There Ought To Be A Law

Dry cake should be against the law.  Maybe even exact a fine, too, for the perpetrator.

But, it’s not, so this crime against confectionary just goes on and on.

Why do I care so much, you ask?  It’s only cake.  To that I say, cake is more than just the ending to a celebratory meal.  Cake seals a fate.   What?  You don’t believe me?  Think about the couples you know who are divorcing.  Now, think back to their weddings.  Dry wedding cake, right?  I knew it.

Children’s birthday cakes.  Your child’s birthday cake.   How can you live with yourself knowing that underneath the cloud of billowy frosting is a cake that’s more like particle board patched together with buttercream.  This is the cake that holds the candles your sweet, trusting child is wishing upon.  What kind of mother are you?

You don’t have to live like this; making dry cake or worse yet, buying a round of sugary sawdust from your local bakery.  I’ll let you in on my secret to moist cake.  And, no, I’m not drenching the layers in a flavored simple syrup to fool you into thinking the cake is moist. All you get from that is a fraction of an inch’s worth of soggy cake.  Blech.

Bake your cake.  Remove it from the oven after it’s done.  Don’t over bake it, either, please.

Let it sit on a rack til you can touch the pan without dropping it like it’s hot.

Now, tap it on the counter top to loosen it from the bottom of the pan.  Run a knife around the edge if you must.  Turn it onto the rack, bottom up.  Place your cardboard cake round on top and flip the cake right side up.  You can trim the top of the cake now, or later.  I trim quickly now.

The cake will still be warm.  Very warm.

Now, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap.  It’s counter-intuitive, I know.  Just do as I say.

Then wrap it in aluminum foil* and put it in the freezer.  Don’t wait til it cools.  Do it now.

Moisture from hermetically sealing the cake rains down, literally, on the cake, providing extra protection from a normally de-hydrating freezer stay.  Just move it from the freezer to the refrigerator the the night before you want to frost.  A slow thaw is a good thaw.  And, we all know a cool cake is a much easier cake to frost, too.

Now that you know my little secret, you’ll never cause another republic to fall again because the coronation cake was dry.

* I save the aluminum foil and use it at least twice before discarding.