Storing blog
Nothing beats a delicious freshly baked creation, but do you sometimes find it hard to store your freshly baked goods? In this blog you can find everything about how to best store your freshly baked cakes, brownies, biscuits, meringues, almond paste, cupcakes, cheesecake, sponge cake, apple pie, royal icing, buttercream and enchanted cream.
Read more below!
Storing cake
A cake is best kept outside the fridge, because in the fridge it dries out. After baking, wrap the cake in tin foil and leave it on the counter. You can also slice the cake and keep it in an airtight drum, if you put a slice of bread in the drum the slices of cake will stay fresh longer and won't dry out. Of course you can also pack the cake per slice and keep it. You can also store the cake on a nice cake stand. A cake stays best for 2 days after it's been baked, after that it's still good to eat, but it will be a bit drier and crumbly. You can also freeze a baked cake. Just wrap the cake in plastic wrap and it will keep for 3 months in the freezer. As soon as you take the cake out of the freezer, let it thaw on the counter. It's best not to freeze cake batter, because then the taste and quality of the batter will deteriorate and so will your cake. You can keep cake batter for a few hours, you will notice that the structure of the batter will change if you leave it. You can use the mixer on the lowest setting and process it as usual.
Storing brownies
Brownies are also best stored outside of the refrigerator, as they will dry out in the fridge. To keep brownies fresh, wrap brownies in tin foil and leave on the counter after baking. If you prefer, you can also slice the brownies and store them in an airtight container to keep them fresh and creamy for a long time. Brownies are best enjoyed up to 2 days after baking, after which they will be fine, but they will be drier and more crumbly.
It is also possible to freeze a baked brownie. Just wrap them in plastic wrap and they will keep for about 3 months in the freezer. When you take them out of the freezer, just let them thaw on the counter.
It is also best not to freeze brownie batter. Just like cake batter, it will deteriorate in taste and quality, and your brownies will have a different quality when you bake them. You can store the batter for a couple of hours, but run a mixer through it to make sure the texture doesn't change. Process the batter as you normally would.
Storing quark cake
A quark cake will keep for about 2 days in the fridge, but if you want to keep it longer it is better to freeze it. Freeze the tart without decoration or garnish and preferably pack the tart in an airtight drum, a good tart tin is also good for this. The cheesecake will keep for about 3 months in the freezer, let it thaw in the fridge and then garnish it as you like.
Storing meringues
You can keep meringues for about 1 week in an airtight drum. Make sure that there is no moisture in the drum, because then the meringues will become soft. So use a tin or metal drum where the moisture between the seams can escape. Meringues are very fragile, so put them carefully in a closed drum. If necessary, you can add baking paper or sheets of kitchen paper.
Storing almond paste
Almond paste can be used for many recipes, e.g. for apple pie, butter cake, stuffed cakes and filled speculaas or for pastry letters and macaroons.
It is best to keep almond paste unopened, as indicated on the packaging. If you have an opened packet, wrap the almond paste tightly in plastic foil and keep it in the fridge. You can keep almond paste in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. If you have prepared the almond paste with egg, the storage life will be shorter, namely 2-3 days.
If you have prepared almond paste with egg, you can keep it in the freezer for 3 months. If you haven't prepared it with egg, you can keep it in the freezer for a maximum of 6 months.
Storing cupcakes
You can keep baked cupcakes for approximately 3 days in a good airtight biscuit jar. It is best not to keep cupcakes in the refrigerator, as they will dry out. When you finish the cupcakes with fondant or buttercream you can keep them a day or two longer, as the moisture in the cream or jam used to glue the fondant to the cakes absorbs into the cakes, keeping them soft longer.
You can keep baked cupcakes in a box in the freezer for up to 3 months. Baked cupcakes with a dollop of buttercream by FunCakes for example, can also be frozen very well, keeping them in the freezer for 3 months.
Storing a cake (decorated with cream or fondant)
A cake made of sponge cake and completely decorated with cream or fondant will be delicious for 2-3 days if you keep it in the fridge. If you eat the cake after 3 days it will be dry and less tasty. You do need to keep the cake in the fridge, or another cool place in the house or shed, in a good moisture absorbent cake box, most creams are a fridge filling so it needs to be cool. It is advisable to keep a cake in the refrigerator, or in a cool place, even if you use a filling that does not necessarily have to be kept in the refrigerator. Especially during the summer months it is recommended to do so to guarantee taste and quality.
