Life can sometimes become so busy. If you’re planning a birthday party any time soon, it’s a good idea to start crafting a checklist of things to prepare. Whilst you can buy cakes online, why not add a special personal touch to the celebration by baking a cake yourself!

Depending on how much time you have, you can bake cakes a few days or months before you need them. This way, you can have the chance to spend the last few hours before the party, either wrapping up the final details or taking a breather. To help you, here are some ideas on how soon you should make a birthday cake in advance based on its frosting and storage condition:

Unfrosted:

Cakes can be unfrosted until the day of the event. If you don’t intend to frost your cake until the big day, then you can bake it up to a few days in advance. An unfrosted cake that’s tightly wrapped should last for up to a week. To make sure it doesn’t spoil, first let the cake cool completely, as directed by the recipe. Then, wrap each layer of the cake tightly in plastic cling wrap, ensuring that no part of it is exposed to air. The cake will last for a week before they go stale – oil-based cakes tend to keep a day or two longer than butter-based ones. To keep the cake longer than a week, you can try freezing them.

Frosted:

If you want your cake to be frosted ahead of time, bake and frost it no more than 5 days before the event. The frosting acts as a barrier that keeps moisture in the cake and prevents it from drying out. This means you do not need any plastic wrap to store a frosted cake for a couple of days. Instead, you can just place the cake in a cake stand with a lid or in an airtight cake keeper, and you can leave it for 4 to 5 days. You can also put the cake underneath an overturned bowl, but just make sure that the bowl is large enough to avoid contact with the frosting. This would keep your beautifully decorated confection from getting ruined until the special day.

However, do take note that with Singapore’s hot and humid weather, your frosting will melt before a day can pass. Be sure to keep your cakes in the fridge so that your frosting and cake stay in tip-top condition. Refer to the next point to see how it’s done.

Refrigerated:

Refrigeration is necessary to prevent cakes from spoiling. Although you can store cakes safely at room temperature for more than a week, you should refrigerate them if you want to prepare them more than 3 days ahead of the event. To do this, wrap your cake tightly in plastic wrap to keep it from drying out or absorbing strange odours from the fridge. For layered cakes, you’ll want to cover each unfrosted layer separately. If you have already frosted the cake, place it inside the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes before wrapping to ensure that the frosting maintains its form. On the day of the event, be sure to get the cake out of the fridge and stay at room temperature for a good while before serving.

Frozen:

If you want to be way ahead in advance, you can bake your cake even several months before the event. Cakes can be frozen for up to 3 months, but the sooner you serve it, the fresher it’ll taste.

To avoid freezer burn, allow the cake to cool completely before storing it. Once the cake has cooled, tightly wrap it in 2 or 3 layers of plastic wrap, followed by another layer of heavy-duty aluminium foil. For future reference, write the current date on the foil. To prevent cake layers from becoming compacted, freeze them for at least 12 hours before stacking them. Be sure to thaw your cake overnight in the refrigerator before frosting it, as cakes thawed at room temperature can become soggy.

If you lack time to bake your own cake, you can just order a birthday cake online from trusted shops. When it comes to high-quality and tasty cakes and pastries, Polar Puffs & Cakes is a household name that has delivered time and time again, since 1926. We offer a wide selection of mouth-watering cakes that can surely delight your guests on your big day. From character cakes to 3D cakes, we offer everything you are looking for in a birthday cake. So, browse through our catalogue and place your order now!