Have you been on a baking binge lately? Are you worried that the cakes you’ve made will spoil before your family has had a chance to eat them? Don’t be. Based on my experience, frosted and unfrosted cakes may be successfully frozen. Of course each one requires a different approach. Here’s a quick rundown on each one:
Freezing Unfrosted Cakes
In my opinion, unfrosted cakes are the easiest to freeze because you don’t have to worry about destroying the frosting. However, freezing unfrosted cakes isn’t an entirely trouble free endeavor. There are still issues to deal with, like preventing freezer burn. I have found that the best way to keep your cakes from failing victim to freezer burn is to properly wrap them. In order to wrap the cake properly, you will need heavy cardboard, a roll of freezer paper, a roll of aluminum foil, and a roll of freezer tape.
Once you have your materials in one spot, decide whether you want to cut the cake into pieces or freeze it whole. Then cut pieces of heavy cardboard that are just big enough to accommodate each piece of cake. The pieces of cardboard will serve as bases for your cakes. Continue by wrapping the individual pieces of heavy cardboard with aluminum foil. Afterward, place each piece of cake onto its matching cardboard base.
Next, take out the freezer paper and the freezer tape. Then wrap each piece of cake, base and all, with a piece of freezer paper. Proceed by wrapping the cake again, only this time use a piece of aluminum foil. At this point, you can either slip the cake into the freezer “as is” or place it inside a resealable freezer bag. Either method will work. On average, the unfrosted cake should stay fresh like that for about 6 months.
Freezing Frosted Cakes
As previously alluded to, freezing frosted cakes can be quite challenging. Part of the reason why it is such a challenge is that the freezing process has the potential to cause the frosting to crack. Over the years, I have found that the best way to avoid cracked icing is to use a butter frosting or a modified penuche frosting. I tend to modify the penuche frosting by replacing part of the brown sugar with either corn syrup or honey. Both versions typically seem to hold up well in the freezer.
Of course, you’ll also want to avoid having the frosting stick to the freezer paper. The ideal way to do that is to place the cake, uncovered, into the freezer. Then flash freeze the cake. Once the cake has been flash frozen, remove it from the freezer and wrap it like you would an unfrosted cake. Afterward, return the frosted cake to the freezer. Just make sure that you try and eat it within three months time. Otherwise, the frosting is apt to taste like freezer burn despite your best efforts.
Source: Personal Experience
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5 Things I Learned by Watching TLC’s “Cake Boss: Season 2”
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