Is it possible to freeze a cake and how to do it correctly

Frozen cakes are not new, but they still raise eyebrows among many. What it is? How is this different from an ordinary cake from a display case? And is it possible to freeze a cake made in your home kitchen?

Storing cakes in this frozen form is only necessary for one thing - to extend their shelf life. Thus, it can be increased from 2-3 days to several weeks or even months.

Theoretically, a thawed cake will be practically no different from the delicacy prepared the day before serving. Although, in principle, changes are possible. For example, some types of shortcrust pastry after defrosting are perceived as moister and less crumbly.

Which cakes can be frozen and which cannot - table

Whether a cake is suitable for freezing or not basically depends on its filling and the products used for decoration. And all the rules can be presented in the form of the following table.

In addition, contrary to popular myth, mousse and puff cakes, like Napoleon, tolerate freezing well.

As for the cake base, almost all its varieties tolerate freezing well. And some get even better.Examples include coconut biscuits and red velvet.

How to freeze a cake

The first step is to cool the cake. To do this, you do not need to put it in the refrigerator, but at room temperature the dessert should cool completely.

You can freeze not only fully assembled cakes, but also semi-finished products prepared for them, that is, cake layers. In this case, you can always have preparations on hand, from which you can assemble desserts as needed, following your changing desires. For example, you can have this semi-finished cake:

• garnish with frozen berries;
• add mastic lace;
• cover with lush waves of buttercream;
• sprinkle with colored sprinkles.

Interestingly, blast freezing is often used in the industrial production of cakes. Due to the fact that the dessert is exposed to very low temperatures, its shelf life is significantly extended.

But in principle, this is not at all necessary for homemade cakes. You just need to put the cake in the freezer. The temperature in this compartment of the refrigerator (or in a separate cooling kitchen device) should be lower - 18 ° C at the time of freezing the cake and its further storage.

Naturally, you can also freeze the cake not entirely, but after carefully cutting it into portioned pieces.

Important! It is contraindicated to freeze a cake in the freezer if foods with a strong odor, such as fish, are stored there along with it. In addition, in terms of maintaining good hygienic conditions in the kitchen, it is not recommended to keep meat or raw mushrooms near the cake.

How to defrost a cake

The general rule is that the cake should never be defrosted in the room.An excessively warm temperature can not only make the dessert “float”, but will also not allow it to be stored for a long time. This is especially true for delicate cakes - mousse cakes, prepared with whipped cream.

A universal option is to move the cake from the freezer compartment of the refrigerator to a compartment where the temperature is maintained within +2...+5°C. Here, in 2-6 hours, it will naturally and without harming it come to a state where it can finally be served. The exact defrosting time depends on the specific size and composition of the cake.

A common problem when defrosting a cake is condensation. To solve it, firstly, you need to:

1. After moving the cake from the freezer to the refrigerator compartment, remove the dessert from the plastic lid, foil or film. This way condensation will occur in much smaller quantities.
2. During the first 1-2 hours of thawing the cake, droplets of moisture should be periodically removed from its surface with the slightest movements, using a paper towel.
3. Leave the cake to continue to thaw unattended - condensation should no longer form once the dessert has begun to fully thaw.

Note! Even if defrosting is not complete, the cake cannot be re-frozen. Moving to a warmer environment literally nullifies the shelf life that would have been possible for it to be stored in a freezer.

To summarize, we can say that the answer to the question of whether a cake can be frozen is the answer - yes, almost all cakes can be frozen.Storing this dessert in the freezer allows you to enjoy something that looks like it was just prepared at any time! The main thing is to follow simple rules on how to properly cool it and return it to edible form.