Freezing a cake

Michael said:

I've got to make a cake for an event at the school for my daughter.
It's on Wednesday, but the weekdays are long for me at work and
it would be almost impossible to do the whole thing Tuesday evening.

I'm going to be making a Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate cake, using
two layers baked in a big rectangular pan. I would like to make the
cakes this weekend and either store them at room temperature, in
the refrigerator, or in the freezer. Which is best, and how do I do
it? I plan on making the icing (the Whipped Cream-like one that you
gave me, Jill!) Monday night, keeping it refrigerated, and putting it
on Tuesday night. I'm going to try and color the icing an put it on
as an American flag. Sorta spooky experimenting with something
that everybody will see, but I want to do something different.

Thank you, Michael

I'm not sure what is in the icing you are referencing but if it
contains whipped cream it is unlikely to survive two days before you
want to serve it.

Personally, I'd bake the cake Monday night, cool it, cover it and put
it in the fridge, then make the icing either Tues PM or Wed AM and put
it on the cake immediately. If the icing really has stablized whipped
cream in it, I'd opt for Wed. AM.

How old is your daughter? If you are pressed for time, I'd err on the
side of "easy decorating" and just pipe some writing or flowers or
something easy, or buy some stick-on decorations or sprinkles instead
of trying to do a fancy design. Kids under 8 or 9 don't really care,
anyway. The younger ones love the sprinkles better than anything else,
too. Don't make life too hard on yourself!

-L.

Thank you for the suggestions, L. Making the two layers of the
cake on Monday (separately, since I've only got the one pan),
and then making the icing, coloring it, and icing the cake the
next night would be an unpleasant amount of work. The icing
doesn't actually have whipped cream in it, so I think I'll be OK
making it Monday night.

I've let these cakes set out for many hours to cool and then
wrapped them in plastic wrap and left them at room temperature
and they always end up soggy even after only a single day.
That is one of the reasons I've asked about what temperature
and how to store them.

Thanks, Michael

Michael said:

The icing
doesn't actually have whipped cream in it, so I think I'll be OK
making it Monday night.

Is this the one with the name Gail Wallen on it? I can vouch for that
one.

Carol
--

Some people are like Slinkies... they don't really have a purpose but
they bring a smile to your face when you push them down the stairs.

Stolen from "traid" on the IRC

Damsel in dis Dress said:

Michael said:

The icing
doesn't actually have whipped cream in it, so I think I'll be OK
making it Monday night.

Is this the one with the name Gail Wallen on it? I can vouch for that
one.

Carol

I'm drawing a blank on the icing since I don't often bake cakes.

Jill

On Fri, 7 Apr 2006 18:19:43 -0500, "jmcquown" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Damsel in dis Dress said:

Michael said:

The icing
doesn't actually have whipped cream in it, so I think I'll be OK
making it Monday night.

Is this the one with the name Gail Wallen on it? I can vouch for that
one.

I'm drawing a blank on the icing since I don't often bake cakes.

* Exported from MasterCook *

Creamy White Frosting

Recipe By :Gail Wallen
Serving Size : 18 Preparation Time :0:20
Categories :

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 egg white -- beaten foamy*
2/3 cup skim milk -- lukewarm
1 teaspoon vanilla

1. With electric mixer, cream together the butter, shortening, and
sugar.
2. Add egg white and beat well.
3. Add milk and vanilla, and beat for 10 minutes.

Description:
"This luscious frosting tastes like whipped cream!"
Source:
"RFC 3/10/1999"
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- -

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 143 Calories; 11g Fat (66.6%
calories from fat); 1g Protein; 12g Carbohydrate; 0g Dietary Fiber;
14mg Cholesterol; 60mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Lean Meat; 0 Non-Fat
Milk; 2 Fat; 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

NOTES : Stands up well to heat and humidity.

For just us, I use a real egg white. For others, I use powdered egg
white that I buy here:
http://www.maidofscandinavia.com/

Frosts: 2 - 9" layers or 1 -13x9" oblong
--

Some people are like Slinkies... they don't really have a purpose but
they bring a smile to your face when you push them down the stairs.

Stolen from "traid" on the IRC

"Michael" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I've got to make a cake for an event at the school for my daughter.
It's on Wednesday, but the weekdays are long for me at work and
it would be almost impossible to do the whole thing Tuesday evening.

I'm going to be making a Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate cake, using
two layers baked in a big rectangular pan. I would like to make the
cakes this weekend and either store them at room temperature, in
the refrigerator, or in the freezer. Which is best, and how do I do
it? I plan on making the icing (the Whipped Cream-like one that you
gave me, Jill!) Monday night, keeping it refrigerated, and putting it
on Tuesday night. I'm going to try and color the icing an put it on
as an American flag. Sorta spooky experimenting with something
that everybody will see, but I want to do something different.

Thank you, Michael

FWIW I knew a woman who made wedding cakes. She would bake lots of layers at
a time and store them un-iced in her freezer.
--
Lefty

Life is for learning
The worst I ever had was wonderful

Quoted message said:

"Michael" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I've got to make a cake for an event at the school for my daughter.

Mike, decorate a frozen solid cake. It is less likely to tear or shed
crumbs. A butter cream frosting (basically powdered sugar and butter) will
hold up better than anything whipped, and errors are easier to fix.

Carol,

The recipe for the Creamy White Frosting says just sugar, but
surely it is powdered sugar? Yes?

Oh, and I apologize for attributing the recipe to Jill in an earlier
post instead of you! Dangerous territory, that. ;-)

Thank you, Michael

Lefty wrote:

FWIW I knew a woman who made wedding cakes. She would bake
lots of layers at a time and store them un-iced in her freezer.

*************
Oh yeah! The cake decorating books I've got all mention that it's
definitely OK to freeze them. But I was concerned about whether
to wrap them in Saran Wrap or what. When I wrap them in Saran
Wrap and keep them at room temperature, they get wet on the
surface, even though they've been cooled on a rack for over 4 hours.
I was somewhat afraid that when I thawed them out they'd be a
sticky, gooey mess. The decorating books that say it's OK to
freeze them are generally referring to a little firmer cake than the
Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate one that I'm making. I'm repeating
myself from an earlier post. Sorry.

I was going to bail out and do a cheesecake instead, because it
would be a lot easier. An hour's prep time but then it's all over.
But I decided tonight that the cake was what I need to make so
I've got one layer done and the other one in the oven. I'll ice it
tomorrow night.

Thank you for posting.

Michael

RedNeck wrote:

Mike, decorate a frozen solid cake. It is less likely to tear or
shed crumbs. A butter cream frosting (basically powdered sugar
and butter) will hold up better than anything whipped, and errors
are easier to fix.

*********************
Thanks, RedNeck! I didn't freeze as planned this time, but I'm
definitely planning on trying it. I'm wanting to play with decorating
and that ends up taking so much time that I know it will be a
welcome relief to not have the cake baking stacked directly on
top of that. Your tip is great! I was thinking that I would have to
thaw them completely before icing them, and I do have problems
with the crumb-shedding syndrome.

Thanks again, Michael