Should I Freeze, Refrigerate,or Leave out Colored Buttercream

by Rachel
(North Carolina)

I am making a baby shower cake for my sister to bring to her workplace. I have four children (2yrs to 8yrs),so am trying to break up the process into size-able "after-they-are-in-bed" chunks of time.

The information on freezing cake layers and crumb-coating has been WONDERFULLY helpful.

My concern is that most of the hints I can find apply to wedding cakes...and I assume they are usually white or cream color. Can I do the finishing coat of COLORED buttercream on a cake a few days in advance of the baby shower?

I wasn't sure if I'd be able to freeze or refrigerate b/c I didn't want the dye to weep out of the frosting upon thawing/warming.

I don't know if I should just try and do all of the final work the day before, if I could do it bit-by-bit and leave out once the cake is sealed with frosting, or if I'd need to refrigerate it (and if that would cause problems with colored frosting).

I actually plan on using something between decorator's frosting and true buttercream (I don't like the taste of straight-up decorator's frosting, but it's August in NC and buttercream doesn't love the heat.)

Thank you!
Rachel

Lorelie's Response: Hi Rachel The colors in the buttercream should not be a problem. Unless you are using red and or black and lots of it. I assume you will be doing pastels for a baby shower cake.

There is a chance that there would be some seeping on a cake that is frosted and frozen and then put into a humid room. But you will be fine if you bring the cakes slowly to the temperature of the air. To do this you would take the cakes from the freezer and put them into the refrigerator until they are thawed. The next step is to take them from the fridge to the room temperature. Assuming it's not too humid you should be ok.

Having said all of that, yes you can frost and refrigerate the cakes once frosted. I would avoid freezing them once they are final frosted and decorated. I hope that helps.