How to Store Cake: 7 Cake Storage Tips to Preserve Freshness

Home chefs and professional bakers alike must understand how to properly store cake. From carrot cakes to cupcakes, a few simple strategies will help your delectable desserts stay much longer than they would otherwise.

What Exactly Is Cake?

Cake is a sugary, floury treat that is popular during celebrations. Cakes come in a variety of flavours and reflect a variety of cooking techniques. The term "cake" normally refers to a baked item, while ice cream cakes, frozen cakes, and other no-bake cakes are not necessarily included. While there are many different types of cakes, the best ways to store them are quite consistent.

Should Cake Be Refrigerated?

In most circumstances, refrigeration should be avoided. Unless your cake contains perishable ingredients that could spoil, such as cream icing, fresh fruit, ice cream, mascarpone, or whipped cream, it's best served at room temperature. Refrigerator humidity depletes the moisture in cakes, causing them to lose their typical softness. A pound cake with strawberries and cream cheese frosting, for example, should be refrigerated, whereas a cake with fondant icing, peanut butter, and pecans should be stored at room temperature.

Remember that how hot and humid your kitchen gets can affect how you keep cake. If your kitchen temperature is regularly above 75 degrees Fahrenheit, your cake would be better served in the refrigerator than than in the oven. You should also chill the heated cake for about twenty minutes before wrapping and storing it at room temperature. This helps to harden the frosting and keep it intact during the wrapping procedure.

7 Cake Storage Ideas

Cake can be enjoyed for days after its initial serving if properly preserved.

1. Review the cake recipe.

Before you select how to keep your cake, you must first determine what is in it. A ganache-covered chocolate cake with buttercream frosting can be served at room temperature, but a cream cake with fresh fruit filling should be kept chilled. The essential thing you want to know is whether any of the ingredients are perishable. Cheesecakes should also be refrigerated because they include different components than typical cake.

2. Boost with icing.

Frosting is a natural preservative if it does not contain perishable dairy or fruit ingredients. Simply top the sliced edges with extra icing once the cake has been cut open to help it live longer. This keeps the moisture in without the need of plastic or metal wrap. Don't rely on the frosting parts within a layer cake to perform the job; instead, smother the entire exposed surface with additional icing.

3. Freeze for longer periods of time.

If you don't intend to eat the cake for a long time, you can always freeze it. If you freeze an uncut full cake, you may easily keep this treat for up to three months. Before freezing the cake, wrap it with plastic wrap.

4. If required, improvise.

You don't need a special cake stand to store your dessert properly. Wrap the cake in aluminium foil and set an overturned bowl on top to serve as a temporary storage container. This will preserve the freshness of your cake for three to seven days.

5. Keep the icing safe.

Place your cake in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes to stiffen the frosting before wrapping it up for storing. Insert toothpicks into the top and sides of the cake to keep the wrapping from touching the icing.

6. Use room temperature.

You may leave your covered cake out overnight without wrapping it, and it will be fine the next morning. Wrap it in anything for whatever amount of time longer than that. Unless certain ingredients require refrigeration, store it at room temperature to extend its shelf life (up to three to seven days).

7. Wrap the cake in foil.

If you plan to enjoy your cake over several days, wrap it in aluminium foil or plastic wrap. If you prefer to store the wrapped cake in an airtight container for extra protection, leave a small bit uncovered. Protect sheet cakes from dust and other filthy materials in your kitchen, but they still require air to preserve their texture.