Keeping Cake Fresh
Decorating By Colliegirl Updated 29 Nov 2009 , 11:32pm by confectionsofahousewife
Ok, maybe I am just plain stupid, but I am finding it hard to keep cakes fresh (except the good ol' traditional fruit cake, which is on the nose with most customers these days).
Usually I try and make the cake the day before to keep it as fresh as possible, which means that intricate designs cannot be done. I do most of the designs I can before the cake is made, but there are those things that need to be done when the cake is assembled.
Any ideas on keeping the cake as fresh as possible, as long as possible in order to do great cake decorating work? Or am I trying to achieve the impossible?
Love to hear from you guys. 
Hi, I am no fridge girl!!! I hate putting my cakes in the fridge, as the cakes get very dry. When the cake is baked, which is two days before the collection date, I let it cool completely and wrap it in clingfilm/ saran wrap. Then when I torte the cake, I use a simple syrup to brush on each layer. Then put the fillings and again wrap them in clingfilm. The next day I crumbcoat and cover it with fondant. Once everything is done, store in a white cake box, until its collected.
I've got to agree with bashini. I absolutely HATE putting my cakes in the refrigerator. They dry out so quickly and to me just taste like crap. I use my Wilton cake taker when I can and leave the cake out of the fridge. That having been said, I'm pretty limited on the filling and frosting that I can use..
I'm not a fridge fanatic either but in the cases where the fridge is necessary I double wrap each layer or my filled layers in saran wrap and have not had a problem with drying or staling. The whole purpose for saran is to keep odors out and moisture in. I know that many of the cakers on this site also double wrap and freeze their cakes and have had no problems with that method either.
I would say take a second look at your recipes. I use the durable DH recipe and can leave a cut cake out...uncovered! and it stays fresh for days!
I'm anti fridge too but can't say enough good things about freezing cakes! As many here will say, frozen is not the opposite of fresh, stale is! HTH!!
I think its something to do with box mixes. I bake my cakes from scratch. And it does get very dry if I put them in the fridge. But I have to say that I have put few cakes in the freezer and it was quite nice and like freshly baked. But I don't do it all the time.
Maybe try to examine your recipe? or add something heavier to it like buttermilk, sour cream or pudding, these all help with moist cakes. I'm a huge fan of syrup, I use a basic sugar and water simple syrup and add something that will add to the cake like rum, vanilla, lemon, chambord, frangelico, any liqueur or coffee flavoring syrup works really well. I just use a pastry brush and brush it on liberally, then I torte and fill and crumb coat, everything turns out moist and delicious. Good luck!
I think its something to do with box mixes. I bake my cakes from scratch. And it does get very dry if I put them in the fridge. But I have to say that I have put few cakes in the freezer and it was quite nice and like freshly baked. But I don't do it all the time.
I was kinda thinking along these lines bashini...I don't bake from scratch...most of us now have grown up on super moist cake mix from a box and that has become the "standard" of moistness. But I know that a scratch cake tends to be a little drier but when compared against a super moist cake mix most people will think the scratch is too dry instead of knowing that it is normal (making sense? 
)
I think its something to do with box mixes. I bake my cakes from scratch. And it does get very dry if I put them in the fridge. But I have to say that I have put few cakes in the freezer and it was quite nice and like freshly baked. But I don't do it all the time.
I would think the opposite. Box mixes have the evil preservatives that keep a cake fresher longer. WHen I read the OP was having a problem keeping cakes tasting fresh, the first thought that went thru my head was "she must be baking from scratch". 
(And I'm not starting the scratch vs box argument here ...... I just thought this was a funny observation on the part of both of us! 
)
Freezing actually ADDS moisture to the cake. I always freeze my cakes at LEAST a few hours before working with them. I never refrigerate my cakes. As I have learned .... freezing a cake halts the "going stale" process while refrigerating a cake accelerates the 'going stale' process.
In the baking world, the freezer is your friend, not your enemy.
Freezing actually ADDS moisture to the cake. I always freeze my cakes at LEAST a few hours before working with them. I never refrigerate my cakes. As I have learned .... freezing a cake halts the "going stale" process while refrigerating a cake accelerates the 'going stale' process.
In the baking world, the freezer is your friend, not your enemy.
Glad to know you freeze your cakes too! It was something my wilton instructor suggested and I have found that it definitely makes my cakes more moist. I have a couple questions for you though. Do you freeze yours fresh from the oven (I heard that that increases the moistness of the cake)? Also, do you let yours thaw completely before frosting? I ice mine frozen because, again, someone said that it seals in the moisture and I tend to agree. However, I get lots of condensation as the cake thaws and thus have to wait to put on any kind of fondant decorations. I also find that it is easier for me to ice the cake when its frozen. I get less crumbs in my frosting. Just curious, what others do.
Do you freeze yours fresh from the oven? Also, do you let yours thaw completely before frosting? Just curious, what others do.
I let the cakes cool to room temperature before wrapping in Saran Wrap and then foil. I like to ice the cakes while they are still cold but definitely not frozen because I like to smooth my buttercream using the Viva method right away.
Our freezers aren't designed to have hot items introduced into them, and when you stick hot stuff in a cold environment, it creates a thermal effect so that it actually takes LONGER for the hot cake to cool and then freeze. I want the baking process to STOP when I remove the cakes from the oven so I give 'em 10 minutes in the pan and about half an hour on the cooling rack, and then wrap and freeze. Plus, and it might just be my sensitive palate, but I can swear I detect a plastic-wrap taste when I tried wrapping up a hot cake. Yuck.
Our freezers aren't designed to have hot items introduced into them, and when you stick hot stuff in a cold environment, it creates a thermal effect so that it actually takes LONGER for the hot cake to cool and then freeze.
In the food safety course, you are taught how to bring items to a food safe temp quickly. If I were to put a hot pan of soup in my walk-in 'frig to cool it, I'd actually be lowering the internal refrigerator temp, potentially placing my other foods in a non-food-safe-temperature condition. Same with a freezer .... a hot item in the freezer actually lowers the temp, potentially endangering your other foods.
I do not know why you quoted me, but you would actually be RAISING the internal temp of the fridge or freezer, not lowering it...which I have stated multiple times in other threads where people talk about sticking hot items in the freezer.
Ooops! you're so right! A case of "I knew what I meant and typed it backwards!" 
Thanks for the correction!
In the food safety course, you are taught how to bring items to a food safe temp quickly. If I were to put a hot pan of soup in my walk-in 'frig to cool it, I'd actually be lowering the internal refrigerator temp, potentially placing my other foods in a non-food-safe-temperature condition. Same with a freezer .... a hot item in the freezer actually lowers the temp, potentially endangering your other foods.
I didn't mean hot necessarily. I let mine cool a good 20-30 min. before I wrap and freeze them. They are fairly close to room temp by then. I also stick them in my deep freeze which doesn't have much else in it so I'm not really endangering any other foods by raising the temp of the freezer.
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