If you find yourself elbow deep in icing sugar and flour these days, but with limited mouths to feed during the lockdown, check out some of our top tips for freezing your cakes and other baked goods.
It’s perfect if you’re feeling like a baking sesh and want to stockpile desserts over the next few weeks, and also super useful if you just happen to have ingredients leftover.
Plain Cakes
Once you’ve finished baking, allow your cake layers to cool completely, then wrap each individual layer in plastic wrap/cling film. Once completely covered, wrap it again using aluminium foil. You could also use the foil to write the type of cake it is, or maybe a use-by-date. We recommend storing your cakes for up to a month at most.
If you have room, we also recommend storing your cake in a freezer-safe container to avoid them getting damaged, and also to keep them fresher for longer.
When ready to use, remove from the freezer the day before serving and loosen the aluminium foil and plastic wrap. Let your cake layers defrost completely in the fridge before stacking and decorating.
The same applies to cupcakes. Simply wrap them individually in cling film and then aluminium foil and freeze for up to a month.
Iced/Decorated Cakes
If your cake is already decorated, place your cake in the freezer, unwrapped, for around 4 hours. During these four hours, the frosting should freeze solid and will prevent you from damaging any decorations.
Once frozen solid, remove the cake from the freezer and wrap securely in plastic wrap, then in aluminium foil. This should help keep your cake fresh for at least a couple weeks. A day before serving, loosen the aluminium foil and plastic wrap and let it defrost in the fridge overnight.
Bread
Once you’ve finished baking, allow your bread to cool completely, then wrap in plastic wrap/cling film and again in aluminium foil. If you like, you can also slice your bread before freezing so you can easily grab as many slices as you need without defrosting a whole loaf. We would recommend wrapping these individually, however.
Store-bought bread also freezes very well, simply pop it in the freezer in the bag it comes in, and this should stay fresh for a good couple of weeks.
Cookies
Whether it’s freshly baked cookies, or leftover cookie dough, it’s super easy to freeze for a rainy day.
After baking your cookies and letting them cool, place them in an airtight container, or stack them in a freezer bag with some parchment paper between each cookie. These can then be stored for up to 4 months.
For cookie dough, form the dough into balls and freeze them, uncovered, until solid. Once they have frozen, place them in a resealable plastic bag or freezer bag and store for up to 8 weeks.
Best of all, these don’t have to defrost, simply take out the number of cookies you wish to bake and pop them straight in the oven for a late-night cookie craving.
Brownies
In order to maintain the moisture, we don’t recommend cutting your brownies before freezing. Instead, wrap the entire bake in plastic wrap and then again in aluminium foil. When ready to serve, let the brownies thaw at room temperature before cutting them into individual servings.
Frostings
If you’ve got some buttercream frosting leftover from your recent cupcake project, or some cheese frosting from that delicious family cheesecake, you can also save this for next time. Simply place the frosting in an airtight freezer-safe container and store for up to 6 months. You can also store it in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
When ready to use, thaw at room temperature. We recommend using a stand mixer to re-whip it to its original consistency.
Royal Icing
Royal icing doesn’t freeze as well as frosting due to the lower fat content, however, it should keep for around 2 weeks in a freezer when store in an airtight container.
Other Tasty Freezing Tips
Don’t feel you need to stick to your cakey goods – freeze pizza bases, pie crusts, bagels, doughnuts, muffins, scones, shortbread, and anything else you have leftover.
Did you know many sugarpastes can be frozen too, including THE SUGAR PASTE? If you have large quantities and are concerned about the expiry dates, wrap the paste in cling film and store in an airtight container.
Got any tips to share? Let us know in the comments and share your cakey knowledge.
