Red Velvet Cake questions.
Saturday is my youngest sons 20th birthday and he has requested a red velvet cake. I got a really good looking recipe from the site The Joy of Baking. http://joy of baking.com In the instructions it states to freeze the cake layers for an hour before cutting in half. It is a 4 layer cake made with 2 9 inch cakes and cream cheese frosting. My questions are: Can I freeze it overnight? Will this compromise the cake? How long should I thaw it before cutting and frosting? I would like to make the cake Friday evening and do the cutting and frosting on Saturday afternoon. I am trying to get as much done in advance as possible.
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5 Comments:
You can of course freeze your cake overnight. It will do no harm to your cake. As for thawing, I'd imagine that's up to how much resistance you desire in your cake when splitting. I'd rather do it from defrosted myself, but I could possibly see the benefits of a partially frozen approach.
Here are a couple videos I found in 20 seconds of looking on the topic:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_usTjoHAAA
http://vodpod.com/watch/764909-flossing-the-cake
The second video really amuses me because that's how I do things in the kitchen. No real method, just experimentation and fly by the seat of my pants.
feriorrenna at 5:27PM on 07/30/09
I'm no expert baker........ but I would make the cake on Friday like you want and cover it after it cools....... then on Saturday put it in the freezer an hour before your ready to cut and assemble. Good luck. I just made one last night that didnt involve any freezing :) recipe from Paula Deen---very delish!
joylissa at 5:30PM on 07/30/09
A lot of bakers--myself included--would say that most cakes actually benefit from a stint in the freezer (tightens the crumb). Freezing it overnight will not be a problem at all, and is probably a better approach than leaving it out (to potentially dry) and then freezing just before cutting and frosting. Just be sure that the cakes are thoroughly cooled to avoid condensation and well wrapped to avoid absorption of odors.
I would take the cakes out a couple of hours before you plan to cut and frost. Mostly thawed cakes will work ok, but I have had less success when the cakes are more than slightly frozen.
I imagine that the call for freezing one hour before cutting is to get it to the semi-frozen state. Perhaps this is a very moist (ie., potentially very crumbly) cake, in which case, it might be too soft to cut and handle at room temperature.
Please report back on the results and how you like this particular recipe. I've been looking for an excuse to make a red velvet.
renzata at 1:43AM on 07/31/09
Thanks for all the help. Must say I feel alot better about making this cake. The fact that it can be frozen overnight is a huge relief. I'll let you know how it turns out.
finsbigfan at 8:38AM on 07/31/09
The cake came out fantastic! My son was very pleased with his birthday cake. Very moist and the cream cheese frosting was light and not too sweet. Froze it overnight and let it halfway thaw out before cutting. Only one problem is that you can't leave it out due to the cream in the frosting. Other than that I would deffinatly make it again. Thanks again for the help.
finsbigfan at 9:55AM on 08/02/09