Now, this is a question that not too many people think about. Someone at the reception will slip the small cake into a box, and someone’s mother will take it home and pop it into their freezer. However, many of those unthinking people will be celebrating their first anniversary by chipping ice off a freezer-burned, disfigured effigy of what once sat in bakery-fresh beauty atop their wedding cake, and, once it thaws, recoiling in horror from the “old refrigerator” taste; you can’t clink glasses and wash THAT taste down with a romantic sip of champagne.
It’s kind of sad to miss the opportunity to get a last taste of the cake from which you almost certainly don’t remember what that single bite tasted like a year ago, and to see its icing swirls and shells list sideways on its way into the kitchen garbage, kind of like a miniature Sinking of the Titanic, but without the loss of life.
There are some simple steps to avoid this–unfortunately, immediately after The Big Event, you’ll be off on your honeymoon and everyone else involved in it will be exhaustedly happy to have no more wedding-related chores for a while. Don’t let this happen to YOUR first anniversary.
First of all, have a designated person assigned to receive and freeze the cake: your mother, his mother, Aunt Betty. Second, whether a venue helper is going to do the dismantling and cutting of the cake, or if it’s being done by a friend, be sure that Mom or Aunt Betty knows they need to take a second to step forward and identify herself to the cake cutter. Third, be sure there’s a box on hand to protect the cake in transit at the end of the reception. A bakery box is too thin and flimsy. It’s better to have a sturdy cardboard box a little larger than the cake, which is open on the sides so the cake can be slid into it. Put a roll of masking tape into the box so that this loose side can be taped shut for the car ride to the freezer. If you have a fancy cake topper or a small arrangement of silk florals, it should be slipped into a plastic bag (because it has frosting on it) and sent with the top-tier guardian; it can be cleaned off and returned to you.
Provide the cake-preserver with the following information:
Upon arrival at home, take the cake out of the box and slide it into the freezer, being sure there’s enough room that the cake won’t be damaged on the way in. Walk away until tomorrow.
By tomorrow (AND NO LATER), the cake will be solidly frozen. Working quickly with long pieces of clingy plastic wrap, swath the frozen cake (including the cardboard on which it sits) in the wrap, making sure there are no openings to let in “freezer air.” Slide the cake back into its box and masking-tape all the open edges of the box. Return to the freezer as quickly as possible (the icing is quick to melt, and as soon as it melts it will stick to the plastic wrap.) This process will ensure that your cake is frozen while still fresh–but you want it packaged back up as soon as it’s frozen to prevent freezer odors from setting in.
To thaw and serve the cake, don’t make the mistake of just grabbing the box from the freezer and heading to the car; remember, once that icing gets a little soft, it’s going to stick to the plastic wrap. (If you forget this step, the icing will come off with the plastic wrap.) Instead, take it back out of the box and unwrap the plastic wrap while the cake is still solidly frozen. Slip the cake back in its box, tape shut and take the cake home for your private celebration. Once home, take the cake out of the box and let it sit for a couple of hours in open air so that any condensation created as it thaws will evaporate. The box it’s been frozen in for a year has probably absorbed its share of freezer smell, so if you’re not going to eat the cake today, put it in a covered cake dish–or cover it on the counter with your largest mixing bowl, or find it a new box. However, it’s not getting any fresher, and it’s best to eat it as soon as the cake is thawed and back to room temperature.
When it comes time to serve it, it’s nice to make a little ceremony out of it where you share a toast to no longer being “newlyweds;” hopefully you will have retrieved its topper to put back in place (if you had fresh flowers, you’re out of luck) so the little cake can be proud of itself as the center of this little ceremony for two. Happy anniversary!
(Final tip: many cake decorators put a “crumb layer” of thinned-down icing on cakes to keep crumbs out of their way, prior to the final layer, which they decorate. When frozen, this thinner “crumb layer” can become icelike, and the outer icing may fall away; just spread the icing back on the cake with small spatula or butter knife.)
12.02.08
