Preserve Your Cake And Eat It Too!

When elaborate three-tiered wedding cakes became popular in the late 19th century, the bottom tier was served during the reception, the middle tier was given to guests to place under their pillows (to promote fertility), and the top tier was often left over. This gave rise to the idea of saving the top tier to be served as a sweet remembrance to be enjoyed on a couple’s one-year anniversary – a tradition that still remains alive! And a stale cake is no way to remember your perfect wedding day.

Just follow these simple tips to preserve the top tier of your wedding cake for a year: 

♡ Step 1: Choose

Sneha Bhatia, Sugaholic’s Co-founder and Cake Designer, recommends choosing cakes with marzipan or royal icing. Cakes with fondant will not stand the test of time.

♡ Step 2: Prepare

Ask a member of the hotel’s/wedding venue’s F&B team to ensure the top tier of the cake is well chilled on the night of the wedding and the cake topper (if you have one) is taken off.  

♡ Step 3: Chill

Place the cake in the refrigerator without any wrappings for 1- to 2-hours or until the icing is firm to the touch.  

♡ Step 4: Freezer burn protection

Wrap the cake in two layers of plastic wrap, keeping the wrap close to the body of the cake and making sure that there are no gaps/tears that will allow air in or out to protect the cake from a freezer burn.  

♡ Step 5: Encasement

Place your cake in a box and wrap with plastic wrap a second time.  The box physically protects your cake from tears, dents, and smells from neighboring items. 

♡ Step 6: Deep Freeze

Wrap the entire box in foil for extra protection and place in your freezer undisturbed for 362 days. 

♡ Step 7: Defrost

On the eve of your anniversary, your cake is ready to be defrosted. It is vital you completely remove all the plastic wraps and foil while it is still frozen. (Don’t worry if the wrapping smells like the freezer, the cake will taste fresh.) Then, place the cake on a plate and let it defrost overnight in the fridge. The next day, all you need to do is slice the cake and enjoy. Happy Anniversary!

The cake may not taste exactly the same as on your wedding day, because let’s face it, it’s a year-old cake, but it’ll come pretty close. So there you have it: history, tradition and food preservation all in seven simple steps. A piece of cake.

Looking for more wedding planning tips & advice? Click here.