ARe you supposed to refrigerate a decorated cake? That may seem like a silly question, but I need to know. One of Natalie's cakes came from a local bakery so it's decorated. When I've put them in the fridge before, they get a little moisture around the top of the cover and then I worry. Her party is tomorrow morning and I just picked it up an hour ago.

Do I leave it out on the counter or refrigerate?
TIA

By Cocoabutter on Friday, June 22, 2007 - 08:05 pm:

It's probably a personal preference. I do refrigerate all my cakes, but at the bakery in the local grocery store, the cake decorators leave them out. It also depends on what type of icing is on it. Sugar icing is okay to leave out, but whipped icing must be refrigerated.

By Amecmom on Friday, June 22, 2007 - 08:14 pm:

Refrigerate it and then just take it out an hour or so before you are going to serve it. This way it will be room temperature, but still be fresh.
Happy Birthday!
Ame

By Cat on Friday, June 22, 2007 - 09:00 pm:

We refrigerate store bought cakes just because we personally like the taste better when they're cold. When I make a cake it seems to taste better at room temp. Just my thoughts.

By Breann on Friday, June 22, 2007 - 09:06 pm:

I don't know what the rule is on this, but we refrigerate all cakes, because we like them served cold
Maybe you could poke a small air hole in the top of the container so that it can "breathe". Maybe that would prevent the moisture build up.

By Reds9298 on Friday, June 22, 2007 - 09:58 pm:

Thanks ladies! This is whipped icing, and with an edible image also and after posting I realized that I had to refrigerate just because of the image. I am going to take it out about an hour before serving though.

By Mara on Saturday, June 23, 2007 - 12:35 am:

Yes! Always refrigerate or even freeze a whipped cake with an image. The image will begin to blur into the icing if it is left out too long. Actually at work I always try to sway customers from getting whipped icing when they also want an edible image, because of the blurring problem. Reg. buttercream icing is fine left at room temp, but is okay to refrig./freeze too. Go ahead and remove an hour before serving. If the cake is going to be at an outside party I would even keep it in the frig longer. The heat will literally "melt" whipped icing.

By Mara on Saturday, June 23, 2007 - 12:36 am:

Also to prevent moisture build up in the container, just remove the cake from it's container and refrigerate it open.