I baked 3 red velvet cakes about 4 months ago, wrapped them extremely well and stored them in the freezer. I took them out of the freezer, left them wrapped and put them in the fridge to thaw for about 3 or 4 days. While I was starting to decorate them, they were falling apart. Nothing but crumbs. I finally sliced off a small bit from the middle of each and they were all horribly dry. The bridal couple was to come that day to taste test, but I had to cancel.
What would make them dry out so badly? The time in the fridge? Thanks. I have to remake them all for the wedding and don't want to have a repeat.
I like to freeze cakes but I've never frozen a cake for 4 months. That seems too long for a cake to be frozen.
If you used a refrigerator freezer, that might be the problem. Those freezers are good for short-term freezing only since they are self-defrost and go through a continual freeze-thaw-freeze cycle. This process is great for keeping a freezer frost free but damages baked goods during the process.
yeah I wouldnt freeze that far in advance, but in addition to that you could use a moistening syrup... there are a lot of recipes on the internet, very easy to use.
Thawing in the fridge for 3-4 days did most of the damage. I have frozen cakes in a deep freezer for 3 months, no trouble. One night in the fridge, it's dry already.
At this point a syrup will be OK especially if it has some alcohol (like bourbon) in it. Find out first if they are OK with the alcohol...
I somehow missed the 3-4 days in the fridge thing. Yeah, I take my cakes out of the freezer and thaw only for a few hours in the fridge before I start working on it.
...and put them in the fridge to thaw for about 3 or 4 days.
What would make them dry out so badly? The time in the fridge?
I believe it was the time in the refrigerator. Refrigeration sucks the moisture/humidity from the air just like air conditioning. You can easily freeze cake for 6-12 months if wrapped properly.
I didn't read anything about you leaving the cakes on the counter for 3 or 4 days -- just in the refrigerator. If you had left the cakes on the counter at room temperature for 3 or 4 days INSTEAD of in the fridge for the same amount of time, they would have been just fine (as long as they weren't iced in perishable cream cheese frosting), and the cakes would become more moist the longer the icing has a chance to meld with the cake.
Cake and/or icing isn't so delicate and perishable that it can't withstand being stored at room temperature for reasonable lengths of time... it shouldn't start to grow mold for about two weeks.
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