The allure of a freshly made cake is hard to resist. Whether it’s an unfrosted cake or one already adorn with the icings, fondants, and other toppings – you cannot beat the taste of a fresh cake.
However, there can be many reasons as to why you can’t have your cakes freshly made or bought. And for whatever reason you may have for delaying your sweet tooth the indulgence, you need to know how to store your cake for maximum freshness.
We will give you some tips and techniques on how to store cake while preserving its quality to the fullest. But before that, you need to know more about the storing process.
Things You Should Decide before Storing Your Cake
Before you begin the storing process, there are a few key things you need to decide first. They are described as follows –
1. When Do You Need Them
You need to figure out the duration between the time you buy or bake your cake and the time you will consume it. Based on time, you should use different methods.
2. What Form Will You Store Them in
When you store your cake, what form will they be in? Will they be frosted unfrosted? Will they be cut into pieces, or will you store them whole?
3. What Ingredients Will Be in the Cake
Storing methods will vary based on the materials that the cake or the frosting is made out of. If the materials are highly heat-sensitive or go rancid easily, you need to keep that in mind before storing it.
4. How High Is the Room Temperature
If the temperature of the place you are staying at is too high during the time of the year (above 70 degrees F or 21 degrees C), then storing your cake at room temperature might not be an option.
Tools You Need for Properly Storing Cake
While every technique for storing we describe here will not need all the tools, each method will need some tools. You should try to familiarize yourself with them if you already don’t know them.
- Plastic wrap
- Cakebox/bakery box
- Cake stand and dome
- BPA-free Tupperware box
- Aluminum foil
- Ziplock bag
How to Store Unfrosted Cake for Maximum Freshness?
You should store your unfrosted cake either at room temperature or in the freezer. Refrigerating your unfrosted cake is a big NO. While this may seem surprising, there are good reasons for this.
If you think about it, an unfrosted cake is similar to a piece of loaf. And like a loaf, it will go stale much quicker in the refrigerator than at room temperature, even if it is airtight.
But before storing at any temperature, you have to properly make your cake airtight. Here are the steps for that –
- Bake your cake
- Cool it down to the center on your wire rack for 1 hour
- At this point, follow any of the methods given below for making it airtight
- Cover it tightly with plastic wrap
- Put the cake in a large airtight bowl with parchment paper on the bottom
- Insert the cake in a large zip lock bag and close it properly
- If the cake was bought, keep it in the box it came in and wrap the box airtight with plastic wrap
Now, you can decide to keep them outside or in the freezer, depending on how long you wish to keep them.
At room temperature, your cake will stay fresh for 3 days, given that it has been made airtight. Make sure that they are stored in a cool and dry place.
Freezing is also acceptable if you want a more long-term storing solution than 3 days. Freezing helps to lock the moisture in the cake, while refrigeration tends to dry the cake out. A well-frozen cake should remain fresh for 7 days to 2 weeks.
Storing Frosted Cakes for Maximum Freshness
Frosted cakes, too, are better stored at room temperature than in the refrigerator. However, there are some cases when you want to refrigerate the cake. Here are the details.
Storing at Room Temperature
Cakes that have been frosted with chocolate ganache, buttercream, or fondant can stay fresh 3-5 days, as the frosting creates a barrier from the air and keeps the cake from going dry. You can use any of the following methods.
- Cake Stand and Dome
Put your cake on the stand and use the dome to cover it. Cover the dome with a piece of towel to keep the sunlight from penetrating in and put the stand in a cool, dark spot.
- Plastic Wrap
Let the cake stay open in a refrigerator for 15 minutes so that the frosting layer can harden. Now wrap the cake using the plastic wrap to make it airtight and store it.
- Cakebox
If there is a cakebox, double wrap it using plastic wrap and store.
- Airtight Container
Completely dry your container with an airtight lid using tissues or a towel. Place the cake carefully, so it doesn’t touch the sides, and close the lid. If the container is transparent, cover with a towel.
Storing in the Refrigerator
You should only store your cake in the refrigerator if it has a type of frosting that will surely melt or spoil at room temperature, such as – cream cheese frosting, fresh fruit frosting, or whipped cream frosting.
And you shouldn’t store cakes in the refrigerator for more than 3 days, as it will start deteriorating too much in flavor and go stale.
Simply follow any of the methods described for making the cake airtight just above this segment, and store in the middle shelves of your refrigerator.
Storing in the Freezer
Frosted cake will stay fresh for a long time in the freezer. They will keep all their freshness and flavor intact for 2 weeks at the minimum. Frozen cakes stay good for 1 month.
After one month, they will slowly start to lose freshness, but many have reported that storing them in the freezer for up to 3 months is acceptable.
Use the plastic wrap, cakebox, or airtight container method of sealing the cake as described before to store the cake in the freezer.
Before you can serve a frozen cake, you need to thaw it out first. Take the cake out as it was sealed and leave it on your kitchen counter at room temperature for 30-45 minutes to slowly thaw the cake. Don’t open the seal before it has completely thawed out.
Storing a Cut Cake for Maximum Freshness
Maybe you want to store a cake that has a few slices cut off from it or multiple pieces of sliced cake. In any case, we have you covered.
For a cake that has a few slices missing, the open parts of the cake will try to leak the moisture out of the cake. To prevent this, use a piece of plastic wrap to cover the area where the cake has been cut and store in an airtight container or in a cake box.
If the cake is already sliced into many pieces, the only realistic option is to store the pieces in an airtight container. Make sure that the individual pieces are not touching each other inside the box. You can wrap the unfrosted places in plastic wrap before putting them in the container.
Conclusion
From this detailed discussion, we hope that you have learned about all the questions you had regarding how to store cake for maximum freshness.
Make sure to plan beforehand and take note of all the key factors that can affect your decision. Now that you know the whole shebang, go ahead and get started on making and storing your favorite type of cake.