Keeping Iced Buttermilk Birthday Cake

Asked by Rosie22. Answered on 9th June 2016

Full question

I love the recipe for the Buttermilk Birthday Cake as it is a lovely moist vanilla sponge. However, I enjoy cake decorating and sometimes you need time to create the final cake. I am making a 50th birthday cake and would like to bake the cake on Monday, fill and cover with sugar paste on Tuesday and complete the sugar craft on Thursday. The cake is to be delivered on Friday and eaten on Saturday. Do you think this recipe will work for that timescale?

Our answer

Nigella's Buttermilk Birthday Cake (from HOW TO BE A DOMESTIC GODDESS) is a popular cake for birthdays and, like most sponge cakes, it is at its best within 3 to 5 days of baking and we would prefer that the cake would be served withing this timeframe. However if the cake is covered with sugar paste (rolled fondant) then this will help to prevent the cake from drying out and it will probably last up to a 6th day. But the cake will likely stale fairly quickly once it is cut. Store the cake in a cool, dry place in an airtight container, though not in the fridge as condensation can cause beads of moisture to spoil the sugar paste.

It may also help to brush a little syrup over the cake before filling and icing it, it as this will add some extra moisture to the cake. For a vanilla cake a syrup made from equal quantities of water and apricot jam, warmed until the jam dissolves and then strained to remove any pieces of fruit, usually works quite well.