Storing Chocolate Guinness Cake

Asked by jweathe1. Answered on 30th August 2015

Full question

How long will the Chocolate Guinness Cake last without the topping? I wanted to bake some for my party on the Friday, but I have to make them on the Monday beforehand. Will they last until the Friday and then I just put the topping on? Or can I make them and freeze them, the defrost them on the Friday and ice them then?

Our answer

Nigella's Chocolate Guinness Cake (from Feast and on the Nigella website) is a moist cake and will keep fairly well, without the icing, at room temperature for around 5 days. The icing itself is slightly more perishable as it contains double (heavy or whipping) cream and once iced it is best to keep the cake in the fridge, especially in warm weather. Store the cake in an airtight container in a cool place.

However for this period of time our preference would be to cool the cake and then freeze it. Once the cake is cold, wrap it in a double layer if clingfilm and a layer of foil and then freeze. To thaw the cake, unwrap it and stand it on a wire rack at room temperature. We would allow about 4 hours for the cake to defrost.