Storing cake-counter or refrigerator?

March 1, 2011 5:50 PM

I ordered a (ready made, prettily decorated) quarter- sheet cake that I picked up tonight. I am serving it in approximately 24 hours. The frosting is some kind of light whipped "cream" instead of the heavy type. Do I store it on the counter or in the refrigerator? Thanks.
posted by Prairie to Food & Drink (10 answers total)

Best answer: To be on the safe side, I'd store it in the fridge until about an hour or two before serving.
posted by MaryDellamorte at 5:54 PM on March 1, 2011

It's probably fine on the counter. It's covered, right? (Like in a box or something to keep detritus off of it.) I'd just leave it out.

(If you put it in the fridge, it runs the risk of drying out too fast.)
posted by phunniemee at 5:54 PM on March 1, 2011

Best answer: I'd refrigerate it.
posted by pghjezebel at 5:55 PM on March 1, 2011

Put it in the fridge, just so it doesn't melt. A lot of grocery stores are now using a product called called "Bettercream" icing, which has the advantage of being kosher and vegan. Its ingredients are fairly inert:

High fructose corn syrup, water, partially hydrogenated palm kernel oil, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, contains less than 2% of the following: Sodium Caseinate (a milk derivative), soy protein concentrate, polysorbate 60, carbohydrate gum, sugar, salt, artificial flavor, soy lecithin, polyglycerol esters of fatty acids, to preserve freshness (potassium sorbate), xanthan gum.

But it needs to be chilled to keep its shape, especially if it's warm or humid.

I realize you might no longer want to eat this cake now that you know this, but there you go.
posted by Miko at 7:39 PM on March 1, 2011

My mistake, the spelling should be "Bettercreme" (tm)
posted by Miko at 7:41 PM on March 1, 2011

Sorry but Bettercreme can't be vegan if it contains Sodium Caseinate. Sodium Caseinate is derived from milk therefore making it non vegan.
posted by MaryDellamorte at 8:17 PM on March 1, 2011

Honestly, I think it depends on where you got it from. If you got it from a mom & pop bakery, then hopefully the cream frosting is real; that would mean you'd need to refrigerate it. If you got it from a mainstream grocery store, I'd bet $5 that the frosting is fake beyond belief and has stabilizers like hydrogenated oils that will preserve that baby come hell or high water regardless of whether or not it's been put in a fridge.
posted by patronuscharms at 1:17 AM on March 2, 2011

Sorry but Bettercreme can't be vegan if it contains Sodium Caseinate. Sodium Caseinate is derived from milk therefore making it non vegan.

Consider me informed
posted by Miko at 6:39 AM on March 2, 2011

Miko, I was checking out their website and I can see how one would think it's vegan. They market it as non-dairy and most people would probably think that meant vegan. A lot of non-dairy items (creamers, icing, cheese, etc.) aren't vegan since most of the time they contain casein (sometimes labeled sodium caseinate) which is derived from a milk protein. Those items are safe for people with lactose intolerance but since casein comes from milk, it's not safe for vegans.
posted by MaryDellamorte at 3:45 PM on March 2, 2011

My cousin's a baker who uses this stuff and she actually thought it was vegan. I guess it's an easy mistake to make. I didn't know what caseinate was before your comment. I see it's also in soy cheese.
posted by Miko at 7:26 PM on March 2, 2011