Hi! I am in the process of getting licensed for a bakery catering business. One of the things I need to answer is how I would keep a cake with non-shelf stable frosting cool from the time it's delivered until it is cut into. How do you all do it? I plan on using shelf stable frosting, but I need to answer even if I do. Any tips? Thank you!
My cakes are all butter buttercream and I deliver them cold about an hour before an event. They've stayed out for hours before being cut into and are fine. You don't want cold icing or cake to bite into. Sugar acts as a preservative.
Thanks! I think if I tell him I'll have a policy in place stating it will not be delivered until just before the event, it might make him happier. He keeps asking what I would do to keep it cool if I am asked to deliver a cake in the morning and the wedding isn't until the afternoon and it sits out in the hot summer sun all day.
First, you refuse to deliver a cake that will "sit out in the hot summer sun all day". You just explain to the client that your business does not do things that promotes food poisoning. (Then ask them if they've bought their million dollar liability policy for the event 'coz if they plan to treat their food items this way, they're going to need one! heh heh heh!) I have story after story on the catering side of my biz where I had to explain to a person just why we can NOT do something the way the client wanted it done.
I intentionally never used perishable fillings or icing just for this reason.
We advise our customers to keep the cake refrigerated until 1 hour before serving so the frosting has time to soften. This is on the invoice so we have it in writing.
Keeping the cake cool is especially important when dealing with frosting made with zero trans fat shortening, since it is more temperature sensitive.
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