A cake covered with fondant or smeared with, for example, buttercream is also very good for freezing. Put the cake in a good moisture-absorbing cake box, then it will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Leave the cake to defrost quietly in the box in the fridge, do not lift the lid to look at it. The moisture in your fridge can hit your cake and cause your fondant to melt.
If your cake is completely defrosted from the freezer, take the lid off the box and put it on the counter an hour before you are going to cut the cake, this way any moisture can escape and your cake will not sweat. If your cake does sweat, then you probably didn't use a good cake box, or your fridge is too humid.
Make sure the cake has no royal icing or sugar decorations, these will melt when the cake thaws. Also, preferably freeze the cake without muslin or other sprinkles, this is sugar with a paint coating and this will also melt during defrosting.
Storing cookies
Biscuits are best stored in a sealed drum, then the biscuits will keep for about 3-4 weeks. You can either keep them in an airtight plastic container or a metal container. In a metal tin the biscuits will stay crispy a bit longer because the moisture can get out through the cracks of the tin. In an airtight tin the moisture stays in the tin and the biscuits can become soft. You can also put a slice of bread in the plastic tin with the biscuits so that the moisture is absorbed by the bread, this way the biscuits stay tasty.
Make sure you only put one kind of biscuit in the plastic box, with different flavors and types of biscuits the biscuits can take over each other's flavor. Also, one biscuit may contain more moisture than another biscuit, making them soft and tough.
The general rule is that hard biscuits and soft biscuits become hard when they are old and then no longer taste good.
You can freeze baked biscuits, just make sure they are packed airtight before you put them in the freezer. You can keep them in the freezer for about 3 months.
You can also freeze biscuit dough. You can choose to freeze a whole ball of dough or you can cut the dough out and freeze it. If you freeze a whole ball of dough, wrap it tightly in plastic foil, then you can keep it in the freezer for 3 months. Then leave the dough to thaw in the fridge and knead well, then process as usual. If you choose to cut out the biscuits, make sure you place the dough moulds between layers of baking paper so that they do not stick together, and put the biscuits in a cake box. If you wrap the biscuits in plastic foil, the biscuits will stick when they defrost, so you won't be able to get them out from under the plastic.
You can also keep cut-out dough moulds in the freezer for 3 months.
After defrosting, process the dough as described on the packaging.
Storing a sponge cake
You wrap a baked sponge cake(with FunCakes sponge cake mix) tightly and almost airtight in plastic foil so that it does not dry out. Store the biscuit outside the fridge because it will dry out in the fridge. Use the biscuit within 2-3 days. You can also freeze a sponge cake, then wrap it as tightly as possible and airtight in plastic foil, then you can keep it in the freezer for 3 months. Take the sponge cake out of the freezer 2 hours before you want to start your cake and let it defrost on the counter. Then process the sponge as you always do with buttercream, for example.
Biscuit batter cannot be kept in the fridge or frozen.
*Keep in mind that if you have kept the biscuit on your counter for a few days, the shelf life of your final cake will be a lot shorter. Of course, the biscuit will not improve. Ideally you should eat the cake within 1-2 days.
Storing apple pie
An apple pie is at its tastiest when it is a day old, by which time all the flavours have been absorbed and the inside has become a little sticky. You can keep an apple pie outside the fridge for 2-3 days, but put it in a cake box or under a bell jar, or cover it with aluminium foil. If you put the pie in the fridge, you can keep it a day longer.
You can also freeze an apple pie if you don't eat it all. Wrap the pie in plastic foil and freeze it, it will keep for 3 months. Thaw the apple pie in the fridge before use.
Storing buttercream or swiss meringue buttercream (SMBC)
You can keep the buttercream or SMBC covered in the fridge for 2-3 days. When you take the cream out of the fridge, mix it on the highest setting for 8-10 minutes until the cream is smooth and soft. You can also freeze the cream by covering the bowl with plastic foil and placing it in the freezer. Let the cream thaw on the counter, and mix it when it is completely thawed with the mixer on high for 8-10 minutes until you have a smooth cream again.
In both cases, your cream may go into suspension when you start mixing, but don't panic! Just keep the mixer on the highest setting, eventually the cream will come out of the sift and you can continue to use and process it as you wish.
Storing Enchanted Cream (EC)
Enchanted Cream can be kept in the refrigerator for a maximum of 2 to 3 days, then cover the bowl with plastic foil. You will notice that the structure changes, it is a bit spongy. Just mix it with the mixer on high speed until you have a smooth cream.
You can also freeze enchanted cream, the maximum storage time is 1 month. Once the enchanted cream has thawed, mix it on the highest setting until smooth.