I am entering a baking contest (well, two actually that are two days apart). The first contest I am only baking three items, but the second I am baking (potentially) 15 items. Normally I have a much better head start, but this year seems to have gotten the best of me!
Most of the items will be baked Thursday afternoon or sometime Friday to be as fresh as possible. Two items for Thursday's baking contest are also in Saturday's. One item is in the freezer (pound cake). My question is the second item. It is a chocolate cherry coke cake with two frostings (a marshmallow fluff frosting and a chocolate cherry coke frosting).
The marshmallow fluff needs to be put on the cake as soon as it comes out of the oven to help melt the fluff and make it spreadable. Then the second frosting gets poured over the top of the marshmallow fluff almost immediately. Instead of making a 9X13 cake, I made two smaller cakes. Both have been frosted and are currently in the fridge.
The one for tomorrow should fine (I'll pull it from the fridge tonight and leave it at room temperature over night). My concern is the one for Saturday. I don't think freezing is the answer, but I'm worried that too much time in the fridge will make the cake too hard. But if I leave it at room temperature for the next three days, will it be OK? Is that too long to stay at room temperature? (I live in FL so I'm used to keeping everything in the fridge to avoid humidity's effects.) The first frosting is just the marshmallow fluff. The second is cocoa power, butter, cherry coke, and powered sugar.
This question (How long can a stacked carrot cake be stored) is close as it asks about storing a stacked cake, but I'm looking for the best way to store a double frosted cake to stay as fresh as possible for three and a half more days.
Best Answer
You'll run into another problem when you take the cake out of the fridge -- condensation.
Air will cool when it's near the cake, and the moisture in it will condense on the cake, possibly causing odd dots when you try to blot it dry. (possibly smearing the icing, or the water could cause problems on decorated cakes with any variations in color)
You have a few options:
Chill the cake unfrosted, and then find another way to get the fluff spreadable. You might try warming it up in a double boiler. (note that it might adhere differently to a warm vs. cold cake, though)
Wrap the cake after frosting. If it's a hard frosting, this isn't too much of a problem. With your cake, I'd most likely frost it with the fluff, then let that cool. Before putting it in the fridge, then use a bunch of toothpicks with a blunt end, and put them in every few inches, so you can wrap it in plastic wrap (aka cling film) without the wrap touching the icing. If you can't find the blunt-end toothpicks, use ones with points on both ends, but cover exposed end with a marshmallow. As you'll be putting on a second frosting, that will cover up the toothpick holes. (normally you have to plan the toothpick placement so you can place flowers or other decorations to cover them). On the day of, take the cake out of the fridge but do not unwrap it until the outside has come back up to near room temperature.
As you're making smaller cakes, if you have a suitably sized cake carrier or other storage container (or find a cake supply store to buy cake boxes), that might be easier than wrapping for #2.