Pop Warm Cake In The Freezer For Extra Moist Results

You've just pulled a delicious buttery chocolate and miso cake out of the oven, and it's piping hot. The sweet aroma fills your kitchen, and you wish this dessert-heaven moment would last forever. Before you go on to cooling down the cake completely at room temperature, we've got a trick up our sleeves to make your cake extraordinarily moist: pop it in the freezer while it's still warm. Yes, go ahead and freeze that cake. The reason and science behind this are simple: freezing a warm cake traps heat and steam within the cake layers, which helps it retain moisture, resulting in a mouth-watering, soft texture.

There are two ways you can pop warm cake in the freezer for extra moist results. The first way is once the cake pan is cool enough to handle but still warm, run a butter knife along the edges of the cake. Then cover the cake pan, and aluminum foil or saran wrap will suffice. Place the covered cake pan into the freezer and freeze for six to 24 hours. 

The second way is to, once again, wait until the cake pan becomes cool enough to handle. Run a butter knife along the edges of the cake and remove the cake from the cake pan, directly onto a large piece of plastic or saran wrap. Cover and place the cake on top of a cake cardboard while in the freezer. The cardboard will help the cake remain flat-bottomed while in the freezer.

When you're ready to remove the cake from the freezer, opt for thawing your cake while it's still wrapped; this way, most of the condensation accumulates on the inside of the wrap rather than on the cake itself. You can blot any condensation that appears on the cake surface with a clean paper towel or lint-free kitchen towel. After thawing for about 30 minutes at room temperature, you can start leveling, stacking, and frosting your cake. 

Since it's okay to freeze a warm cake, you may wonder if the same goes for refrigerating a cake straight out of the oven. Here's why you shouldn't store the cake in the fridge: Refrigeration can sap your cake of its much-valued moisture due to the circulating air in the refrigerator and the evaporators that remove humidity. Hence, if you refrigerate freshly baked cakes, they will dry out fast. Additionally, refrigerated unfrosted cakes can absorb other food odors, compromising flavor.

Hence, nothing beats the freeze-then-thaw method for an unfrosted, freshly baked cake for ultimate moisture retention and flavor preservation. Once you've thawed and frosted your cake, store any leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to four days for optimal freshness. After that, you can move it to the fridge, but make sure it's well-covered to minimize the drying effects of the cold air. This multi-step process ensures your cake remains delectably moist and flavorful from the first slice to the last.