Freezing questions...Batter? Cake? Icing etc

[CharlieAlphaKiloEcho]

Looking for some advice for freezing cakes for work.

I want to freeze some of the batter before it's baked in the miniature moulds I want to use, does it turn out ok and rise?

Also, is Frozen cake OK once it's defrosted?

Annnddd.... Can I freeze buttercream?

Thank you!

Why dont you bake them then freeze them? Yes you can freeze buttercream, and also keeps well just in the fridge for about a week. I make some choccy cupcakes yesterday and put them in the freezer, also made a tub of caramel, and some buttercream with marscapone in it.

So, I work in a very small cafe. We are not very busy - especially during the holidays due to our location.

I like to have a few different cakes to offer but stuff goes stale before it's sold. Until recently the cakes have been brought in and I really want to stop that to offer better quality and save money.

I have just ordered some mini loaf moulds and my plan was to make up huge batches of cake batter and divide it for different flavours (lemon drizzle, coffee, chocolate ec) I was going to freeze the batter in the moulds and bag them once frozen. Then I can just bake 2 or 3 of each kind every other day so we have lovely fresh cake to offer and a good selection too.

For some reason I was thinking the cakes would be better if they were frozen before baking?

It's all making perfect sense in my head but maybe it's odd?

I don't think the batter would freeze well at all (although I've never tried it). Most cakes will be ok to freeze (once cooked) & you could maybe ice them once defrosted (rather than before freezing). You just need to make sure you wrap them really well prior to freezing. Carrot cake & red velvet type cakes which have oil in tend to stay nice & moist.

As for the buttercream, you can freeze it & providing you don't add milk to thin it (just add drop of hot water if necessary), the buttercream will be fine in the fridge until the use by date on the butter. Either way you just need to give it a whisk to freshen it up before you use it. You could make up a big batch of plain buttercream (if date on butter decent), & just add the flavour to match when you defrost the cake.