Pineapple upside down cake is an iconic type of dessert that many people look forward to eating. You might make it for special occasions or you might simply enjoy it when your relatives make it.
If you’re thinking about making your own for the first time, you might be worried about getting things right. Of course, you want to do a good job baking the cake and ensuring that it’s tasty, but it’s also important to think about how to store the cake properly.
Most people bake these cakes so that they can take them to some type of family function, social event, or dinner. If you’re baking one the day before the event, what should you do to keep it fresh?
Read on to learn exactly how you are supposed to store pineapple upside down cake. This will give you all of the necessary information so that you will be able to keep it safe until it’s time to dig in.
You Need Toothpicks
Toothpicks are going to be an important part of the process when you’re getting ready to store your pineapple upside down cake. You’re going to use the toothpicks to keep the plastic wrap that you’ll be using from sticking to the top of the cake.
Ensure that you have toothpicks that you can utilize before moving forward. Standard kitchen toothpicks should work, but you definitely don’t want to use any that have flavoring on them.
Once you’ve procured the toothpicks, it’s going to be necessary to just stick them all over the cake. It won’t take long to do this, and you definitely don’t want to put plastic wrap on the cake without toothpicks because it will be a mess.
Wrapping and Storing the Cake
You should have your pineapple upside down cake placed on some type of plate that you’ll be using for storage. The plate needs to be large enough to safely fit the cake, and it should be a plate that you’re comfortable putting in the refrigerator as well.
Once you have the cake on a plate, you’re going to use the toothpicks as instructed above. With that out of the way, you want to loosely wrap the cake around the plate using plastic wrap.
The top of your cake is going to be very wet and sticky, which can cause problems with the plastic wrap if you don’t use the toothpicks. You’ll be wrapping the cake a bit loosely so that you won’t encounter problems, and the toothpicks should make this part fairly simple.
When you are confident that the pineapple upside down cake is secured on the plate, it’s going to be time to place it in the refrigerator. This is where it should stay until it is time to eat the cake at your dinner party or another type of special event.
How Long Does Pineapple Upside Down Cake Stay Good?
Pineapple upside down cake is going to be able to stay good for three days so long as you are refrigerating it properly. Ideally, you should make this cake only one day before your event so that it will be fresh and delicious.
When you take the cake out of the refrigerator, you’re going to want to go ahead and eat it. It’s said that pineapple upside down cake will only stay good for two days when kept outside the refrigerator.
Either way, this should give you more than enough time to eat it. You just don’t want to make one of these cakes too many days in advance of a dinner party or event where you wish to serve it.
As long as you are baking it the day before, it’s going to be easy to keep it fresh for the event or dinner. This delicious dessert is sure to be a hit, and you’ll be able to feel confident that it’s good to go.
What About Storing the Cake in a Freezer?
It is true that you can store a pineapple upside down cake in a freezer for a longer period of time. In fact, it’s possible that the cake could stay good when kept in a freezer for up to a month.
When you’re going to freeze one, it’s going to be necessary to wrap it tighter with plastic wrap than usual. You don’t want it to get freezer burn because that could harm the taste of the cake.
So long as you wrap it properly, it should be pretty easy to store it in the freezer while getting good results. The only downside is that it can impact the taste of the cake a bit even if you do things perfectly.
Many pastry enthusiasts will say that frozen cakes are not nearly as flavorful as those that have not been frozen. There wouldn’t normally be a very good reason to store a pineapple upside down cake in a freezer, but you can do it if you want to.
Most people would be able to eat a standard pineapple upside down cake in three days or less. This is especially true if you’re sharing it with friends or family members.
What Happens If You Eat an Old Pineapple Upside Down Cake?
You should absolutely not eat a pineapple upside down cake that is too old because it could make you sick. If you have one in your refrigerator that is one week old, it’s going to need to be thrown out.
It might seem like a shame to waste a good cake like that, but you can’t turn back the clock to a time when it was edible. Every type of food is going to go bad after a certain period of time, and you should plan to eat your pineapple upside down cake before its time is up.
If you have an inkling that you might not eat a cake in a timely fashion, the idea of freezing it becomes more appealing. You could also invite some friends over to help you polish the cake off within three days.
Never eat food that is close to going bad or is confirmed to be bad. You’ll just get sick and it certainly isn’t worth the potential harm that it could cause to your body.
Final Thoughts
You know all that there is to know about storing pineapple upside down cake now. It’s a great dessert that is considered to be a true classic by most people, and storing it shouldn’t be a big deal moving forward.
The only real tricky part is getting the cake wrapped loosely when using the toothpicks. Otherwise, it’s just a standard cake that you can place in the refrigerator.
Enjoy your pineapple upside down cake with those you love. Remember not to hold back either since you need to finish that cake in three days or less.
Sarah is the founder of Baking Kneads, LLC, a blog sharing guides, tips, and recipes for those learning how to bake. Growing up as the daughter of a baker, she spent much of her childhood learning the basics in a local bakery.