The Secret To Planning A Layer Cake
There is absolutely nothing wrong with freezing cakes. All bakers and bakeries do it with baked goodies such as cakes, cupcakes, and even buttercream. The best and easiest way to make a cake ahead of time is to freeze the unassembled and undecorated layers, and guess what? It tastes just as good and as fresh as a same-day cake. It’s even easier to stack and decorate frozen solid cakes than those flakey soft ones fresh out of the oven.
Let me tell you how to freeze a cake to taste the freshest. First, allow the cake to cool completely in the pan it was baked in, then turn out the cooled cake onto cling film and wrap it tightly without any air pockets inside. If you use the cake in a few days, cover it air-tight with cling film only, but if you plan to decorate it after a week or so, freeze it for a more extended period by adding a layer of foil to it. The foil will prevent condensation on the cake. Freeze the cake for up to a maximum of three months. For thawing, transfer the wrapped cake from the freezer to the refrigerator one day before decorating and serving it. If you’re in a rush, thaw at room temperature and try to decorate while the cake is still cold to the touch. A cold cake is easier to handle than a soft cake. Make sure you are thawing while it’s still in the cling wrap. The condensation will form on the wrapping, not on the cake.
Most importantly, plan your time so you can make the cake, then the frosting, and plan enough time for the cake decorating too. If you only have an hour or two to spare each day, you can split the work into 4 or 5 days. And if you have more time than that, you can make it 2 to 3 days. Now grab your pen and planner and reverse plan what you need to do, starting from the end or when you need the finally decorated cake. For example, if I want to plan my cake on a four-day schedule, say I need it on Friday, then I will decorate the cake on Friday, make the buttercream, and crumb coat the cake on Thursday. On Wednesday, I will bake the cake and freeze the layers. And on Tuesday I will buy all my ingredients.
