A MESSAGE FROM THE

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THE DEEP FREEZE

The whole point of “Baking Ahead” is that you can get your cake layers baked early and know that when you’re ready to finish everything up, a day, a week, or a month later, your layers are waiting in tip-top condition for the party to commence. To do this properly, you’ll need to allow your cake to cool completely. My method is to leave the cake to cool in the pan for ten minutes and then I use a paring knife or small offset spatula to release the cake from the sides of the pan and turn over the layer onto a piece of parchment. If you release a very tender cake too early, it can fall apart. Those ten minutes in the pan help keep things together when you eventually turn out the cake. When you do turn it out, the cake pan will still be very warm, so use oven mitts or kitchen towels to turn the cake pan over.

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While the cake is still warm, remove the parchment from the bottom of the cake. Often, any browning will cling to the parchment, if it doesn’t, take a small serrated knife (a steak knife is perfect for this) and gently scrape any browning from the bottom and sides of the cake layer.

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Once the layer has completely cooled, gently flip the layer over. Often the browned portion on the top of the cake will have steamed off and will stick to the parchment. Whatever’s left, scrape off with the steak knife.

I like to torte my cakes before wrapping and freezing them. Slip a cake board under the layers and place in the freezer for 30 to 45 minutes, just long enough for the cake layer to chill all the way through but not so much that it’s frozen solid. This tightens the crumb structure of the cake and makes torting—cutting the layer in half horizontally—much easier and keeps the cake from shedding chunks as you cut it in half. (See more about torting on here.) Wrap each layer of cake individually in a double coating of plastic wrap and then wrap in foil. Freeze the cakes in a single layer; don’t stack them. You can assemble the layers, filling and coating them, straight from the freezer. Cakes well wrapped and stored in a stable freezer (one that doesn’t rise and drop in temperature constantly) can be left frozen for months.