When to make desserts

Question

I'm making a gingerbread dark molasses cake (from the book Cook Fight; fairly simple one-layer cake) and a simple chocolate whiskey tart (from the book Baked Elements; it's essentially a french silk pie, from what I can tell) for Christmas. Would it be too soon to make one or both of these today instead of Monday?

WannabeBaker · Answer

Awesome, thanks guys! It's good to know I can get at least one of my desserts out of the way now - will make my life a lot easier on Monday!

boulangere · Answer

I agree with Kenzi on both counts.  You're fine to go ahead a prepare the molasses cake in advance.  Molasses is an invert sugar (basically, a sugar which remains in solution); invert sugars are very hygroscopic, meaning that they will pull moisture out of the atmosphere and guarantee long-term tenderness as a result.  The lovely pie, though, I'd save for Monday for best results.

Kenzi W. · Answer

I'd say go forth on the molasses cake -- that one may even improve with age. (If you're nervous, freeze it and bring back down to room temp the day of.) If the other is like a French silk pie, I'd be worried about it getting soggy if you made it too far in advance. I might save that for making closer to Christmas.

When to make desserts

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