Hello guys,
I am baking a cake for a friend's engagement for 100 people. I want to bake the cakes before time and freeze them. Now the problem is I live in a country where there is a lot of load shedding. We have light for one hour and no light for the next hour. Will my cakes freeze well? The engagement is 20 days away. Should I freeze my cakes or is it a bad idea?
That's interesting. If the cake was frozen solid it could probably handle one hour on one hour off if you didn't open the door, but I don't know if the cake could freeze adequately in the first hour to withstand the hour off or would it just take longer to freeze? I notice a big difference in the taste of cake in my fridge freezer as opposed to my freezer only. The fridge freezer cycles whereas the freezer only remains constant. The freezer only tastes completely fresh after a long time but not the other. The fridge freezer does have a freezer taste if something is in there longer than a week. So I think you'd be taking your chances with your on/off scenario.
If you enough time I would freeze a small test cake and see how that goes first. If not it's a risky proposition and your reputation is on the line. Some bakers here bake a week in advance and leave the cake at room temp until they're ready to decorate, but I think a week is too long to sit. You should do the test cake anyway for the future but for this event I would bake earlier in the week, wrap the heck out of it and freeze only for a few days and start decorating two days in advance or more depending on how elaborate you're going.
Agree with Pastrybaglady. Like PastryBaglady above, I have a dedicated, NON-automatic defrost, freezer for my cake and cake supplies that can be frozen. I do not use my indoor, automatic-defrost-cycle freezer (connected to my fridge) for anything "cake" because the defrost cycle causes freezer burn and causes the cake to lose moisture which then freezes into ice crystals on the outside of the cake.
The "load shedding" you describe sounds exactly like an automatic-defrost-cycle. I would not recommend freezing the cakes for 20 days. If you MUST bake ahead, I would only bake ahead 2 to 3 days. Make all your cakes, let the cakes completely cool for a minimum of 2 hours. Then, when cool, tort, fill, level, wrap in plastic wrap and heavy duty aluminum foil or 4 layers of plastic wrap. Freeze as solid as possible in the 4 hour "on" time, then don't open the freezer until you are ready to pull out the cakes the day before the event and decorate.
The day before the event, pull the frozen/wrapped cakes that have been torted/filled/leveled from the freezer and DO NOT UNWRAP! While you are assembling everything else and making the frosting needed to decorate and finish the cake tiers, condensation will be forming on plastic wrap/aluminum foil that is on the outside of the cakes as they begin to defrost. (This will prevent your frozen cakes from dripping water as they defrost.)
Alright I will bake 3 4 days ahead then. Do not want to risk it for my friend's special day. Also I am planning a floral cake for her and so I have to make flowers for that too. I was reading about it and found out I can make them month before i need to use them. Just have to dry them and store nicely. Any tips on this?
Thankyou guys for your help :)
Well....Hello in Real Time. I'm in Southern California and it is Thursday, September 10 at 11:00 in the morning. It is also hotter than blazes outside, around 108F, so I'm hiding in my precious, air conditioned home.
Are you using Royal Icing for your flowers? Gum Paste? Buttercream?
Royal icing flowers will keep for years. Gum paste flowers will keep for years. Buttercream---lots of variables, will need more info.
Now I know that Pakistan is 12 hours ahead. How amazing is this? I'm 62 years old, retired, and still in awe of the power of the internet.
Fondant with tylose flowers should last for months (or longer). If you are using darker colors like purple or navy blue, the color may fade, but other, lighter colors last a long time. Once you have made the flowers, place them in a non-air tight container (like a cardboard shoe box) that blocks light and dust, but can still "breathe".
Wow I'm ahead of you in time but you are ahead of me in age :D
I am a 25 year old interior architect, living in Kuwait and currently visiting my home in Lahore, Pakistan. I am a hobby baker and bake only for friends and family. Great to talk to you here :)
Well I'll be using pastel colors for the flowers, mainly peaches and a little bit of pink. I have actually never made a three tier cake before and i am very nervous hope everything goes well. I don't even have all my tools with me so the nervousness is justified haha
Do lots of research on the support system you use!
I so feel with you. Same power situation here somehow. Many - annoying - power cuts. A generator is the way to go!
Anyway, living in the same sort of hot bit humid climate as you, my tip is you store the flowers in your oven with just the pilot light on. It will dry them out nicely and will keep moisture away.
You are very brave doing the baking last minute. What will you do if there is no power? Or do you use a gas oven? But still, you'll have to make the buttercream etc. My generator broke like 2 months ago and until it was fixed I didn't have a quite minute...always worried about the unpredictable power supply!
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