I admit it. I love both ice cream and cake. Who doesn’t? When my birthday rolls around, I always tell my wife not to trouble herself with baking a “real” cake. Instead, we just pick up perhaps the greatest creation ever; an ice cream cake. But how do you thaw it and make sure it’s perfect at party time?
The best way to thaw an ice cream cake is to place it in the refrigerator for about 40 minutes. If in a hurry, you can put it on the counter for 15 to 20 minutes. However, if the area is too warm, you can end up with a gooey mess.
I’ll run you through how to thaw an ice cream cake, so it’s ready to eat. We’ll also look at some tips to make sure your cake is defrosted correctly and hygienically. After all, any products with dairy or eggs in them require special attention.
When Should I Take My Ice Cream Cake Out of the Freezer?
An ice cream cake must be stored in the freezer, but you should eat it at a set time, like during a birthday party. When you’re ready to eat it, you want to make sure it is perfect, not too hard, and not melted.
You can take out an ice cream cake from the freezer 40 minutes to 1 hour before consumption. Some parts of the cake will melt faster than others, such as the cream. Keep the ice cream cake in the fridge or an ice-filled cooler to allow it to defrost.
Pro tip: If you’re having the ice cream cake after a meal, you can put it in the fridge just before eating. This will give the cake time to defrost from a frozen lump. Otherwise, just set a timer for 30 minutes before the scheduled serving time to get a perfectly thawed ice cream cake.
Can You Put Ice Cream Cake in the Fridge?
Ice cream cake is frozen cold out of the store and needs to be put in the freezer upon getting home. But right after you take a frozen ice cream cake out and try to eat it, it’s too hard to bite into it. So can you put an ice cream cake in the fridge?
You can store ice cream cake in the fridge temporarily. It’ll allow the frozen parts to defrost while not allowing them to melt; this means the ice cream cake will taste better and not get wasted. Long-term ice cream cake must be stored in a freezer.
Don’t leave ice cream cake in the fridge for more than a few days. As the main component of an ice cream cake is the support structure of the cake, it must stay frozen to keep its shape. Other ingredients, including cream, will also melt if not in a cold enough environment.
It would be best if you treated ice cream cake differently from other leftovers. This means doing your best to finish all of the ice cream cake once it’s defrosted. If you do have leftovers, they should be consumed as quickly as possible and kept refrigerated the whole time.
Consumed quickly? No problems there. But trust me. There are no leftovers, at least not in this household.
Will Ice Cream Cake Melt in the Fridge?
You should leave an ice cream cake in the fridge a few hours before serving so that it can thaw to a perfect texture. But how much will it melt in the refrigerator?
Ice cream cake will slowly melt after a few hours in the fridge. The temperature of most fridges will mean anything longer than 12 hours is likely to allow an ice cream cake to melt too much.
In the end, there’s also a personal preference for how hard or soft you want your ice cream cake. Some people like the hard texture of the near-frozen cake. Others prefer it to be milkier and more liquid. Leaving it overnight in the fridge is likely to see it to defrost too much.
How Long Can an Ice Cream Cake Stay in the Fridge?
Eating a whole ice cream cake in one sitting can be challenging, so how long can an ice cream cake stay in the fridge?
An ice cream cake can stay in the fridge for more than half a day to melt. However, if left in the fridge for over a day, a large part of the ice cream cake will melt. When this happens, deadly bacteria like Listeria found in eggs and milk can grow even if the ice cream cake is refrigerated.
It’s OK to leave an ice cream cake in the fridge for a few days. When an ice cream cake has frozen, the chance of Listeria or other deadly bacteria growing is tiny. However, temperatures of 24 °F (-4.44 °C) or higher can still allow Listeria to multiply.
If you’ve had the ice cream cake in your fridge for more than a week, it’s probably time to get rid of it. The risk of Listeria goes up once several days have passed, and it is one of the most lethal pathogens in existence.
Refreezing melted ice cream is a bad idea as any Listeria that has formed won’t be killed. When you start to defrost the ice cream cake again, the bacteria could begin to multiply once more.
Related Does Cake Need to Be Refrigerated? | How to Store All Types.
How Do I Keep My Ice Cream Cake From Melting?
Ice cream cake should be stored in the freezer and only removed minutes before being served. If you’re inside, this is easy; parties outside may make it harder to get ready access to a freezer. So how do you keep your ice cream cake from melting?
You’ll need to keep the ice cream cake at 0°F (-17.78 °C) or colder. Otherwise, it’ll melt. This means freezers or cooler boxes with ice are going to be the only solutions. Refrigerators will significantly slow down the melting process.
The basic rule is that the ice cream cake stays in the freezer until about 30 minutes before serving and then refrigerated for a maximum of 7 days.
It would help if you stored the ice cream cake in the colder parts of the freezer to make sure it stays frozen. This will be in the back as the temperature in a freezer is more variable near the door.
How Do You Transport Ice Cream Cake Without Melting It?
Taking an ice cream cake to a party will mean time away from the freezer. So what’s the best way to transport ice cream cake without melting it?
Use an insulated cooler box with ice packs or bags of ice to guarantee maximum coldness for the ice cream cake. Keep the cake in its packaging, and don’t let out any cold air by opening the cooler constantly.
Ice cream cake can be transported safely by keeping it as cold as possible, but it shouldn’t be left in a thawing state for too long. You also shouldn’t leave it in direct sunlight and consume the ice cream cake rather than rewrapping and transporting it home.
How Do You Defrost a Frozen Cake?
Freezing cakes is one of the best ways to keep a cake fresh for consumption later. There’s even a tradition of eating the wedding cake on the first anniversary of marriage.
Defrosting a frozen cake involves leaving it in a refrigerator for at least 40 minutes. It would be best not to use a microwave or leave it at room temperature to thaw. This can cause bacteria to grow and become a health risk.
There are some things to consider around the timing of removing the ice cream cake from the freezer, so it’s a perfect consistency, as well as how to use your fridge to perfectly prepare an ice cream cake.
Final Bite
So there you have it. As you know, ice cream cake is high on the perishable scale. Therefore, it needs to be kept frozen and left in an unfrozen state for no more than a week.
Before serving ice cream cake, you should thaw it slowly by putting it in the fridge for 40 minutes to an hour.
I hope this article has been helpful. Thanks for reading!
For more, check out 10 Best Sweet Alcoholic Drinks For Taste Bud Bliss.
Photo courtesy of openfoodfacts.org
Jim James is a published author and expert on the outdoors and survivalism. Through avid research and hands-on experience, he has gained expertise on a wide variety of topics. His time spent at college taught him to become really good at figuring out answers to common problems. Often through extensive trial and error, Jim has continued to learn and increase his knowledge of a vast array of topics related to firearms, hunting, fishing, medical topics, cooking, games/gaming, and other subjects too numerous to name.
Jim has been teaching people a wide variety of survivalism topics for over five years and has a lifetime of experience fishing, camping, general survivalism, and anything in nature. In fact, while growing up, he often spent more time on the water than on land! He has degrees in History, Anthropology, and Music from the University of Southern Mississippi. He extensively studied Southern History, nutrition, geopolitics, the Cold War, and nuclear policy strategies and safety as well as numerous other topics related to the content on survivalfreedom.com.