Can you make cake or frosting ahead of time?

There is usually a lot of planning, cooking, and baking to accomplish when you have a party or celebration coming up. It is really beneficial if you can do part of the job ahead of time. Savory foods are simple to prepare, freeze, or chill, but how far ahead can you create a cake?

A sponge cake may be made a day ahead of time, while a butter cake can be made three days ahead of time. If you freeze them, you may prepare these cakes up to a month ahead of time. You may create fruit cake five months ahead of time to allow it to develop, or you can freeze fruit cake for a year.

If you have a birthday or holiday party coming up, baking ahead of time is a terrific idea. The amount of time you can bake ahead of time depends on the kind of cake you’re making, how much decoration (including icing and other decorative components) it requires, and how you want to preserve it.

How Far in Advance Can You Make a Sponge Cake?

The first kind of cake to examine is the sponge cake, which is both popular and simple to make.

What Is a Sponge Cake?

Sponge cakes, chiffon cakes, and angel food cakes are light, airy confections with little fat but a lot of eggs, which makes them highly fragile. Sponge cakes are traditionally made with just three ingredients: flour, sugar, and eggs.

Sponges are too light to hold a lot of frosting, so they’re frequently topped with powdered sugar, a glaze, or whipped cream, like a Swiss roll or a Victoria sandwich.

Can You Make a Sponge Cake in Advance?

Sponge cakes should be cooked fresh on the day you want to consume them since they get stale rapidly. You can only prepare a sponge cake or cupcakes the day before.

But, you should not frost your sponge cake the day before. Add any icing, glaze, or other toppings right before serving, or it will seep into the cake. Sponge cakes are so named because of their texture and capacity to absorb moisture.

How Do You Store a Sponge Cake?

Whether or whether you have adorned your sponge cake will determine how you keep it.

Storing Undecorated Sponge Cake

If you make your sponge cake the day before, refrigerate it carefully to prevent it from drying out.

• Pre-baked sponges should be stored overnight in an airtight container at room temperature, not in the refrigerator, as they will dry out. Consider sponge cake to be bread, which you keep in a bread bin rather than the fridge.
• Just before you start embellishing, level the sponges.
• At room temperature, leftover simple sponge cake will keep for about a day.

Storing Decorated Sponge Cake

You may need to keep your cake differently if you have decorated it.

• You cannot create your leftover cake ahead of time if it contains wet ingredients such as fresh fruit, fruit compote, cream, cream cheese, or custard. You must adorn it and serve it. If you have any leftovers, put them in the refrigerator.
• If you wish to frost your sponge cake, make sure all of the sponge is covered with icing. The icing will keep it from drying out and will let you to store it for up to two days. If the buttercream is melting, store the frosted sponge cake at room temperature.

Can You Freeze Sponge Cake?

While sponge cake may be stored for up to a month, it is not suggested since frozen and thawed cake might be dry and crumbly. If you wish to create the cake ahead of time, follow these procedures.

• Cook the sponge. Cool the cake thoroughly on a wire rack. Warm cake will get soggy when the steam condenses and freezes as surplus water.
• Cover the cake with plastic wrap to keep the moisture inside.
• Cover the plastic-wrapped cake in aluminum foil to prevent freezer burn and freeze for up to a month.
• Thaw frozen butter cake in the fridge overnight or at room temperature for a couple of hours.
• Level the sponges only after they have thawed.
• Since the cake might get stale soon after freezing, decorate and serve it right away. Since frozen sponge cake might be dry, it is best served as a dessert cake with cream.

How Far in Advance Can You Make a Butter Cake?

If you’re creating a butter cake, your baking and storage timetable may alter somewhat.

What Is a Butter Cake?

If you start your recipe by creaming the butter and sugar, you’re preparing a butter cake, which has a little firmer texture than a sponge cake but is just as moist and delicious.

Butter cakes make up the majority of white, yellow, marble, and chocolate cakes. Cakes produced with oil, such as carrot cake or red velvet cake, are also included in this category.

Pound cakes, which also include coffee and crumb cakes, are the densest butter cakes and are often made in a loaf or Bundt pan.

Since butter cakes can withstand thicker icing and embellishments, they are often used for birthday and celebration cakes.

Can You Make a Butter Cake in Advance?

The good news is that butter cakes may be baked ahead of time since they keep longer than sponge cakes. A butter cake may be made two to three days ahead of time, or up to a month ahead if frozen.

How Do You Store a Butter Cake?

The icing dictates how you preserve your butter cake.

Storing Unfrosted Butter Cake

Follow these procedures if you wish to create your cake three days ahead of time and decorate it on the day of eating.

• Prepare the butter cake. Let it to totally cool on a wire rack. Warm cake will get soggy if stored.
• Cover the cake with plastic wrap to keep the moisture inside.
• Unfrosted butter cake may be stored well-wrapped or in a container for two to three days.
• Store your cake in a cool, dry section of the kitchen, away from direct sunlight.
• Unless it is very hot and humid outside, avoid keeping unfrosted cakes in the refrigerator since the cake will dry out faster and absorb aromas from other foods.

