If you don’t love cake, you’re lying to yourself. There are so many different types of cake batter and types! You’ve got chocolate, white, yellow, marble, strawberry. You can have pound cake, chocolate cake, yellow cake, carrot cake and many more – there are so many possibilities! If you are still lying to yourself then I guess you can leave now, because we’re going to be talking all things cake.
According to food historians, modern cakes, which are the classic round ones with icing, were first baked in Europe sometime in the mid-17th century. That’s right, cake has been around for a long time, and just like fine wine, cake gets better with age (because the technology and recipes have advanced… not because you can preserve it for years).
To simplify it, cake batter is nothing more than a mixture of dry ingredients like flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar, with liquids such as buttermilk or eggs. It’s crazy how the simplified version doesn’t even compare to the sweet taste of a cake. You whisk it all together and it becomes a little slice of heaven.
The question looming here is, can you freeze cake batter? The good news is that you can! We break down all you need to know about freezing cake batter, this way you can have your cake and eat it too.
Can Cake Batter Be Frozen?
Even though cake batter is typically cooked immediately after making it, you are able to stow it away in the freezer for a bit. I know, it does seem weird, as there are so many perishable ingredients that go into making a cake.
However, cake batter can last surprisingly a good amount of time depending on how to store it away, freezing included.
What Happens When You Freeze Cake Batter?
Although freezing is an effective way to store batter for a longer amount of time, it does come with flaws.
After you freeze your cake batter, your cake may not bake exactly the way you want it to. The batter may not rise as much, or maybe not at all, making the cake outcome flat and dense. But it may turn out fine.
The way it bakes depends on the type of cake, ingredients put in, time, and how you store it. If you make cake batter that contains oil, such as what premade mixes are made out of, those can freeze well because the oil paired with chemical additives in the mix help to stabilize the cake batter and make it last slightly longer.
Other denser cakes, such as Devil’s food cake and velvet cake, can freeze really well.
Can You Freeze Batter With Egg In It?
If you created cake batter with plenty of air in it from beaten eggs, it won’t freeze as well. Batters that contain whipped eggs shouldn’t be frozen because freezing will affect the texture of the finished product. The batter is likely to lose all the air that was beaten in it and will most likely have a tighter texture, not allowing the cake to rise very well.
The batter will still cook, but it may not be the consistency you’re expecting. If storing an egg batter in the freezer is a risk you’re willing to take, by all means, store it in the freezer.
How to Freeze Cake Batter
When freezing cake batter, the best way is to break it down into smaller portions. This way the defrosting method is quicker and it’s an overall easier process.
You can use either reusable freezer containers with seal-tight lids or freezer bags. Next, get an ice cream scoop and scoop the batter, placing it into each container or freezer bag. You’ll need to leave about half an inch of space in each to allow the batter to expand in the freezer.
Either seal those containers super tight, or try to get as much air out as possible out of the plastic bag and seal it tight. Think about it, batter is a thick liquid and can slide out of any open crevice. You don’t need a leak happening before it freezes and then a frozen mess the next time you open up your freezer. That’s also just waste a of good cake batter!
Cake Tin Method
Another method to freeze cake batter is by using a cake tin. This way, you defrost the cake batter and it’s ready to go stick in the oven. If this option is for you, make sure to grease the baking tin before pouring the batter into it and then wrap the tin and batter super tight in order to prevent freezer burn from ruining the batter.
Freezer burn is just going to taste icy and eventually turn into ice crystals, watering down the batter. We definitely don’t want that in our cake!
How to Defrost Frozen Cake Batter
When it’s time to celebrate a birthday, anniversary, holiday, or a random Tuesday and you want to take the frozen batter out to defrost, make sure you do it 24 hours in advance of baking it.
Transfer the frozen cake batter from the freezer to the fridge and leave it to thaw out overnight. It typically depends on how thick the batter is. Once the batter softens enough to that thick-liquid consistency, get a whisk or spoon and stir it up to make sure the ingredients are blended together.
From there, bake how the recipe normally says to. See? Easy as pie…or in this case, cake.
If the fridge takes too long, you can also leave it out at room temperature for a few hours to get a faster thaw.
How Long Can You Freeze Cake Batter?
If you store it properly, cake batter can actually last in the freezer for up to three months. Again, it depends on the type of batter and the ingredients in it. The denser, heavier cakes like that Devil’s food or velvet will last longer with the consistency remaining strong.
The lighter, egg-whipped batters meant for sponge cakes or angel food cake will tend to lose their consistency much quicker.
Can You Refreeze Cake Batter?
The reason I recommend freezing small portions of cake batter is that you should not refreeze thawed batter.
Depending on the cake mix, the batter can ruin the texture of the cake when it bakes, so double freezing it is just going to mess up the texture even more. You’ll be getting raw cake soup.
But wait, there’s a loophole. If you have any excess batter, bake another cake. No one’s saying you have to eat it (although it is tempting and you can, I’m not judging), but you can freeze the cooked cakes and defrost those at a later date. The ingredients are now already cooked and you don’t have to worry about it losing its texture for a bit longer.
Talk about icing on the cake!
Related Questions
Does Cake Batter Go Bad?
Eventually, all good things must come to an end, including cake batter. Cake batter will last longer in different settings, but there comes a time when you have to throw it out if you don’t use it.
The length of time of a cake batter that sits out at room temperature depends on the batter as well as the leavener being used, as well as what the room temperature actually is. And just because you can freeze cake batter, doesn’t mean it won’t go bad. Just make sure you store it properly and it will push the expiration of cake batter a little further.
Cake batter usually contains ingredients that expire quickly and can risk going bad. For example, eggs, cream cheese or milk. Therefore, you probably should not leave cake batter out at room temperature for more than an hour.
You can tell if cake batter has gone bad if you see a change in appearance. No, it’s probably not sprinkles. It is most likely mold. You can also smell to see if there’s a sour or off smell to it.
How Long Can You Keep Cake Batter in the Fridge?
The fridge is a shining light in the world of perishable goods. They give things an extra amount of life so you can enjoy them for a bit longer. In the world of cake batter, it can last in the refrigerator overnight or up to 48 hours and still maintain its freshness and ability to rise as if the batter was just made and put straight into the oven.
Just because it can last that long in the fridge, it doesn’t mean the cake batter will stop from losing any air that’s been beaten into it. The longer the cake batter sits, the more air essentially deflates from the batter.
Most importantly, if your cake batter is hanging out in the fridge, make sure to cover it with some sort of lid or plastic wrap. This will help avoid any potential drying on the top of the batter surface, therefore preventing some gross, hardened top pieces that will make baking a cake that much harder.
