When you think about it, sharing a slice of your wedding cake on your first anniversary is a lovely and sweet idea. But if you really think about it, you are eating something that is actually a year old! Eating year old wedding cake shouldn't bother your digestive system, but if you don't preserve it properly you'll probably be left with freezer burnt, inedible cake.
Heartier and heavier flavors of wedding cake such as chocolates, carrot and banana usually do well frozen and withstand the test of time better than wedding cakes which contain fresh fruit fillings, pudding fillings, whipped-cream and butter-cream. Most bakers will recommend you keep a cake frozen for no more than three months time, but waiting a year won't hurt you. At most your cake will taste a bit stale. You should consult with your baker with which fillings and frosting will freeze better than others.
Here are five tips to help preserve the top tier of your wedding cake for your first anniversary:
- After the cake cutting ceremony, ask your caterer or baker to preserve the top tier and set it aside for you. Make sure it doesn't get cut into or accidentally served. You want to keep the entire top tier intact.
- Have the catering hall chill the top tier until the icing hardens. You want the icing to harden so it stays intact and doesn't smear for the next step.
- Once the icing hardens, wrap several layers of plastic wrap around the cake tier. Don't use tin foil as it can cause freezer burn.
- Seal the cake in an airtight freezer bag. Once it's bagged you can also have it placed in a keepsake cake box. Place it in the freezer and label it if you have to to make sure it isn't opened until your anniversary.
- The night before your first wedding anniversary take the cake out and place it in the fridge. You will want to defrost it for at least several hours to overnight before digging in.