Question about storing buttercream icing cake

Francl27
Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I'm sorry but Google failed me a bit, so I'm asking here... as I know you all know a lot about those things.

I'm making two cakes for my kids' birthday party tomorrow - both with buttercream icing. I'm just wondering where to store them overnight - they'll both be tightly covered in a box with lid. There won't be room in the fridge, probably... so my option are on the counter (it's 70 degrees in my house), or outside (it will be between 35 and 50 degrees by the time we have to take it there, it's on a table on back porch with no direct sunlight, but it will be 77% humidity during the night - would the humidity be a problem?).

I'm thinking of going with the porch, as it won't be too cold, but what do you think? We had a bad experience leaving a buttercream cake at room temperature last year (but it was during Summer. We were a bit dumb).

I've made cakes before, but never buttercream icing cakes (it's not really a thing in France), and always small ones that always fit in the fridge just fine, so it's new to me...

Thanks!

Replies

  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    I'd put it on the porch. I usually put such cakes in the fridge but if there's no space, I would put it in our garage during cool months. I likely wouldn't think about the humidity at all. In the morning you could open them up and blot a bit if necessary. Is there anything you could take out of the fridge in the morning and put in a cooler so you have room to put the cake in the fridge?
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,093 Member
    When you say "box with a lid," do you mean a cardboard box or a plastic food storage box with a lid that creates an air-tight seal? The latter, or some other air-tight contrivance, would be better. That said, the buttercream frosting should protect the cake layers from drying out overnight.

    Buttercream itself shouldn't suffer much from one night on a counter in 70 degree house, even at 77% humidity, although it's not ideal. Based on experience, I would expect the icing to start deteriorating after about a day at those conditions. Think about how soft butter gets in your house if you leave it on the counter. The sugar helps stiffen the frosting and I guess raises its melting temperature a bit, and 70 degrees isn't extreme, but with 77% humidity too, the frosting is eventually going to get "weepy," soften, and even melt a bit, but I don't think overnight (12 hours?) will have a very noticeable effect.

    Temperatures in the 30s and 40s on the porch might accelerate the stale-ing process (baked goods go stale in the refrigerator faster than in the freezer, assuming adequate air-tight wrapping), but as I said, the frosting helps prevent that, and of these two options, I think I would go for the porch.

    It's probably not a crucial decision -- the cake will probably be fine either way.

    Is the back porch off the kitchen? Could you put the cake on the counter nearest the door, and just crack it a bit? Or turn down the thermostat to 65 overnight and toss an extra blanket on the beds? Bonus: save a little on your heating bill, and possibly sleep better.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
    Make sure the container is airtight and then just leave it on the counter. It's best not to refrigerate cake because it will dry it out. I would put it in the coolest place in your house however.

    If it was going to be longer than overnight I'd recommend the freezer, but overnight it should be fine at room temp.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    I think for one night it will actually be ok even at that temp. We don't store cakes in the fridge as a rule over here (Ireland/UK), the frosting would get too hard.
  • oocdc2
    oocdc2 Posts: 1,361 Member
    I've got nothin', but do please post what you ended up doing and how it worked out! I exclusively make buttercream frosting for cakes (my husband has a corn allergy), and buttercream is delicious but so...temperamental.
  • stephylynn190
    stephylynn190 Posts: 33 Member
    Are you using a traditional American buttercream and is it a single or multi tier cake? If it's single tier then storing inside should be fine around 70 degrees. If it's tiered be sure to add adequate support for the upper tiers at that temp. I've read that using a buttercream that is part butter and part shortening holds up better in the heat than an all butter buttercream but I've never used it myself since I have a fridge exclusively used for my cakes. Good luck!
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    It's airtight containers and pure butter buttercream (well, with cream/milk etc). There's going to be one cake with two layers and one flat one.

    I don't think the container of the two layer one will fit in the fridge either way (and I don't want to leave it without any protection in there).
  • Pinkylee77
    Pinkylee77 Posts: 432 Member
    Butter cream frosting won't spoil over night. it is mostly fat and sugar
  • fishshark
    fishshark Posts: 1,886 Member
    as long as your house is cool it will be fine
  • glassyo
    glassyo Posts: 7,744 Member
    What's your address in case you leave them on the porch? :p
  • dubird
    dubird Posts: 1,849 Member
    As long as the container is air-tight, should be fine on the counter unless your house is really warm. If it's too warm (though i don't know what the limit is), it can start melting. We'd always have leftover birthday cake that would sit on the counter under foil for up to a week and it was fine. The icing would develop a little crusty exterior, but it was just as tasty so we didn't care.

Categories