How To Store Leftover Coffee Cake For Ultimate Freshness

Coffee cake, be it a crumbly hazelnut coffee cake or a cinnamon orange coffee cake, is a favorite to make and eat because it is perfect for a morning meal or as a dessert to end an evening alongside a lovely coffee or espresso drink. But if you can't polish off your cake in one sitting, it's important to store it properly for ultimate freshness so that when you go to slice it up the next morning, it will be as moist and delicious as it was when you took your first forkful. To do so, you want to make certain it has a nice, tight seal to keep the cake moist. For this job, plastic wrap can do the trick. 

However, don't put your covered coffee cake in the fridge. This will cause it to dry out rather quickly — within a day in most cases. If you store it at room temperature, it could last for up to two days of nibbling. If you don't think you can polish off all the deliciousness of the buttery, cinnamon, and brown sugar coffee cake, you can always turn to the freezer.  

Freezing and defrosting your leftover coffee cake is pretty straightforward. Start by covering it in plastic wrap just like the previous storage method. You want a tight wrap so that no air can find its way to its crumb and cause the dreaded freezer burn. Put it in a freezer-safe plastic bag, and it should be good to eat for up to three months. While it will keep its freshness longer when you store it whole, if it is easier to slice it up and wrap the individual proportions for future eating, the storing method is the same.

When you're ready to eat it, place it in the fridge to defrost, but do not remove the plastic wrap. As it defrosts, that moisture will be trapped inside the wrap, and your cake will absorb it. You need a good eight hours for your cake to defrost properly, so try not to rush it.