Can You Freeze Cake Batter?

It’s fairly common knowledge that you can freeze cakes when you bake them to extend their shelf life. But, did you know you could also freeze the cake mixture before baking it?

If you are one of the bakers wondering, can you freeze cake batter then you have come to the right place!

How To Freeze Cake Batter

Freezing cake batter is really easy to do, but it can get messy due to the sticky nature of the batter! Here are a few ways for you to consider freezing your cake mixture.

When you make up your cake batter, just be a little careful of any difficult ingredients, such as whipped eggs or cream. These can change texture in the freezer. The best types of cake batters to freeze are oil-based mixtures.

You also need to add as many of the ingredients as possible before freezing. It will be difficult to mix any new ingredients in after it has been thawed out, as the cake mixture won’t blend quite as well.

How to Freeze Cake Batter In Freezer Bags

This method is perfect if you have cake batter, but you aren’t sure how to cook it. You might be undecided whether you want to add extra ingredients or want cupcakes or a large cake. Don’t worry, this method has you covered.

1. Make Batter
   Make up your cake batter as usual. Do everything as normal, except for baking!
2. Label Bag
   Prepare a freezer bag by labelling it with the date and the contents. When you label, make sure you name the contents precisely, so you don’t forget what type of cake batter it is. You will need to use freezer bags that you can seal tightly.
3. Portion Out Batter
   Spoon a portion of cake batter into the bag. Add enough for one batch of cupcakes or one large cake. Make sure you don’t overfill the bags. They will need a little excess room for the mixture to expand as it freezes.
4. Seal
   Squeeze out any air from the bags and seal tightly.
5. Freeze
   Pop the bags into the freezer. You will need to be careful until they are frozen because the bags will need to stay upright and not get squeezed too much in the freezer to avoid making a mess.

How to Freeze Unbaked Cupcakes In Cases

If you already know you want cupcakes in the future, then this is by far the easiest method to freeze and store your cupcakes ready for baking.

1. Make Batter
   Make up a batch of cake batter.
2. Spoon Out Batter
   Prepare a cupcake tray or muffin tin with cupcake or muffin cases as normal. Spoon the right amount of mixture into each case.
3. Freeze
   Pop the whole thing, including the tray, into the freezer and freeze for a few hours.
4. Bag Up
   When the cupcakes have frozen, you can take them out of the freezer and pop them out of the cupcake pan. Put the frozen and unbaked cupcakes into a freezer bag.
5. Final Freeze
   Label the bag and seal it tightly, and put it back into the freezer.

How to Freeze Unbaked Large Cakes

This is a great method for freezing large cakes, unbaked and ready to cook. You will need to ensure any tins you use are freezer safe before putting them in the freezer.

1. Make Batter
   Mix up and make your cake batter as you normally would.
2. Prepare Tin
   Prepare the cake tin you eventually plan to bake the cake in by greasing the pan and putting parchment paper in it.
3. Spoon Batter
   Spoon the cake mixture into the pan. At this stage, pretend you are going to bake it and do as you normally would.
4. Wrap and Freeze
   Wrap the entire pan and cake batter in a large freezer bag and pop it into the freezer. You will need to allow the cake to freeze completely. This could take several hours, so it’s best to leave it overnight and move to the next step the next morning.
5. Remove from Tin
   Take the completely frozen cake mixture out of the freezer. You can pop it out of the cake tin (with the parchment paper).
6. Bag Up
   Put the cake mixture into a large freezer bag. The cake should maintain its shape, and when it comes to cooking, you can pop it back into the same pan to cook.
7. Freeze
   Label the bag with the contents and the date and put it back into the freezer.

The fourth option, of course, is to bake your cakes and then freeze them. This also works particularly well. If this is an approach you’d prefer to take, then check out our guide to freezing cake.

3 Tips for Freezing Cake Batter

Now you know how to freeze it, we’ve got our 3 top tips which we strongly recommend following when freezing cake batter to have the best results:

Write Clear Labels
If you’ve got a variety of cake batter frozen, then make sure you write easy-to-read labels so you can thaw the correct sponge. It can be hard to tell the difference between lemon or vanilla batter when it is frozen. 

Consider Uses
If you tend to bake entire cakes, freeze cake batter as a full cake. But if you rarely eat a whole cake, then there’s no point, so opt for cupcakes. 

Add Flavourings Before Freezing
If you want to make chocolate, vanilla, or lemon sponge, add these flavours before freezing it. Most flavouring will be retained during the freezing process. 

How Long Can You Freeze Cake Batter?

Most cake batters will freeze for up to around three months successfully. This works best if they have been tightly sealed so no air can get to the batter while it is in the freezer. This time scale may be dependent on the ingredients you add.

So if your cake uses any unusual ingredients, then it is worth checking these ingredients separately for how long they can be frozen successfully and apply that rule to the whole cake batter.

You Can Freeze Cake Batter for Around 3 Months

How Do You Defrost Cake Batter?

The best method for defrosting cake batter is to allow it to thaw out slowly in the fridge overnight.

Just take the cake batter out of the freezer and pop it into the fridge, and allow it to thaw out until it is completely defrosted.

If you have chosen to freeze the batter in cupcake or cake tin form, you will need to pop them back in their tins before defrosting. This will ensure that the cakes keep the shape you want!

If there is any mixture separation, you might find, you need to give the batter a mix before baking.

Can You Refreeze Cake Batter?

You shouldn’t refreeze the cake batter. The mixture can change during the freezing and thawing process.

There is an exception to this rule, though. If you have thawed out your batter and then baked the cakes, you can still freeze the cooked cakes if you need.

Does Cake Batter Freeze Well?

As long as you have chosen a fairly simple cake mixture, then it should freeze fairly well and be absolutely delicious when it has been baked. Unfortunately, some cakes don’t freeze well.

These tend to be dairy heavy cakes, such as those made with cream or lots of milk.

Another type of cake that doesn’t freeze well is a chiffon cake or cake made with whipped eggs.

These lighter sponges can suffer in the freezer, and the air added by whipping the eggs can be removed, and you will end up with a thick, dense sponge instead of a light and airy cake.

Related FAQs

If you’ve still got questions about freezing cake batter or cake in general, then these may help: