What’s the ideal temperature for storing cakes?

Everyone loves cake.

From a mid-morning snack to afternoon tea, a nice slice of homemade cake is the perfect addition to your day. Many businesses tap into the cake market, from small cafés offering cake and coffee throughout the day to busy garden centres supporting weary shoppers. However, cakes require careful storage to help keep them in tip-top condition throughout the day.

This blog shares some commercial cake refrigeration tips to help you store, display and serve your delicious sweet treats.

Good storage equals good flavour

Cakes are incredible creations. Making good cakes is an art form.

Storing and displaying your cakes in the right conditions will help to maintain that amazing flavour and texture. It’s essential to remember that different cakes will require different types of storage. A delicate sponge is very different to a slice of gooey chocolate brownie. Cakes that have fresh cream need to be served quickly, while old-fashioned fruit cake, which matures as it gets older, is designed to have a longer shelf life. As a professional baker, you’ll know how long you expect your cakes to last, so you can store them correctly. Exposure to air is one of the biggest things to avoid with your cake. Air will cause your beautifully light sponge to change, and become hard and stale. So, covering your cakes with airtight containers is vital, especially once you’ve cut into them.

Cakes don’t like to be too cold, so choosing a cake fridge with an adjustable temperature gauge will help maintain the flavour of your cake. Cakes are best stored in a specialist cake refrigerator, as they can absorb the flavour of other strong-smelling foods if they’re stored in close proximity.

Showcase your cakes to increase sales

Cakes are often an impulse buy. Many people will come in for a coffee and be tempted to have a slice of cake if they see them. So, choosing a cake refrigerator that show your cakes off to their best advantage is a good investment. Our cake refrigerators are designed to maximise your sales, by giving you an excellent display system. These are especially useful if you offer a range of different cakes. People will make choices based on what they see, and a well-presented cake display will always attract more sales than a description on a menu or a blackboard. Our cake fridges come with moveable shelving, LED lighting and a slimline structure to maximise the glass areas. These factors all help to create a more attractive cake display, which will help drive those all-important impulse sales.

Invest in modern refrigerators for greater efficiency

As a successful and forward-thinking business owner, you’ll be aware of high, fluctuating energy costs. Power is one of the highest running costs of a small business, and trying to reduce it is important for your business’s long-term financial security. Older cake display fridges are notoriously power-hungry and can be very costly to maintain. Modern fridges are evaluated under the new energy rating system, which changed in March 2021. The new energy rating scheme has encouraged manufacturers to design more energy-efficient fridges and freezers. Previously many fridges had been rated A+++ or A++ which was unclear and confusing for consumers. With the new rating system, an old A+++ became a new B or C. So, by upgrading your cake fridge to a new A- or B-rated model could potentially save you money on energy consumption.

Fridges lose efficiency as they age, becoming increasingly more expensive to run over time. Older fridges are also more prone to breakdown, which could prove expensive and impactful for your business. You could lose valuable stock in the event of a breakdown. Furthermore, older fridges can become unreliable, which could lead to fluctuating temperatures. Cakes are particularly sensitive to temperature changes and need a stable and consistent temperature to help maintain their flavour and texture. Investing in a modern cake fridge will help to reduce the risk to your business, by reducing the likelihood of breakdown and improving your energy consumption.

Optimise your cake sales with Fridgesmart

Don’t miss out on the cake market. A high-quality, modern cake display fridge will help to maximise your sales by encouraging impulse purchases while maintaining the taste and texture of your cakes. Here at Fridgesmart, we have a range of cake fridges designed to suit different businesses. Whether you have a small café which needs a countertop cake display fridge, or run a big canteen offering a large range of cakes, we have a cake fridge to suit you. You can see our range of cake fridges here.  Our friendly and helpful team is always on hand to discuss your business with you and help you to decide on the best cake fridge to suit your needs. Simply call us on 01792 677169.