Making cakes today for Sunday- how to store them for optimal freshness?

Hi All, I've got two strawberry cakes (butter-based) and a vegan chocolate cake just out of the oven. I need to keep them as fresh as possible until I frost them Sunday morning (so just about 48 hrs from now). Is it overkill to freeze and then thaw? Should I simply wrap them tightly and store at room temp? They are for my son's 7th birthday so this is mission-critical. :)
Thanks!

em-i-lis
  • 4793 views
  • 11 Comments

11 Comments

em-i-lis July 2, 2013
I wanted to thank you all again and let you know that I froze one strawberry cake, left one tightly wrapped in my cold basement and did the same (wrapped, basement) with the chocolate. The chocolate (no butter) saved perfectly. The frozen strawberry thawed as if I'd just baked it. The room temp strawberry was just starting to dry a bit, which i attribute to it being butter-based more than anything. So I think in the future I will go with the freezer option, specifically for butter-based cakes, but all this is great to know and to have tried. Thanks!
 
sdebrango June 28, 2013
Now that should be on a T-shirt!!
 
boulangere June 28, 2013
Em, your cakes are best off either in the freezer, as Chef June suggests, or at room temperature. Quite honestly, even given humid and hot weather, for the amount of time that will pass between baking and icing, they'll be fine at room temp. Any longer than that, and you run the risk that they will mold. It goes without saying that they should be double-wrapped in plastic. A cake should not go into the refrigerator until you've iced it. By brushing it with simple syrup and enrobing it in icing, you are effectively protecting it from the natural staling effect of refrigeration. At temperatures below 40 degrees, and I trust that your refrigerator is below 40 degrees, starch molecules begin to break down, and your cake layers will stale faster under refrigeration than at room temp. Have a wonderful party!
 
em-i-lis June 28, 2013
OMG, Cynthia, you are such a baking guru! Thank you so much! Thank you all!!!
 
em-i-lis June 28, 2013
OMG, Cynthia, you are such a baking guru! Thank you so much! Thank you all!!!
 

Voted the Best Reply!

boulangere June 28, 2013
Keeping the world safe from stale cakes, one at a time!
 
sdebrango June 28, 2013
I have stored cake wrapped well and in an air tight cake carrier in the refrigerator very successfully for 2 days. But I agree, for optimal freshness freezing is probably the best way to ensure freshness.
 
em-i-lis June 28, 2013
ok! great, y'all!
 
Monita June 28, 2013
You can even thaw them Sun morning. They will thaw quickly
 
ChefJune June 28, 2013
They'll be "fresher" if you freeze them, then thaw thoroughly before frosting. If it's as hot and muggy where you are as it is here in New York, that's what I'd advise. In cooler weather, I'd say frost them tomorrow and store in a cool place until Sunday. But there is no "cool" here.
 
em-i-lis June 28, 2013
Thank you, ChefJune. I'm in DC which is definitely muggy. So cool thoroughly, wrap tightly, freeze and maybe tomorrow night remove them and let them thaw overnight? Frost Sunday morning? Does that sound like a good plan?
 
Recommended by Food52