Hi!
I need to make 5 different flavors of cupcakes for a party. (3 dozen each). My question: Can I make the batter ahead of time and refrigerate it for 3-4 days before baking? (Perhaps in ziploc bags?) My freezer space is EXTREMELY limited, so baking them ahead of time and freezing is not possible. Thanks for any ideas and help in accomplishing this task. Flavors are: Chocolate, Pound Cake, Lemon, Coconut, and Carrot.

I would not do that. Some people might. You have to be careful of the leavening.

I would just mix it when I was going to bake it myself. You could measure out dry and wet and keep all the right stuff refrigerated and mix it at the last minute before baking. That's an idea for you.

I still need an idea how to get all these cuppies made and staying fresh....

Hope ya get your answer!

Thank you for the great idea of prepping ahead of time. That is a good idea Cake Princess and K8memphis! I am a hobby baker and just not that experienced in big orders!! If I baked on Saturday, could they sit out until Sunday @6? Two of the recipes involve a cream cheese icing, the others will have Buttercream Dream variations. Thanks again for all the help!

That is 6 pm.

If you don't have the space to store the cupcakes that need to be refrigerated. Mix the icing the night before. Then decorate those cupcakes shortly before delivery.

Thanks! I am going to try the lemon recipe today to see how it tastes and how it holds up. I am going to bake them today and make the icing, but finish them Saturday night. (For a luncheon at church).

Yes, absolutely you can hold cake batter in the fridge. I do it ALL the time. Bakeries do it ALL the time.

leahs,
PLEEZZZZZ tell me more!! I just made the Ina Garten Lemon into cupcakes, and from start to finish (including zesting and juicing the lemons), it took me 2.5 hours. They are not frosted yet! I just do not have this much time to do multiple batches for multiple flavors in one day. I realize some of you may be faster, but I try to be extra careful with my sanitation and measuring. Help!! I know I can overlap with more recipes, but I would be one more stressed out baker. How long can the batter stay in the refrigerator??

also note: I bake at home, so can only bake 2 pans at one time.

I would not recommend doing this.

Bakeries can probably get away with doing this if they are using stuff with preservatives in them.

Homemade scratch cakes would not have the same type or amount of preservatives in them.

As the previous poster suggested you would be activating the leavening agents if you mix the batter up so leaving it standing for hours let alone days would mess this up.

I disagree about the leavening. I made a double batch of our from scractch cake mix to try a couple of variations of flavors. After filling the cupcake fillers, I baked one flavor and refrigerated the rest of the batter. The next day, I added different flavoring to the base mix and baked those cupcakes. They all tasted delicious!

As far as the cream cheese goes, some people leave them out while others say you must refrigerate. We made some cupcakes with a cream cheese frosting here in central Florida. We frosted them and left them out on the counter. Days later they still tasted delicious and we did not get sick.

On the safe side, though, I'd frost them in the morning or afternoon of your event. As far as refrigerating them, I wouldn't. But that's me!

Paul & Peter

Wow, I am really confused now!! All I know is I cannot physically make all those cupcakes in one day from start to finish. There have been another 48 added on now. Paul & Peter, thank you for the info about your experiences. I know when I make a large wedding cake, I have to refrigerate some of the batter since it takes so long to bake those large layers. I really need some help here. I think I will take all the advice, average it out, then hope someone else weighs in on this!!! LOL!!! Banba, that is the cutest picture for your avatar!! Thank you to ALL the posters for their help.

We also found that doing swirls in buttercream on top of the cupcakes took no time at all if you had a consistency that pipes on easily. Also, the cupcakes seem to cool really quick.

Best of luck!

Paul & Peter

Paul & Peter,
Thank you so much for the added info and the good wishes. I will be doing swirls and then decorating a 6 in for the top of my cupcake stand I am making. That is another project I have been working on. I purchased the prettiest birch 1/2" plywood and have cut my circles. Since this will be a party at a cabin overlooking a river, I wanted it all to be natural. The separators between the tiers will be terra cotta pots I found that are narrow and 4 in tall. The edges of the wooden tiers will be accented with a ribbon that has pumpkins, leaves, and cornucopias on it. I am really proud of the stand. Again, thank you all for the help.

