Angel food cake is a crowd pleaser, with a lovely fluffy texture and a light sponge, perfect for children and adults alike.
It’s very easy to make too much angel food cake, especially if your household has unpredictable appetites.
While you can freeze some types of baked goods very well, like brownies and Victoria sponge cakes, what about angel food cake?
Throwing out cake would be the worst case scenario, but this article will provide you with some tips and tricks to see the cake saved for later, and then eaten when you want, rather than wasted.
Luckily, you can absolutely freeze angel food cake (see also Freezing Carrot Cake). But you’ll need to be quick.
How To Get Angel Food Cake To Freeze Right The First Time
Because it doesn’t contain butter, or a lot of emulsifying agents, angel food cake does go stale quicker than cakes which have a higher moisture content, leaving the cake dry, and disappointing.
Freeze it as soon as it’s cool enough to do so, and this will help ensure that the cake keeps as much moisture as possible, leaving it soft.
The texture of angel food cake is much lighter than other types, and a lot softer. Because of this, it’s fairly delicate.
If you can, freeze angel food cake (see also Freezing Sponge Cake) without icing or heavy toppings, which could cause it to collapse in the freezer.
How Do You Freeze Angel Food Cake?
How To Freeze Angel Food Cake Whole
If you’re planning a party, and you want to do all the food preparation ahead of time, freezing a whole angel food cake is a great way of taking some of the stress out.
Take the cake out of the tin and let it cool on a wire rack.
Don’t add any toppings, cream, fruit, or anything else. You can do that once it’s defrosted.
Simply wait until the angel food cake is completely cool, and wrap it in a double layer of cling film or foil, making sure that it is airtight. Transfer the cake into a freezer-safe container.
Seal it tightly, label it if you need to, and freeze it.
When it comes to taking it out of the freezer, if you want the cake to look uniform, you can use a whole cake slicer while it’s frozen, and this will stop the cake from crumbling as it’s sliced.
Although, this will make it more difficult to decorate it, so you may want to wait.
How To Freeze Angel Food Cake In Portions
If the space in your freezer is limited, or you don’t fancy trying to eat the whole cake at once, it is worth freezing the cake in single portion-sized slices.
Divide up the cake as you want, and then wrap each slice in two layers of cling wrap, making sure that it’s airtight.
Transfer the slices into a large, heavy-duty freezer bag. Make sure to get rid of any excess air without squashing the cake, and seal it. Label the bag, and put it inside a container that won’t bend in the freezer.
This will ensure that the cake doesn’t get squashed by anything heavier while it’s in the freezer, especially if you forget about it!
Once it’s frozen, you can keep it in the freezer for a maximum of 6 months. To enjoy the angel food cake at its best, use it within 3 months of freezing, preferably the sooner, the better.
How To Defrost Angel Food Cake
When it comes to defrosting angel food cake, simply take out as many slices of the cake as you need, and transfer it onto a plate in the fridge.
Once it’s fully thawed, serve the cake immediately.
If you’re defrosting the whole cake, remove it from the freezer and let it defrost in the fridge overnight. Once it’s fully thawed, decorate it as you like, and serve it immediately.
If the cake is a little drier than you’d like, you can fix this by adding fruit such as pineapple (see also Can You Freeze Pineapple) and cream on the side, which will help add some moisture back into the cake.
Don’t refreeze thawed angel food cake, as it will become much drier, making it practically inedible, and a disappointing dessert.
If you’re not looking at freezing angel food cake for more than two months, why not just keep it in the fridge? If you wrap it in cling wrap, it will last a week without any problems.
It’s always a good practice to get in to make sure to check that the cake is still edible before you serve it.
While it’s probably fine, sometimes things can go wrong. Have a close look at the cake, if it looks the same, doesn’t smell odd, or isn’t moldy, you’re good to go.
Conclusion
Freshly made angel food cake doesn’t last very long, so freezing it is a great way of saving it for later, or preparing for a future party.
