I"m making a 2 layer cake for LO's birthday (tomorrow!). I'm planning on making the cake and frosting tonight and putting everything together tomorrow. I've heard mixed things on freezing or refrigerating the cake before you put it together and frost...anyone have any tips to make it look as nice as possible?
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Once the cake is completely cooled, give it a "crumb coat" of icing. What this means is put the icing (or whatever filling you'll use) between layers and then do a THIN (like you can see through it, but it is totally coated) layer of icing all around the outside. Then stick the whole thing in the refrigerator for an hour (or overnight if you want to) and then frost as usual immediately after removing the cake from the fridge. Doing the crumb coat + refrigerating it will help keep all the crumbs in so you don't get them in your nice thick frosting layer. It will also keep the moisture in if you're not frosting immediately.
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I made (several) five- and six-layer cakes for LO's first birthday. It was infinitely easier to frost the layers after they were frozen, and it didn't negatively affect the taste (or texture!) at all! I didn't have any crumbs in my super white frosting (I was making rainbow cakes), and my layers were super super moist (meaning I expected some crumbs!).
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@Mae: thank you! and then after I finish frosting, I stick it back in the fridge? or serve soon after?
@MsLipGloss: ok so how long did you freeze the layers and how did you freeze them? plastic wrap? how many layers? and once they were frozen you unwrapped them, stuck them together and then frosted? talk me through this, lol.
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@hilsy85: once it is totally done I wouldn't put it in the fridge unless it's going to be more than a day until you serve it. You want cake at room temp, and it doesn't go bad on the counter.
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@Mae: ok so stick the layers together, crumb coat it, fridge it for an hour, then take it out, frost, and leave it out? Layer cakes are so intimidating, lol.
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@hilsy85: I wrapped the layers in Saran Wrap, stacked them (in reverse order) and stored them flat in the freezer. Some layers were frozen for up to a week, and other layers overnight (I did a couple of trial cakes to make sure it really worked and wasn't just a fluke!). When I was ready to assemble and frost, I took all the layers out together, unwrapped the layer on top (the bottom layer of the cake), and started frosting.
ETA: The biggest cakes had 6 layers.
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@MsLipGloss: and how long before the party did you take the layers out? If I make the cake today, and freeze it overnight, at what point tomorrow do I need to take it out so it's fully defrosted/
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@MsLipGloss: geez, 6 layers?!?! I am in awe!
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@hilsy85: It really wasn't that bad! One of my best pieces of advice is to weigh the batter for the layers (to make sure they are as close to identical as possible for evenly sized layers). Also, even if you are using a set of bowls to measure, always zero out the tare on the scale after you put each bowl on the scale (before adding the batter), because even bowls in sets will have some variance in their individual weights (which can throw off your amounts of batter for each layer).
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@hilsy85: LO's party started at 2 (from 2-4), and I took the layers out at around 11:00ish to assemble/frost? I think we served cake around 3, and it was completely defrosted.
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@hilsy85: I made a 6 layer cake like @MsLipGloss: and got the same great results she did. Here's what I did:
-baked each layer, let it cool in the pan for a bit, put it on a cooling rack and "flash froze" it in the freezer on the rack for 30ish minutes.
-wrapped the chilled layers in plastic wrap and foil and left them in the freezer for about a week and a half.
-on the day of his party, I'll pulled them out and unwrapped them (some of the tops stuck to the plastic wrap)
-I leveled them while they were frozen, then stacked and frosted. I didn't let them defrost at all and the frosting went on perfectly.
-We cut the cake around 5 hours later and it was completely thawed and tasted great!It'll be easier than you think
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@MsLipGloss: yeah I have another friend who swears by a kitchen scale, but we don't have one! It's only 2 layers so I think I'll be ok
@JoyfulKiwi: thank you for your timeline!!
So if I make the cake tonight and freeze it and take it out tomorrow morning around 945 and crumb coat it, then put it back in the fridge for an hour, then take it out and frost it around 2 it should be defrosted by 630, right? And freezing won't make it dry, right??
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@hilsy85: Correct! A cake will be just fine on the counter over night. Or even 2-3 days really, if it lasts that long
But I generally bake the night before an event. And always layer cakes because those are prettiest!
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@JoyfulKiwi: omg, work of art!!!! What did you serve it on? @MsLipGloss: same question!
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@hilsy85: Freezing won't make it dry. Sounds like you got some great tips. Good luck!
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@hilsy85: The cake was light and super super moist! @Smurfette: and @ChopSuey: can confirm this as well!
ETA: I served it on an off-white pedestal cake plate. It was either that or a crystal pedestal plate, and the off-white was larger so I went with that!
ETA2: Also, I frosted the sides of each layer as I went along . . . it made filling in the gap between each layer super easy.
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@Freckles: thanks!
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Also had good success with crumb coatings and a quick freeze! Swiss meringue buttercream frosts beautifully, btw, if you don't have a frosting yet
at least, that's what they taught me in a cake decorating class I took! Never had an issue
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@hilsy85: Freezing doesn't dry it out, it's so soft still. I used a square piece of spare wood from my husband's workbench and covered it in tinfoil as a "cake plate". I was too scared to use our regular cake stand, because it is tall and I didn't want anything falling over!
Your timeline for freezing/frosting/eating sounds good to me!
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Just wanted to thank you all! The cake came out great
@blackbird: I think I will do a buttercream next time, I did a cream cheese frosting and it was so soft it was difficult to get good coverage on the cake.
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@hilsy85: Yay! I totally felt like such a success because my LO's cake came out so well!
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@MsLipGloss: um, hellz yeah! That cake was a work of art!
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@hilsy85: Wonderful, well done! I hope L's party was great.
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@Beehive: thanks!
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@hilsy85: Seriously, @MsLipGloss: cake was SO good.
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@Smurfette: awww - thanks!
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