enough to withstand the later added weight of icing and decoration. I always wrap and stack my cakes with cake circles inbetween in the order of how they will be stacked when decorated and that helps the lower layers to settle competely. And I squish each layer too.
Indydebi had a tip about placing a large ceramic floor tile on a layer for an (hour?) to help force the setteling. Don't squish a hot or warm cake because it will make it mushy in the middle.
I am one who thaws wrapped also. Works for me and I always have moist cake that slices great.

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sknnypggy Posted 22 Aug 2009 , 4:21pm
post #15 of 17

thanks for all the great tips!....i am going to do the squishing thing from now on....had a couple of blowouts

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catlharper Posted 22 Aug 2009 , 4:38pm
post #16 of 17

I am a HUGE fan of Press And Seal. This is a new cling wrap that really seals in the cakes freshness. I bake the cake the previous day, let it come to room temperature (this is when I level and split the cakes) and then wrap in the Press and Seal, just one or two passes only is needed since this wrap really does seal. Then I freeze for 24 hours. The next day I take it out of the freezer, fill, crumb coat and then let thaw at least two hours in the fridge while making any fondant embellishments needed for the cake. Then out of the fridge for an hour before covering with fondant or if covering with BC then I just start frosting right away out of the fridge. I have refridgerated fondant covered cakes overnight a few times with no problems but I prefer to take a newly finished cake and hand it off to the client.

Cat

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Mikel79 Posted 22 Aug 2009 , 5:12pm
post #17 of 17

K8memphis-....

You are right! I have two small 6" cakes in the freezer. When I get home, I think I'm going to take all the foil off of one and let it defrost, and take ALL the wrapping off the other and see how it does. I have been leaving both saran wrap and foil on, that has not been working for me.

Thanks again!

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