Hi everybody! I am going to make what is a verrrrrry long, frustrating story into a very short one, so that I might go drown my sorrows in a cool glass of Chardonnay when I’m finished with this post. 

I started making a simple red velvet cake recipe today.

Our oven didn’t preheat correctly, right around the same moment that our central AC went on the fritz. (It was 97 degrees outside.)

I covered the batter, already in the 9x13 pan, and plopped it in our fridge while we tried to get to the bottom of the oven and AC problems (thinking by some chance it was just a blown fuse and we’d be able to fix it quickly and my cake would be baked in sweet air conditioned bliss in no time.)

Both problems are still unresolved, 6 hours later.

Is the batter in the fridge a wash? Any way I can redeem it? If the oven were by some miracle to be fixed tomorrow, I suppose I will just toss it in and see what happens. Beyond that, should I just dump it?

So sad. I used some reeeeally good cocoa in there.  :(

Thanks all, and hope you’re staying cool this lovely summer’s evening.

Amy

HOWDYAMY:
  Good Sunday morning to you & welcome to our baking forum. I am sorry to learn of this energy problem as you described.
I cannot be certain…I believe your cake batter will survive in the fridge. There are 2 items that you will address.
  The baking soda (if using) may need to be replenished because when it is in a moist batter it begins to do it’s thing, & disappear.
The other item is this if you have a acidic ingredient in your batter it will have a tendency to cook other ingredients somewhat….to what extent ,when you are ready to bake re~mix the batter with a spatula & observe small lumps if any & remove.
Consider adding a small amount of soda if your recipe required it.
  Other than that have another glass of wine while it is baking…I do not if that chore will help your baked product or not. However Amy, if you should 3 glasses then your cake will look perfect. (LOL).
  Good luck & enjoy the rest of the day young lady.

  ~FRESHKID.

Hi howdyamy - Rose suggests storing unused batter, in the baking pan, in the fridge, for the best rise.  I’ve only done this for an hour or so, so I don’t know how your cake will turn out, but I’d go ahead and give it a try before throwing the batter away.

Patrincia - 28 June 2009 09:48 PM

I’d go ahead and give it a try before throwing the batter away.

I would do the same thing. Think of it as an experiment. Let us know how it turns out if you try it.

Hi everyone! Just an update that I actually put the cake in the oven today (a full 48 hours after the batter was made.) I first let it get a little closer to room temperature, removed it from the pan and added the amount of baking soda the recipe originally called for. It baked up about 10 minutes quicker than I’d say it normally would have, and was a tad on the dry side. But other than that, it was edible and will make some lovely cake balls, I think!

Thanks for all the support and suggestions! All in all, definitely not a fun experiment. I’m just glad my oven’s working again. 

Amy, I’m glad your oven working again. Thanks for letting us know how the cake turned out. I was very curious to know the outcome.