Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A

Hi, just wondered how long Mrs Jones vanilla sponge will last in an air tight container? I have a cake to make and sugarpaste for Saturday but can bake on Sunday or possibly Monday will I need to freeze it to keep it fresh? Thank you

Hi Maria44

Mrs Jones’ recipe does freeze well, however the following comment is what she had advised to another member in the past:

Mrs Jones
July 21st, 2015

“Good afternoon

Although you can freeze this sponge for up to 3 months, I would never serve a sponge cake to clients that has previously been frozen. I ALWAYS bake a fresh cake. Nothing tastes better!” Mrs Jones

This answer can be seen in the comments section under the Mrs Jones’ video tutorial. Mrs Jones also advises that if the cake is to be covered in sugarpaste and stacked, she recommends increasing the flour only, by an extra 10%. The additional flour gives the cake better structure for the weight of the icing. This information is also in the comments section of the video. I hope this helps, however if you need more information, please post again.

Ok thank you, what would be the earliest I could bake it next week to serve it on Saturday evening? Wasn’t sure when the bb date would be? It’s a 10″ and 8″ tiered cake so lots of baking and decorating to do. Also have a chocolate drip cake to do for the Saturday. I’m just starting out so all the helpful tips and advice are great, thank you.

Many thanks, Maria

Hi Maria

If I was doing the sponge, I would bake on Tuesday as the earliest, Wednesday would be better but Tuesday would be fine. Make sure the cakes are completely cold, wrap them up to keep them fresh. Start masking with ganache/ buttercream on the following day or even the same day if the cakes have cooled right down. Allow all masking to crust over before attempting to ice. A little simple syrup brushed over each layer of the sponge will add extra flavour and keep the sponge moist. Once the masking and icing is done, the cake will be encapsulated and protected from the air. It will keep fresh, leaving plenty of time to decorate and also to make the chocolate drip cake.
Keep posting if you need any more information 🙂

EDIT
Get ahead with the ganache or buttercream days in advance. It keeps very well covered up in the fridge away from stronge smells. That would be one job out of the way. Cover with cling so it touches the surface of the medium and expel as much air out of the bowl as possible.

Thank you, all very useful tips. Once the cake is covered in buttercream does it have to be stored in a container or is it ok to leave in the cardboard cake box until I can sugarpaste it the following day? Also like the sugar syrup idea, do you have a recipe to use with vanilla sponge and size of cake it would cover? Many thanks

Once the cakes are masked with buttercream, cover them with cling film and store in the cardboard cake box.
For the simple syrup you will need approx 240ml water, 240g sugar and one vanilla pod boiled together for a minute. Please do not introduce any cold implements ( eg spoon) into the syrup while it is boiling or when it is cooling as this will shock the syrup into forming crystals as it cools.
Cool the syrup down, split the vanilla pod in half and remove the seeds into the syrup. Use the cold syrup to flavour the sponge layers for the 10″ and 8″ cakes. A wide pastry brush is ideal for this job.
Put the used vanilla pod into your sugar jar to make vanilla flavoured sugar.

Thank you so much, I will get the decorations made then can bake midweek. I’m definitely going to try the syrup. Thanks again for all your help. Maria x