Sounds great...Upload a picture when you're done....We would love to see that one!

Paul & Peter

guess it sounded dorky to say the wood was pretty, but I love wood...........

I only bake from scratch. Have for 40+ years. I purposefully make up more batter than I need at any one time, so that I can bake at a moment's notice. It keeps for a week without a problem. When I worked at a bakery, we only baked from mixes and we mixed up enough batter on Monday to bake that day and hold for the rest of the week. Yes, the "double acting" baking powder first gets activated with water, but that's more of a proofing. The real rise comes from the second activation - heat. Seriously, you can hold batter.

leahs,
Thank you for coming back! Please don't think for one minute that I question your expertise. I know from reading all your posts that you ARE an accomplished baker, and one of the nicest people when it comes to helping. I am going to make batter ahead of time and refrigerate. Do you think ziploc bags would work to hold it? I find them very handy in filling the cupcakes. Thank you for all your help.

OK, I always thought mixing ahead was a no-no. But if Leah says it's OK and she does it all the time, I may have to re-evaluate my position... Interesting.

I freeze prepared pans of cake batter and various muffins...solid...they bake up beautifully at the same temperature as I normally would just for a few minutes longer.

Although I don't refrigerate my cake batter, I do refrigerate pancake batter which has the same ingredients as cake without adverse effects.

I've considered portioning out batter into cupcakes then freezing them, removing them from the pans and storing them until ready to bake.

all4cake: So you mix up your cake batter, pour it into, say for example 8" rounds, freeze it up solid. Then later, when you need an 8" round, you pop the whole thing into the 8" pan again straight from the freezer to the oven? Bake it up at same temp for a few minutes longer than usual?

Did I get this straight?

You got it straight...make sure you prep the pan...I spray, line with parchment, spray again. Portion the batter into the pan(s) I simply put a single wrap of plastic on each(more to protect it from any other items falling on the batter than anything else) and place it into the deep freezer. When I need one...pull off the plastic, place pan directly from the freezer into a preheated oven(whatever your recipe originally called for) and bake. I've not tried it with cake mixes though...only scratch recipes as that is what I use.

This was done as an experiment. I had had extra batter from a cake I was making. Instead of baking the extra layer, I did as described above. Then, several days later, I removed it and baked it. I had hoped it would work after working in a bakery that got their muffins in that way....portioned and frozen. Anyway, it worked. So, now, when there's extra batter and I don't feel like baking it right then...wrap and LABEL.

Very cool! There are lots of times I could spend hours in the kitchen...mixing & measuring & stirring & whatnot. But I don't want to run the oven. Or perhaps I have just enough time to bake but don't have time to mess around getting it all together!
I make my cakes from scratch. I really like experimenting with great new combo recipes.

I think I'll be busy tomorrow & just try it!

Do you find your cakes are just as moist or do youhave any issues with them raising or not raising? Falling flat? I mean, one could have those types of issues no matter what! But I mean from frozen batter!

I have had no problems so far...matter of fact, they rose more evenly when baked from frozen state. I don't know if it works with all recipes or not. So far, I've tried it with two types of white cake(one made with milk, baking powder, and egg whites folded in and one made with buttermilk, baking soda, baking powder, and egg whites folded in) and a buttermilk yellow(made with yolks, baking powder, baking soda, and egg whites folded in). I've not tried it with like carrot type cakes with additions....but it works beautifully with chocolate muffins and other muffins with all sorts of additions to them...so, I don't see why it wouldn't work with cake with them...I just haven't tried it yet.

Wow, this is one trick that I am definitely trying! Wow, just from this thread I learned I could store cake batter in the fridge and also in the freezer! Check it out, I learned something new!!! Thanks!