Comments on: Keeping cake fresh while it's on display

Question: Keeping cake fresh while it's on display

sarelicar — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 19:11:23 -0800

Problem: Cakes on display that go a bit stale where they've been cut. Solution: Plastic, hinged, see-through inserts that can be placed inside missing wedges to keep edges fresh.

I know they exist but probably just don't know the proper terminology because my searches (for cake keeper, cake saver) come up fruitless except for entire cake boxes with lids which is not what I seek.

I'd like to buy these to use in lieu of using throwaway wax paper.

Thanks guys!

By: catlet

catlet — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 19:33:35 -0800

Like a pie dam? I haven't seen them for cake, but maybe the pie version will help you find them.

By: bove

bove — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 19:36:38 -0800

I was coming to suggest something similar that I just saw on America's Test Kitchen. They called it a pie gate. I am not sure if it would be tall enough for a layer cake.

By: JujuB

JujuB — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 20:39:23 -0800

What about putting a clear glass cake cover over it?

By: sarelicar

sarelicar — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 21:21:19 -0800

maybe i should have clarified. these aren't sitting out in open air, then i would just buy a cover, but are becoming a bit stale under refrigeration/display after having been cut into.

By: Aquaman

Aquaman — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 21:47:11 -0800

How about a DIY solution: cut two small rectangles of plexiglass (slightly larger than the radius and height of your average cake) and scotch tape them together at one edge.

This can make a wedge as small or as large as you need (tape side out for acute angles, tape side in for obtuse angles) and would display the cut edge well, too.

Easily washed, easily retaped for new cakes. I'm a genius!

By: KevCed

KevCed — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 21:47:24 -0800

I think wax paper is compostable. That's one step up from sending it to a landfill although it does not address your question directly.

I think you can modify the pie gates/dams that bove and catlet suggest although I wonder whether they would be stable when ~half the cake is missing.

Does it have to have a hinge? Wouldn't two bowl scrapers or similar food-safe implements, placed where needed do the job? I've seen bowl scrapers big enough at restaurant supply stores.

By: citystalk

citystalk — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 21:57:27 -0800

how about the kake sav'r'?

By: pseudostrabismus

pseudostrabismus — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 23:07:53 -0800

Could you use a cut-down CD jewel case or something similar?

By: jon1270

jon1270 — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 02:26:31 -0800

Not exactly what you asked for but I've been reading Shirley Corriher's Cookwise, which says that cakes made with sweeteners that contain fructose (honey, brown sugar), which is hygroscopic, don't dry out so easily. So maybe a recipe tweak could help?

By: cooker girl

cooker girl — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 08:07:16 -0800

We have reusable waxed paper at work. I wish I knew where to get it. It looks like brown, waxed paper, but you can wash it and use it over and over. It can also be cut down to size without losing any of the paper's integrity, like I imagine would be the case if you cut down a Silpat.

I can second jon1270's advice about different sweeteners adding longevity to baked goods. We rarely use just sugar in our stuff. We use glucose and fructose and we gets lots of time before our goodies dry out.

By: yohko

yohko — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 13:49:08 -0800

I´ve seen a non-hinged version of these in use. Two separate pieces of clear flexible plastic. No idea what they are called though.

Seems that an advantage of having two separate pieces would be that when a new slice is cut the exposed part which remains uncut would be less likely to get munged up by removing the plastic.