Do You Always Bake Fresh Or Do You Bake And Freeze?
Decorating By tsal Updated 17 Nov 2010 , 5:26pm by Mama_Mias_Cakes
I'm trying to establish a viable workflow so that I'm not up until 2am every night caking.
If I bake as soon as I get the order (usually about 2 weeks prior as I'm still a hobbyist and doing cakes for free - but - acting as if they are real orders), I find it much less stressful as it gets close to the date, but do you think clients will view this as negative?
Anyone out there bake and freeze?
I always baked and froze as well- but only the Monday or Tuesday of when the order was due. Never more than that.
Freezing also makes the cake a bit firmer and easier to frost. 
I don't know why brides always seem to have a fit about having a cake that was once frozen....it's not like I'm freezing it for months or years...and besides, they eat frozen veggies, don't they? 
I work full time and must bake and freeze, otherwise I'd never get any sleep on the weekends! My cakes are always moist and well received and in my opinion, still fresh, they are usually only in the freezer for one to two weeks tops and wrapped well.
I had never frozen cakes before, but had an unusually busy week a couple of weeks ago (i'm not a business) so i decided to bake and freeze for the first time - 4 frozen cakes later, and all cakes get decorated and delivered. Then one lady asks if it's okay to freeze the cake after the party as they're going on holiday for a fortnight and wont get all the cake eaten before they go....erm no it's already been frozen, sorry. 2 of the cakes were for my niece's TWO parties, she got ill, both parties postponed - can we freeze the cakes....erm no they've already been frozen, arghhhhhh!!!! I ended up donating one of these cakes to the children's ward at the local hospital so it didn't go to waste! Still, on a positive note the cakes were lovely and moist!
Ditto on the bake and freeze. I work full time and a caker part time. I couldn't keep up with the orders and get some shut eye otherwise. Never any issues with the cake or the flavor, and they have all been well received. In fact, no one would know unless I told them.
I never used to bake and freeze until I found out that that's what most people do, and so I gave it a go. It allowed me some time to work on other things and having three growing sons (two of which are twin toddlers) this was great! I was the same as some people when I first heard of it, I couldn't believe it! But then I found out that there was nothing wrong with freezing, I was for it! Plus cakes are moist and easy to frost. I only freeze days ahead though, so maybe 2-3 days ahead. I do both, depending on how busy I am. Either way, cakes still taste great!
I bake and freeze too, but for me it's a matter of convenience, not moistness. I am not a full time caker. I have a full time job so I have to bake during the week and freeze for a weekend event. I usually bake Sunday-Wed, then make my icing Thursday, then decorate Friday. It's the only way I can work.
How about rolled sugar cookies and freezing. I freeze my cakes and sugar cookies without icing. Just wondered how many people freeze their cookies before or after icing and decorating. They can take a long time to decorate.
First of all, the opposite of "fresh" isn't frozen ...... the opposite of "fresh" is "stale". I dont' know how to "bake stale" so I guess EVERYONE bakes "fresh".
At my samplings, I would frequently have the opportunity to make a point. Sometimes I'd be out of a flavor and would have to bake a cake tht day for an afternoon sampling. A bride would ask me if I froze my cakes. I told her, "You tell me. 2 of these cakes were in my freezer for 2 weeks. one was baked this mornign. You tell me which one was baked thsi morning.
They always picked wrong. Twice. Always.
Freezing adds moisture and makes the cake taste better in my ever so never humble opinion.
I always bake fresh. I always freeze.
First of all, the opposite of "fresh" isn't frozen ...... the opposite of "fresh" is "stale". I dont' know how to "bake stale" so I guess EVERYONE bakes "fresh".
At my samplings, I would frequently have the opportunity to make a point. Sometimes I'd be out of a flavor and would have to bake a cake tht day for an afternoon sampling. A bride would ask me if I froze my cakes. I told her, "You tell me. 2 of these cakes were in my freezer for 2 weeks. one was baked this mornign. You tell me which one was baked thsi morning.
They always picked wrong. Twice. Always.
Freezing adds moisture and makes the cake taste better in my ever so never humble opinion.
