Cookaholics Bulletin Board

Cookaholics Bulletin Board

Shop, cook, eat, drink, post, repeat.
 
It is currently Thu Mar 28, 2024 4:37 pm

All times are UTC - 7 hours [ DST ]




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 8 posts ] 
Author Message
 Post subject: Do you freeze BEFORE or after baking a pie?
PostPosted: Tue Jun 19, 2012 5:01 pm 
Offline

Joined: Sun Dec 21, 2008 11:18 am
Posts: 332
Location: Seattle
I need to take an apple pie, a chocolate cake and some lemon squares to a family reunion which is about 4 hours away, but we won't be eating anything until the following day.

So, is it best to assemble and then freeze the pie before baking, then bake it when I get there and serve the next day...or?

For the cake, I am planning to freeze the cakes separately, making the frosting the day before we leave and assembling it there.

And I'm thinking the Lemon Squares will probably be best frozen here, carted there and kept refrigerated.

Any better ideas will be greatly appreciated!


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Do you freeze BEFORE or after baking a pie?
PostPosted: Tue Jun 19, 2012 6:03 pm 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Wed Apr 27, 2011 3:27 pm
Posts: 526
Location: Finger Lakes Wine Country
I freeze apple pies before baking when I travel with them. I do not make any temperature adjustment when I bake them, but they will take and additional 15-20 minutes to cook from frozen.

Your cake plan should work well and it does not really matter what you do with the lemon squares. If there is more freezer space than fridge space, they can be left frozen until the dessert tray is set up. They will thaw very quickly and be ready to eat in less than an hour.

_________________
Jim
Weights of Baking Ingredients


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Do you freeze BEFORE or after baking a pie?
PostPosted: Tue Jun 19, 2012 6:44 pm 
Offline

Joined: Sun Dec 21, 2008 11:18 am
Posts: 332
Location: Seattle
Thanks, Jim. I think everything will defrost on the 4 hour drive there, even if kept in a cooler. So I'll probably bake the pie the day of travel...


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Do you freeze BEFORE or after baking a pie?
PostPosted: Wed Jun 20, 2012 7:03 am 
Offline

Joined: Thu Dec 18, 2008 7:18 pm
Posts: 1244
Cookie,

I baked my brother's wedding cake in circumstances similar to yours. In a large cooler with lots of ice the cake stayed pretty well frozen on a 6.5 hour drive. You might be surprised.


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Do you freeze BEFORE or after baking a pie?
PostPosted: Wed Jun 20, 2012 9:19 am 
Offline

Joined: Sun Feb 26, 2012 1:51 am
Posts: 121
Couple things, first I like to partially cook the filling before assembly. In the case of apple pie, it prevents the filling from shrinking as it cooks and loss of volume. It also let's me check the filling more accurately before I commit. It lends itself better to freezing prior to baking because the filling is more cohesive by being closer to homogeneous than heterogeneous.

No doubt you are a talented cook, but sometimes there are percieved expectations. There have been times where the time, effort and logistical juggling just aren't worth the accolades, especially where the risk of food safety is involved. Granted, pies and cakes are generally low risk.

Consider Plan-B. Where you purchase items from a local mom & pop bakery.
It will be Fresh. You'd be supporting a fellow baker. Fewer headaches.

_________________
Cooking is like Love;
It should be entered into with Abandon, or not at all


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Do you freeze BEFORE or after baking a pie?
PostPosted: Wed Jun 20, 2012 9:44 am 
Offline

Joined: Sun Dec 21, 2008 11:18 am
Posts: 332
Location: Seattle
Thanks for the tips Darcie and Tunaoue....I doubt that there will be a bakery in the area we are going...maybe a grocery-store bakery at best. I think I'll be pretty safe freezing and transporting most of my items..and I do think pre-cooking the filling works well for an apple pie, especially. And I have lots of coolers.


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Do you freeze BEFORE or after baking a pie?
PostPosted: Wed Jun 20, 2012 6:39 pm 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Sat Nov 12, 2011 8:05 pm
Posts: 1191
Location: Chico, CA
We always travel with lots of coolers and manage to keep food completely frozen and/or safely cold for the duration. I've traveled with frozen cookie dough and frozen baked cookies from here to LA (about 8 hours) and both arrived still frozen. For our last trip, we put the frozen stuff on the bottom, another layer of ice and then the refrigerated stuff (e.g. soda cans and bottled water). Some of the water nearly froze. We did open it on the way. Done so with cakes and pies as well.

So I would not worry about food spoilage at all for the items you are taking. Lemon bars are really hardy (at least mine are) and will do ok even out of the fridge for a while. For convenience, so they can be made way ahead, I'd freeze them and agree with Jim, leave them frozen. We bring the coolers inside and have been surprised at how long stuff has stayed frozen in the coolers. We use a combo of ice from our freezer in sealed food saver bags or double gallon Ziplockks and cooler ice packs. As with any freezer, pack it to the gills with frozen stuff and don't open unless needed.Happy celebration.

_________________
Alina


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Do you freeze BEFORE or after baking a pie?
PostPosted: Thu Jun 21, 2012 9:28 am 
Offline

Joined: Sun Dec 21, 2008 11:18 am
Posts: 332
Location: Seattle
Thanks Alina!


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 8 posts ] 

All times are UTC - 7 hours [ DST ]


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 18 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Jump to:  
cron
Powered by phpBB © 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007 phpBB Group
Template made by DEVPPL/ThatBigForum