I’ve heard you can freeze cake batter and use for later. I’ve tried this before and it worked pretty well but today my cupcakes turned out very dense. I used the WASC method, so baking was in the mix but didn’t add any baking powder or anything like that. Do you have any ideas or tips and tricks to using leftover frozen batter?

abarker7

Sometimes you have to let frozen batter come to room temperature, and re-beat. I’ve used frozen batter many, many times. My cupcakes have never come out dense??

Maybe they weren’t at room temperature enough! They were still a little cold...

Well abarker7 I’ve scooped frozen batter right out of my container and put in my muffin tins and baked. Always have come out light and fluffy. Of course, it does depend on your batter. I always make scratch batter. Not sure I’ve ever frozen cake mix batter. If I have, it was a long time ago. 

When using WASC recipe there’s no added bag powder    It probably was not defrosted/warmed up enough 

Thanks!

I never liked the results I got with re-using batter after fridging/freezing -- so I just always got a little pan or some cupcakes going if I had leftover -- but yeah I would so use a little extra bkg powder if I did --

and I don't want to leave it out too long either -- so I just baked it off -- worked 

I don’t like the way fzn batter ends up baking either almost never did use that method  like K8 said   But I guess some seem to find it a good way to keep batter 

And the debate goes on!

Below is a vanilla WASC cake baked with refrigerated cold batter and a frozen scratch chocolate cake baked with cold defrosted batter.

They are 6” cakes ...rose nicely (but a tad less) and then I leveled them (except the dome cake towards the bake because it’s to form the top of a Barbie dress cake).

Just thought I’d share...I had leftover batter and I’d never baked from frozen or refrigerated but thought I’d give it a whirl since I had waaaaaaaaay too much to do my usual, which is just bake some cupcakes :).

See....frozen cake batter works!!!

yes of course it works -- mermade said, "rose nicely (but a tad less)" so it does not matchy match with fresh batter though -- so from my standpoint of being a wedding cake maker -- if you are doing tier cakes and you have some held batter and some fresh it needs to be combined to make the entire tier, that is two layers copasetic -- then that doesn't matchy match the rest of the cake either -- I didn't want one layer/tier any different than the other -- too much thinking for me -- I just mixed near to the correct amount I needed, baked off any excess and that was easier for me -- 

I have an ancient recipe for bran muffins that you keep the batter in the fridge and just scoop it out day to day and bake it off -- lovely!

some cupcake and of course cookie shops freeze and fridge their batters to have a nice long time to use them up without mixing every bit all the time -- it's highly efficient to fridge some batters --

there's no wrong answer

"one baker's never ever do is the next baker's I swear by this"

K8memphis 

I’m strictly a hobby baker. I would never use frozen batter for a wedding cake. Whenever I’ve froze batter, was from leftover batter from a wedding/birthday cake.  Used for my own personal family use.

sure -- of course -- whichever way you wanna do it -- there's no wrong answer   all ever

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just in general -- tons of times one person will get on a cake board and say you can't 'whatever' -- so many times I thought, "dang I didn't know that you couldn't do that and I've been doing it for years" so to me there's no wrong answer and impossible things are possible in baking -- just because one person says "this won't work" does not make it true -- and I know I've been the person sometimes who might say that but I try to think of a way to accomplish whatever the person wants and try not to say it like that -- and for that reason I try to shy away from 100% consensus on things too -- baking is such a broad subject with so many moving parts --  like staircases in a harry potter building 

the nuances are staggering --

Couldn’t agree with you more Kate!!! I see “cake shaming” all the time about cakers who have baked, then froze their cakes for a future day to decorate. Oh my, everything from....It can’t be done, it can, cause my Mom was doing it in the 1960’s. Shouldn’t be done...BIG one, cause ya know ONLY fresh baked, baked day before qualifies as “homemade”.  Your lazy...ahhh, no just smart with your use of time.  Your “cheating”, giving recipients “cardboard cakes”.....no, cake didn’t come from some factory frozen, you baked it yourself. A frozen homemade cake IS a homemade cake.  Just, well, frozen. 

It’s all about how you were taught, what you’re use to. Me, as I said, my Mom froze cakes (and pies, tarts, squares, anything that would freeze) . And if you think baking fresh day before is the right way, good for you. If that’s what  works for you, great. No right or wrong way. Just don’t belittle either way because both work. 

I am trying not to belittle because something doesn’t work for me but many times  I don’t think of all the ways that something can ever done :(   I apologize if I have belittled anyone here

Oh no kakeladi....you’re NOT belittling anyone. Never crossed my mind.

total eggszactly, june!!! cake shaming is nasty business — guess one could say shaming is in the eye of the beholder

no no no no no, lynne  — i don’t know what you’re talking about --

but lemme tell yah — mom never froze any goodies because there was four of us and we ate like locusts devouring everything in sight hahahahaha — we usually had almost enough kinda sorta —  but not an abundance of goodies ever — one time when I was 6 or 7 I remember the first time I had more fruit punch than I could drink — if we got a bag of candy it was counted out into four piles so there would be no fights between kids —  i’m still that way though — I make sure everybody gets their fair share — 

Often times when I see cakey shame posts on my decorating fb pages, scratch vs homemade...freeze vs no freeze..blah, blah, whatever, I never bother commenting. Scroll right on by. All been debated to death. And as we’ve discussed, there is no right or wrong, it’s whatever suits. 

My Mom was a huge baker, as myself and two older sisters became as well. My Mom not only baked for the family, but for our church... socials, funerals, pot luck dinners. But Kate, growing up my Mom was very strict about the amount of baked goods we ate. One slice of cake/pie. 2-3 cookies/squares. Very Scottish. It was actually a good lesson. Learned “junk” control ....  :o)

i’m a reformed junk food junkie — and my goal in life is to fall off the wagon regularly hahahaha