I have two 12 x 18” sheet cakes in the freezer wrapped in plastic and in foil.  I did syrup them before I froze them.  They are Rose’s yellow downey butter cake.  The event I made them for was supposed to be sometime in the middle of March. ( I was going to use this cake for the March bake-off)  But now it has changed to May 11, 2010.  I froze the cakes around the third week in February.  So they will have been frozen almost 3 months when I need to use them.  Will they be ok?  I would hate to have to throw them out.

You’ve probably noticed that Rose uses the 2-month recommendation for freezing most of her butter cakes. That’s the optimum. But your cakes certainly would not be spoiled within 3 months. I doubt they would even have suffered noticeable changes in appearance, taste or texture. They’re well wrapped. The syrup would help, too. The figures I have from a government publication for average storage at 0 degrees F are 2-4 months unfrosted.

I guess I should have not made the cakes until I got a definite date.  OH well,  Just trying to get ahead of the game.  I will make up some simple syrup to have on hand when I thaw them.  I think from your calculations Carolita from an earlier post,  I did not have quite enough syrup on the cakes before I froze them, 1/4 cup per side (total of 1 cup).  All I can do is wait and see.  I’m not worried about my white chocolate mousseline, it is frozen as well.  I will make the bavarian fillings the day before I assemble the cake so that is taken care of too.

I think the cakes will be fine.  I wouldn’t worry about it.  If they are well wrapped you won’t have a problem.  I’ve used cake frozen for longer (about 4months I think) and there were no problems at all.

Thank-you both very much for your insight.

How should you wrap the cakes (not frosted) to freeze - what is “wrapped well”?
I heard to use saran wrap multiple times and then tin foil?

I usually wrap twice in saran wrap, then into a ziplock freezer bag…and I try to get as much air out of the bag as possible.  Everyone has their own method, I believe.

Two saran wraps ought to work well—they can cover each other’s limitations.
You can freeze it before you wrap in foil—just give it an hour or so.  This way, you can make the foil wrapping a bit snugger without harming the cake.

When I do foil, I:

1.  Take a long sheet—long enough to go around the cake plus about 8 -10 inches or so
2.  Put the cake in the middle of it
3.  Lift the short ends up so they meet and fold it down about 1/2”, over and over until it’s “at the cake”
4.  Then I take each side and fold the corners in and then fold, like I did the top, about 1/2” over and over, until it’s “at the cake”

I’m sure there are other methods that work just as well, though !!!!

—ak

Thanks for the tips!!!
i will try them!

To build on Bill’s reply…if you put the cakes in a ziploc bag after plastic wrapping them, you can zip the bag almost all the way up, put a straw in, and suck out most of the air so that it almost creates a vacuum seal.  I do this once in a while when I’m feeling especially anal!

That’s an interesting idea.
I will have to try that one day!
Did you ever think of getting those sealing machines in Target or Walmart- or does that have to much of a vacuum where it will actually damage the integrity of the cake structure?

I use the straw trick, too, when I double-bag stuff—it works really well. 

Did you ever think of getting those sealing machines in Target or Walmart- or does that have to much of a vacuum where it will actually damage the integrity of the cake structure?

People here use this and the big tip is:  Freeze first, then suction, and you should be okay, becuase you don’t risk “squashing” the cake.  I actually freeze before the straw, too, so I really put my all into it!

Thanks Anne