What Are The Properties Of Cake Icing That Affect How It Freezes? 

Some of the properties of different types of icing will impact how the cake will look and taste after it’s been frozen. 

Cake icing or frosting is a sweet, often creamy, covering that is spread over the top of a cake. It’s purpose it to add delicious dimension to the pastry and compliment the flavor of the cake as well as to act as a medium used to decorate the outside of the cake. 

It can be made from a variety of ingredients, including sugar, butter, eggs, and cream. Icing can be flavored with extracts or liqueurs and is often colored with food coloring.

The main purpose of cake icing is to provide a sweet, decorative finish to a cake. It can also help to keep a cake moist by sealing in the moisture of the cake itself.

The Different Types Of Cake Icing

Two of the most common types of cake icing are buttercream and fondant.

Buttercream is the most popular type of cake icing. It is made from butter, sugar, and eggs, and can be flavored with extracts or liqueurs. Buttercream icing is easy to spread and can be piped into decorative shapes.

Fondant is a type of cake icing that is made from sugar, water, and gelatin. It is often flavored with fruit extracts or chocolate. Fondant is rolled out into a thin sheet and then draped over the cake. It can be decorated with piped designs or cut into shapes.

Which Type Of Cake Icing Freezes Best

Both buttercream and fondant icing can be used on a cake you intend to freeze. Buttercream, ganache, and cream cheese frosting are great for freezing, due to their high fat content. Buttercream-covered cakes freeze exceptionally well. It can be thought of as an insulator for the inside of the cake and will keep your cake tasting fresh. Because of this, even a traditionally wrapped buttercream frosted cake can last in your freezer for up to 6 months. 

Unfortunately, royal icing does not freeze well and Meringue-based frostings aren’t suitable for freezing either. Glaze is another icing that doesn’t hold up well in the freezer so if you are going to use that to decorate your cake, wait to glaze it until it’s ready to serve. 

Why Freeze An Iced Cake? 

Whenever you have a celebration and plan to make food for a certain number of guests, there could be discrepancies between the amount of food needed and the amount of food made. Since it’s better to have too much food than too little when planning any party, this often leads to leftovers. Food waste is a problem all over the world so it’s a good idea to plan on saving leftover cake to enjoy at a later date rather than throw it away. 

If you don’t plan to serve or eat the remainder of your cake within a few days after you cut into it, it’s best to skip storing it in the refrigerator and freeze the excess portion of cake until you want to eat it. And since you can already anticipate the possibility of freezing some of the cake you are going to make or order, it’s a good idea to consider what kind of icing freezes best and tastes great after the cake is thawed out again.   

Freezing The Top Tier of Your Wedding Cake Is A Wedding Tradition 

Believe it or not, many engaged couples plan part of their first anniversary celebration before they even walk down the aisle. There is a popular wedding tradition that dictates couples plan to freeze the top tier of their wedding cake for a whole year so that they can enjoy it together on their first anniversary! 

This plan is usually considered before the baker even starts working on their wedding cake. According to tradition, before the wedding cake is cut and served to guests at the wedding reception, the top tier of the wedding cake is reserved and put into the freezer. A year later the cake is thawed out and the couple relive a small part of their wedding day by sharing a bit of the wedding cake to celebrate their first anniversary! 

When planning such an important milestone occasion, brides and grooms should think about the outcome of their wedding cake choices and determine which types of cake icing or frosting are the best when freezing cake! 

Avoid Freezing Frosted Cakes By Wrapping Them

In the past many people have chosen to wrap their cake tightly in plastic wrap or aluminum foil to try to prevent freezer burn. This compromises the look of the cake and can crush and ruin the delicate frosting and edible decorations. 

Consult any professional baker and ask how long a wrapped frosted cake will last in the freezer and you’ll hear anywhere from 1-3 months. Bakers want you to have the best experience when eating your cake so the time frame will be rather short because as time goes on, the flavors of the cake begin to degrade. The longer a cake is stored, the more the flavor will be altered by nearby items in the freezer. If the cake you are freezing was part of your wedding cake, a year later, your wrapped cake won’t likely taste as good as it did on your wedding day. 

Professional instructions on freezing a frosted cake are usually summarized in the following steps: 

• Place your decorated cake, uncovered, in the freezer until it’s frozen solid, about 4 hours. 
• Remove it from the freezer, then wrap tightly in plastic wrap and aluminum foil to prevent freezer burn.
• Stored like this, a decorated cake will keep in your freezer for up to 1 month. A day before serving, loosen the aluminum foil and plastic wrap and let your stored cake defrost in the fridge overnight.

Instead, Freeze Frosted Cakes With KeepCake 

KeepCake is a state of the art cake saver freezer container that comes in two sizes and fits most round layer cakes. The vacuum sealing technology allows you to extract the air from inside the container which helps to preserve the flavor and integrity of the decorations. The KeepCake system eliminates freezer burn and taste altering flavors that sometimes leach into frozen foods. Your air tight KeepCake freezer container will allow you to enjoy your beautiful cake up to a year later and still have it taste like it did the day it was baked. 

Additional Tips For Freezing Cakes With Icing

If you are using fondant icing, make sure that it is completely dry before freezing. If it is not dry, the moisture will cause the fondant to stick to whatever you wrap it in and make it difficult to remove. 

Label the cake ahead of time with the date so you know how long it has been frozen. Wrapped cakes with buttercream frosting will last up to six months while cakes with other types of icing can be stored in the freezer for up to two months. 

Frosted cakes frozen inside of a KeepCake air tight storage container will last up to a year without freezer burn or degraded flavors. 

When you are ready to serve the cake, thaw it in the refrigerator overnight. Bring it to room temperature before serving. 

Enjoy The Best Frozen Frosted Cake With KeepCake