Cupcake Cryogenics

Have you ever tried freezing cupcake batter? I did...  I don't bake everyday, but usually when I conduct a new experiment I end up with tons of extra cupcakes and I'm usually looking to give them away. But like clock work, approximately two days later I come home tired from work, with no energy to bake, wishing I had saved one back. So I got this bright idea to freeze some extra cupcake batter and see what happened...

Cryogenics is the study of very low temperatures: their production and effect on materials. According to the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology Cryogenics Technologies Group, the low temperatures studied in cryogenics are measured on the Kelvin (k) scale and range from any where below 120k (-153 degrees Celsius).

All too often when people think of cryogenics they immediately flash to bodies being frozen; which is actually cryonics, a subcomponent of the broader study cryogenics. However, cryogenics serves many more purposes than to preserve a body for the future. Cryogenics are used in medical treatment such as Cryosurgery and also to preserve blood tissue and other biological specimen. Moreover it is used in the flash freezing of many foods found in your grocery's freezer isle, including vegetables and ice-cream.

While the freezing temperature in this experiment was not as low as that used in cryogenics (just the lowest my freezer would go) I parceled some of my fully prepared (with eggs) coconut cream cupcake batter into a freezer bag and froze it for 1 month. Note: This batter is oil based.

Picture A                                     Picture B                               Picture C

Picture A shows the cupcake batter while thawing, after being frozen for one month.  I did not take a before freezing photo, but I did notice that the color of the batter appeared a bit darker while it thawed than this batter usually looks when it has been freshly made.  Picture B shows the thawed batter which I poured in silicone cupcake baking cup (I did not mix the batter again). Beside the color change, which almost always happens with anything frozen for the same length of time, the batter looked fine and still possessed its coco-nutty aroma.

Picture C shows the cupcakes after baking. Some how I anticipated that they would not rise since the air that is incorporated in fresh cake mixing would be non existent after freezing. But to my surprise they rose! Not as much as I would have liked them too but... Also, if you notice in Picture B there are a few bubbles in the batter... Signs of some air incorporation.

The verdict: Once they cooled, I  tasted them and they tasted great, but the texture I was not fond of. The cakes were very edible (and no I did not fall ill lol), in fact I have tasted other people's cake and cupcakes that have the same texture, but it is not how I like my cake.  The period of freezing (1 month) was a relatively long time, I will have to do some further experimenting, but I hypothesize that freezing for only a week or two might yield more favorable results.

Have you tried freezing cake batter? Feel free to share below.