Overheard my sister's friend talking about cake layers and it clicked

I was at a bridal shower last weekend and one of the women mentioned how she always wraps her cake layers in plastic wrap while they're still slightly warm. She said it traps the moisture so you don't get that dry edge problem I've been fighting with for like 2 years. I've been letting my layers cool completely on a rack before wrapping them and they always come out crumbly on the outside. Tried her method with a vanilla cake on Tuesday and the layers were way more tender when I stacked them the next day. Has anyone else experimented with wrapping temps for sponge cakes?

2 comments

2 Comments

richard_shah1mo ago

Temperature matters but nobody's talking about what happens with the steam. When you wrap warm cake it creates condensation inside the plastic. That moisture gets absorbed right back into the crumb. I tested it with a almond sponge last month. Wrapped one layer warm and another at room temp. The warm wrapped one was almost gummy near the edges the next day. The cool wrapped one was dry but not as bad as yours. Maybe the trick only works for denser cakes like pound or butter cakes.

the_julia1mo ago

Ugh, I feel this so hard... that gummy edge thing is the worst. It's like you're trying to do the right thing and it just backfires.