I always bake fresh. I always freeze.
Indydebi
Please explain how you wrap your cakes! I haven't tried freezing a cake yet because I was afraid it would taste like freezer burn!
Then how long does it have to sit out before you can frost it? Do you keep it wrapped while thawing? Thanks!
I dont' overthink it. I only use commercial grade saran wrap (you can get it at sam's) because that crap in the grocery store is .... well ..... crap.
I wrap the cake once in saran .... just one layer of saran .... and toss it in the freezer. No add'l layer of press-n-seal, no double wrapping in alum foil, no putting in a plastic bag. Just throw it in the freezer in a single layer of saran. To thaw, I take it out and toss it on the counter. Leave it wrapped. cakes will thaw in 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the size.
I dont' overthink it. I only use commercial grade saran wrap (you can get it at sam's) because that crap in the grocery store is .... well ..... crap.
I wrap the cake once in saran .... just one layer of saran .... and toss it in the freezer. No add'l layer of press-n-seal, no double wrapping in alum foil, no putting in a plastic bag. Just throw it in the freezer in a single layer of saran. To thaw, I take it out and toss it on the counter. Leave it wrapped. cakes will thaw in 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the size.
Indydebi...thank you for the simplicity of it all! I'd been wrapping in plastic, foil, then freezer bag. Your method is much easier. Thank you!
Thanks indydebi for the explanation. I use about 3 layers of 'crap' (LOL) just to make sure the cakes do not get freezer burned. I have a small cake for Wednesday. I plan on baking Saturday and freezing until Tuesday when I am ready to decorate.
My cakes are always fresh...and I always freeze them! I do however wrap more than once...primarily because there is a subtle 'freezer smell' in my particular freezer that I don't want being absorbed into my cake. I've cleaned and baking soda'd but it's there...and it's not noticeable until something has been in there for very long. So I don't take a chance. I double wrap.
Freezing adds moisture and makes the cake taste better in my ever so never humble opinion.
I always bake fresh. I always freeze.
Ditto!
Always bake & freeze. That is my method for super moist cakes! Also helps with production load. I work a day job and own a dance studio so my pockets of time are limited. So I bake on a certain day of each week, freeze the cakes, make icing and decorate the day of. If I have gumpaste flowers or other items that must be produced in stages and need drying, I do those also during those pockets of time and make sure I have enough time to let them dry.
I usually don't freeze my cakes before decorating. For weekend events I usually bake on Thursday (sometimes on Wednesday and Thursday) and wrap my cooled cakes in plastic wrap, make my frostings on Thursday and decorate on Friday and/or Saturday depending on the event time.
I have on occasion frozen after decorating (buttercream only) for the convenience of my client because they were going to be traveling with the cake. Furthest "delivery" to date was 978 miles and the cake arrived in perfect condition.
Today for me it's; Baking Wednesday (then freeze), Buttercream Thursday ( I fill and frost my cakes), Fondant Fridays ( make the fondant) Then I proceed (after a couple of hours) to cover the cakes and decorate. After baking the cakes, I don't keep them in the freezer for weeks or months. It's only one day. I consider my cakes fresh.
I had never frozen cakes before, but had an unusually busy week a couple of weeks ago (i'm not a business) so i decided to bake and freeze for the first time - 4 frozen cakes later, and all cakes get decorated and delivered. Then one lady asks if it's okay to freeze the cake after the party as they're going on holiday for a fortnight and wont get all the cake eaten before they go....erm no it's already been frozen, sorry. 2 of the cakes were for my niece's TWO parties, she got ill, both parties postponed - can we freeze the cakes....erm no they've already been frozen, arghhhhhh!!!! I ended up donating one of these cakes to the children's ward at the local hospital so it didn't go to waste! Still, on a positive note the cakes were lovely and moist!
I nearly always freeze my cakes for a few days (before decorating) as it seems to improve the texture. One time I had to re-freeze a cake after it had been decorated, and when defrosted a week later it was perfectly fine!....couldn't tell the difference from the cakes frozen once. I suppose this might not work with every type of cake ......this was the Hershey's recipe.
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