Dear Frugal Upstate
Can cupcakes with icing on them be frozen??? I saw some really cute ones at Walmart for Easter and thought theyd be good to carry to work one day but not this week. Could I buy them and then freeze them to use later? I thought if anyone would know it would be you since you bake.
Brandy
Yes, I do like to bake. As a matter of fact each year I make my kids special cakes and cupcakes for each of their birthdays. They may not always look professional, but they are definitely creative! In the past I’ve made a Hamburger Cake, a Domino Cake, A Blues Clues Cake, a Pool Cake, a Construction Cake, a ‘Quilt’ cake, a Hannah Montana Stage Cake, a Barbie Cake, a Lego Cake, and even a Rainbow cake.
Despite all that, I really haven’t done too much freezing. Since I hate to give out information without research or facts to back it up I did search online to see what I could find out about freezing icing (frosting). There were plenty of mentions of freezing butter-cream frosting~but more along the lines of freezing JUST the frosting. I did not find anything I felt was authoritative about freezing pre-frosted cakes or cupcakes.
If you want my personal advice, and I’m guessing you do, I would feel comfortable freezing the cupcakes for later use.
Here is my reasoning.
#1-Just this weekend my MIL served a cake that had been baked and frosted (with store bought frosting) in March. It was perfectly fine-no one would have ever guess it was anything other than freshly frosted.
#2-Many folks freeze the top layer of their wedding cake for a year (or more if they forget about it!) and I have never heard or seen any problems with that frosting/icing.
#3-Many bakeries freeze frosted wedding cakes and then thaw them out in time for the wedding. As one site noted “You don’t really think they are frantically baking & decorating the cake the day before the wedding, do you?”
So I would feel comfortable freezing a buttercream frosting (which is what most bakeries use) or an icing like my homemade icing recipe. I would be more leery of a boiled icing or a whip cream based icing.
Readers, do any of you have experience/advice to offer about freezing frosting? We’d love to hear it!
Amiyrah says
My mother is a professional cake decorator and she always makes her icings in advance, especially in the summer(lots of birthdays) and around holidays. You need to have good Tupperware to do this though; it can’t havecany frost burn on it because that will effect the icing when it thaws. I hope that helps!
Amyrlin says
I bought cupcakes for my daughters class (of course here they have to be store bought with an ingredient list for students with allergies) SInce they come in a dozen the bakery dept person went to the freezer to get me a tray of frozen cupcakes, which defrosted in no time on my kitchen table the same morning. Completely decorated frosting and all!
ladybug's mom says
I echo the above sentiments. I needed some cupcakes last minute and when I went to the bakery at the grocery store, there weren’t any out. I asked the woman behind the counter, she disappeared and came back with two dozen from the freezer. She said that nothing is actually made there, it all comes in frozen, all they do is defrost the baked goods and put them out, they do bake the bread on site, but it comes preformed.
JoannaTopaz says
My great-grandmother kept her freezer supplied at all times with chocolate cake, complete with chocolate frosting. She brought it out whenever she had visitors (going to great-grandma’s meant eating chocolate cake), and it always both looked and tasted fine — if a bit cold. 🙂
Jonni says
Hi jenn,
I just found your blog through the comment you left on Amy’s blog (Living Locurto). I really like your saving money ideas and I also try to work hard at this concept. I see you are an upstate NYer. I am too, I am from Manlius, NY (a suburb of Syracuse). I look forward to following your blog. 🙂
Jenn @ Frugal Upstate says
Jonni-Welcome! I’m always thrilled to see “local” folks. I’m probably about 45 minutes away from you.
J Houston says
although I never froze my own (who can resist knowing there’s cake in the house?!?!) we did freeze our entire top cake of our wedding cake and a year later it still tasted great. just make sure they are well wrapped to avoid ice crytals as then they would get soggy while thawing.
FrugalCat says
Freeze them unwrapped for a few hours first, then take them out and wrap them very well with plastic wrap. Put them back in the freezer. When you are ready to use them, that extra step keeps the icing from sticking to the wrapping.
Jenn @ Frugal Upstate says
Great tip! Thanks so much.
dawn says
I’ve been wondering about freezing frosting,too,and I could never find any info on it. These tips really help.BTW,I’m in NY also-Orange County.There are more OCs than the one in California!
Jenn @ Frugal Upstate says
I always like to see a “local” gal Dawn (even if you are about 3 hrs away)
Maxine says
I agree with Frugal Cat, I have baked many cakes for family, friends and friends of friends. At times I would have seven cakes to do in one weekend and occasionally found it necessary to freeze them already decorated and iced. Just freeze them till icing is firm and then wrap in plastic wrap and then in heavy duty foil. No one will ever know. Buttercream as well as the creamy type icings freeze well. I also have made odd cakes too, like the Barbie doll, teddy bear, pizza, hot dog, all kind of character cakes and guitar and piano cakes. They all freeze well.
Brandy says
thanks for helping. you know 2 weeks back i bought a birthday cake out of the kroger freezer. i cant believe i didnt think about that. this helps alot. thanks again.
Jenn @ Frugal Upstate says
You are welcome Brandy, thanks for asking! I learned a lot myself 🙂
Charlotte says
Can you refreeze homemade frosting? I mistakenly took out more frosting then I will need and wondered if I can refreeze what I will need in a few weeks.
Thanks
Charlotte