Storing Frosted Butter Cake

You may also bake and ice your cake, then store it for three days unless you add cream or fruit.

Unless your kitchen is chilly and dry, put buttercream or ganache-decorated and filled cakes in the fridge in a sealed container since the frosting is perishable and will slip off the cake and melt if your kitchen is warm.

• Refrigerate cakes with cream cheese frosting for no more than one or two days.
• Whether you used custard, cream, or fresh fruit to decorate the cake, you may only keep it in the fridge for one day.
• Let the cake to come to room temperature before serving.
• Refrigerate any remaining cake in an airtight container.
• Refrigerate your cake if it includes fondant frosting or sugar paste since the colors may bleed. Keep the fondant-frosted cake covered and stored in a cool area.

Can You Freeze Butter Cake?

If you’re very organized, you can bake and freeze a butter cake two to three months ahead of time. Several expert bakers advocate freezing cakes if they are made more than three days ahead of time.

Freezing Unfrosted Butter Cake

Follow these procedures to freeze unfrosted butter cake.

• Prepare the butter cake. Let it to totally cool on a wire rack. Warm cake will get soggy when the steam condenses and freezes as surplus water.
• Cover the cake with plastic wrap to keep the moisture inside.
• Cover the plastic-wrapped cake in aluminum foil to prevent freezer burn, then freeze for up to three months.
• Thaw frozen cake in the fridge overnight or at room temperature for a couple of hours. Do not attempt to defrost the cake by heating it.
• Decorate the cake and serve it.

Freezing Frosted Butter Cake

A frosted cake can be frozen, although it is not optimal.

• Frosted cake may be frozen by covering it in plastic wrap and aluminum foil, although the wrapping technique often squashes the icing. You may use a big, airtight container if you have one.
• Freeze leftover cake in airtight, resealable bags by the slice.
• Cakes containing meringue or cream icings cannot be frozen.
• Let the cake to fully defrost in the refrigerator or at (cool) room temperature. If required, use a dash of milk to smooth the frosting.

Can You Make a Fruit Cake in Advance?

A rich fruit cake, commonly created for Christmas or weddings, is the one kind of cake that must be baked ahead of time.

Storing Unfrosted Fruit Cake

Fruit cake has to develop for six weeks to five months, so prepare it ahead of time.

• Prepare the fruit cake. Let it to totally cool in the pan.
• Remove the cakes from the pans.
• Wrap the cake twice in greaseproof or parchment paper.
• Wrap in two layers of aluminum foil. Wrapping the cake immediately in foil will cause it to react with the fruit.
• To keep the cake moist, feed it once a week. Carefully unwrap the cake and brush it with a couple of teaspoons of alcohol, often brandy, rum, or bourbon. (You may substitute sugar syrup.) Rewrap the cake one more.
• Wrap the cake in a layer of alcohol-soaked cheesecloth before wrapping it in plastic wrap and aluminum foil. Once a week, resoak the towel and rewrap the cake.
• Fruit cake does not need to be refrigerated during maturing since the dried fruit prevents excessive moisture, which would feed bacteria or mold.
• After the fruitcake has reached maturity, cover it in plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator. You may extend its life by brushing it with alcohol on a regular basis.
• Fruitcake may be preserved properly for years, although it is recommended to consume it within a couple of months.

Storing Frosted Fruit Cake

Fruit cake is traditionally iced with layers of jam, marzipan, and fondant icing. Icing fruit cakes may be kept in a cool, dry area for months. They do not need refrigeration.

Can You Freeze Fruit Cake?

Fruit cake may be frozen up to a year ahead of time.

• Let your fruit cake to mature before serving.
• Cover the cake with plastic wrap to keep the moisture inside.
• Cover the plastic-wrapped cake in aluminum foil to prevent freezer burn and freeze for up to a year.
• Thaw frozen fruit cake in the fridge overnight or at room temperature for a couple of hours.
• Decorate the cake and serve it.

How Far in Advance Can You Make Frosting?

You may also prepare the icing and ingredients for your cake ahead of time. Nevertheless, any frosting using cream or cream cheese should be made on the day before serving.

Storing Frosting in the Fridge

Frosting may be made three days ahead of time and refrigerated.

• Place the frosting in a well covered jar.
• To prevent smells from seeping, press plastic wrap on the surface of the icing.
• Before using the frosting, allow it to come to room temperature.

Freezing Frosting

If you create the frosting ahead of time, it may also be frozen.

• Place the frosting in a well covered jar.
• To prevent smells from seeping, press plastic wrap on the surface of the icing.
• Let the frosting to defrost overnight in the refrigerator or at room temperature for an hour.
• To acquire the correct consistency for spreading, add a little milk or icing sugar to the frosting and whip it.

Final Thoughts

While most cakes are best cooked and eaten fresh, you may make cakes ahead of time. Sponge cakes can only be made a day or two ahead of time, whereas butter cakes may be stored for three days and fruit cakes for five months. Baked, cooled sponge and butter cakes may be frozen for up to a month, while fruit cakes can be frozen for up to a year.