Freezing cookies keeps them as fresh as the day you baked them without sacrificing their integrity. While buttercream frosting serves as both a great sandwich ingredient and an excellent decorative component, it raises a new complication for cookie freezers. Does frozen frosting maintain and what is the best way to freeze it?
You can freeze buttercream frosted or filled cookies and they can last up to three months. They need to be adequately sealed though. The process for freezing buttercream iced cookies is simple and straightforward and prolongs the life of your treats by quite a large margin.
This article will discuss how to prepare your cookies with buttercream frosting for freezing, how to store them, and how to freeze any excess buttercream icing. Let’s get started!
What Is Buttercream Frosting?
Buttercream frosting is butter-based, thus the name. Most icing is sugar-based, but buttercream icing creates a thicker, more durable spread. It’s available in three key formats.
There are three primary types of buttercream frosting, which are:
- American Buttercream
- Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- Italian Meringue Buttercream
American Buttercream
American buttercream is a very simple combination of butter, sugar, and milk or cream. You can flavor this icing easily, however you see fit. American buttercream is the sweetest of the frosting’s varieties, at a two to one sugar to butter ratio.
It is easy and quick to whip up for both beginners and advanced chefs. This frosting works best for:
- Basic cupcakes and cakes
- Rush icing jobs
- A foundation for more elaborate designs
Swiss Meringue Buttercream
As the name suggests, Swiss meringue buttercream requires the chef to create a meringue. This process is more complicated than making American buttercream. Bakers need to use a double boiler, egg whites, and sugar. Butter is added to the meringue to create a less sweet frosting than the American buttercream.
Making this icing requires a bit more skill but results in a frosting that takes color better and more vividly than American buttercream.
This icing is best used for:
- Layer cakes
- Smooth finishes
- Cakes that require vivid colors
Italian Meringue Buttercream
Italian meringue buttercream is arguably the most difficult icing to make. This icing requires the incorporation of boiling hot sugar syrup into egg whites. If the incorporation isn’t handled delicately, a hot liquid can lead to cooked eggs.
Careful and experienced bakers must ensure they don’t burn the egg whites when creating the meringue. Executed correctly, Italian Meringue buttercream maintains a light and easily tinted color that doesn’t form a crust when exposed to air.
The Italian meringue buttercream works best for:
- Enduring high temperatures
- Taking colors
- Creating elaborate patterns and designs
How To Freeze Cookies With Buttercream Icing
Buttercream frosted or filled cookies are easy to freeze, either by stacking or by layering. Cookies with buttercream frosting last for two days at room temperature and five days refrigerated.
Freezing the confections adds considerable time to their lifespan – frozen buttercream frosted or filled cookies last up to three months. Successfully freezing your treats takes only a few simple steps. Two easy methods are employed.
Layer Your Buttercream Frosted Cookies
Before even considering cookie storage, allow your buttercream to set sufficiently. Buttercream begins to stiffen within two hours, but it’s best to let the iced cookies sit overnight before stacking them.
Allow your buttercream frosting to set until hardened before attempting to freeze your cookies. Once the frosting sets:
- Arrange the cookies in a single, untouching layer on a tray or a plate.
- Place the cookies in the freezer.
- Once the cookies are frozen, fill the bottom of a freezer-safe container with a single layer of the confections.
- Cover the base layer with a piece of waxed paper.
- Place the next layer of cookies onto the waxed paper, ensuring no overlap.
- Continue this layering process until the container is filled or all your cookies are stored.
- Close the container with an airtight lid.
Properly stored cookies last three to four weeks in the freezer.
Stack Your Buttercream Frosted Cookies
The stacking method allows you to store your cookies both effectively and economically. This method takes up less space, though a bit more time and preparation. Stacking your buttercream iced or filled cookies is relatively easy; just follow these simple steps:
- Layer your cookies on a tray.
- Put them in the freezer and allow them to freeze.
- Once the cookies are thoroughly frozen, place the unfrosted sides of the two cookies against each other.
- Wrap the paired cookies tightly in plastic wrap.
- Pair all of the cookies in this fashion, and store the wrapped confections in an airtight, freezer-safe container.
- Close the lid tightly.
Cookies frozen this way will last up to four weeks.
How To Freeze Extra Buttercream
Properly frozen buttercream lasts up to three months. The freezing process is easy; simply place your extra buttercream in an airtight, freezer-safe container, seal, and freeze.
Freezing your buttercream prolongs its lifespan considerably and once you’re ready to use the frosting, simply move it to the refrigerator to allow it to thaw overnight. Give the icing a good whip before using it.
Softening Buttercream
Buttercream spreads best when it’s at room temperature. However, thawing frozen buttercream requires some finesse.
- Move frozen buttercream from your freezer to your refrigerator twenty-four hours before you intend to use it. The time your icing spends in the refrigerator allows for a gradual thaw and prevents temperature shock.
- Once your buttercream thaws, take it out of the refrigerator and bring it to room temperature.
- After your frosting reaches room temperature, whip it until it’s fluffy and spreadable.
Conclusion
Buttercream comes in three primary varieties, each with its own strengths and purposes. While butter is the universal foundation, American buttercream, Swiss meringue buttercream, and Italian meringue buttercream each have their own strength.
These icings freeze well. Correct and careful freezing of buttercream on cookies prolongs their lifespan by quite a bit. The process is simple and manageable and allows your confections to endure up to three months longer than at room temperature. The cookies are quickly thawed, and any excess frosting is easily stored and frozen.
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