Reheating a cake quickly and safely can seem foolproof, but texture blending can be a challenge for many reheating methods.
What is the best way to warm up cakes?
In our opinion, the best results seem to be achieved by placing an open foil tent over your cake and heating it in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 to 30 minutes.
Today we're going to talk about the pitfalls of the most common ways to reheat pies and the best ways to get the filling just right without burning the crust.
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Which cakes can you reheat?
The reheating guidelines in this article will work for most types of dessert pies that are intended to be served hot.
This contains:
- Apple Cake
- cherrycake
- Pecan showers
- pumpkin pie
Fruitcake is pretty easy to reheat. It is generally robust and forgives many beginner mistakes. The most delicate part is the bottom of the crust, which requires extra attention if you want it to turn out as crispy and flaky as it originally was.
Aim to reheat fruitcakes within about four days of original baking.
You can enjoy nut tarts either warm or at room temperature. If you plan to reheat a nut cake, try to do so within a week of making it.
Don't try to reheat cream cakes. These are designed to be served ice cold.
Pumpkin pies taste great cold, but they can also be warmed up and served warm with a dollop of ice cream. About four or five days after you've made a pumpkin pie, the filling tends to separate from the crustYou could see water above. Try to warm it up and eat it beforehand.
Related |How long do pumpkins last?
How long to warm up cakes
The time it takes to reheat your cake mainly depends on the type of cake as well as its size and thickness.
- The thickest pies are about 8.75 inches deep and should be heated for about 15 to 20 minutes.
- Thinner cakes, about 5 inches deep, usually take 12 to 15 minutes.
- Turnovers can be reheated in about 10 minutes.
For best reheating results, bring your cake to a cool temperature just above room temperature before placing in the oven or microwave. Frozen cakes should be thawed before reheating. If your cake isn't at the right temperature yet, you'll need to add a little more time to get it there.
- For refrigerator temperature cakes, add about five minutes more.
- If you can't thaw your frozen cake in advance, you may have to add up to half an hour more.
My favorite part about reheating a cake is that moment when the heat starts to loosen the texture and the cake's perfume starts to leach all over the kitchen. Here's roughly how long different methods take to reheat different types of cakes:
- Reheat a fruit cake in the oven - 15-30 minutes at 350F
- Reheat a nut tart in the oven - 10-15 minutes at 350F
- Reheating a pumpkin pie in the oven - 10-12 minutes at 350F
- Reheat a single slice in the microwave - about 30 seconds
- Reheat an entire cake in the microwave - 5-10 minutes in 30 second intervals
A simple rule of thumb to remember is this: Place your cake in the oven when the cake has cooled and the oven is hot. This will avoid the hot rookie mistake of burning the edges of the crust, as well as the cold rookie mistake of ending up with a warm crust and a cold filling.
If you're worried about the dry cake, make a suitable cinnamon, lemon, ginger, or honey sauce. Pour it into the pie through a slit in the crust before reheating so it's dripping with moisture.
If you're worried about a soggy cake, heat it on the bottom rack of your oven. Reheating on the bottom rack traps heat between the bottom of your pie and the bottom of the oven, keeping the crust crisp.
Avoid refreezing and reheating a cake more than once. Every time you freeze and reheat a cake, its quality and texture deteriorate. Repeated temperature fluctuations also encourage bacterial growth, which can make you sick.
How to reheat apple pie in the oven
Your apple pie was likely originally baked in an oven, so reheating it in an oven will give you the best results. An oven heats the cake throughout, retaining all of the moisture on the inside and the crispiness on the outside.
It takes a little longer to warm up in the oven than the press-and-play microwave, but we think the few extra minutes are worth it. These reheating instructions apply to any fruit cake with a crust on the top and bottom.
What you need
- 1 ovenproof dish
- Aluminium foil
- 1 My oven
Warm up instructions
- Take the cake out of the fridge beforehand and let it come a little closer to room temperature during this timepreheat the oven.
- Set your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and wait for it to preheat.
- When reheating an entire pie, the crust acts as a barrier to keep the inside moist. If you have a partially cut cake that is missing pieces, you can build a tent out of aluminum foil to keep the moisture inside. Use a piece of foil about three times the diameter of your cake. Fold it in thirds lengthwise and clip the two ends together with a paperclip to make a triangular prism with open sides.
- Place your cake in an ovenproof dish, slide the dish into your foil wrapper and place the entire tent structure in the oven. Do not tuck in the sides of the foil or your cake may absorb too much moisture and become mushy.
- Let warm up for about 15 to 30 minutes. Check regularly for signs of burning or blistering. You can poke a clean knife into the filling every now and then to see if it comes out warm.
- Once the fruity filling is cooking, remove the foil tent and let the cake bubble in the oven for another three or four minutes. This allows the heat to circulate well through the filling and gives the crust a bit more crispiness.
- Using an oven mitt, remove the cake from the oven and let it sit for a few minutes to cool to a mouth-safe temperature.
How to reheat cakes in the microwave
Pies come in a full spectrum of textures, from soft to hard, wet to dry, crunchy to mushy, flaky to sticky, etc. Microwaves aren't usually good for mixed textures. The dry tends to absorb the wet, and the flaky melts with the sticky.
This is because microwaved starches love to suck in nearby liquids and turn into glue. Microwaves are egg beaters too. If you put a cake with eggs in the microwave, it can quickly become gummy.
If you are only reheating a single slice, you can ignore the instructions below. About 20 or 30 seconds in the microwave on full heat is enough.
When reheating a whole cake, you need to take a few precautions to preserve its quality.
What you need
- 1 microwaveable crockery
- paper towels or wax paper
- 1 My oven
Warm up instructions
- With your cake in a microwave-safe bowl, loosely cover the top with some waxed paper or paper towels. No need to build a fancy tent or tuck in the sides. Just a few sheets of paper placed on top of the cake should be enough to seal in the moisture.
- Heat your cake in 30-second intervals to ensure it reaches, but does not exceed, the correct temperature. It can take between 5 and 10 minutes in total.
- You'll know the pie is done when the filling inside begins to bubble and expand through the slits in the top of the crust.
- Turn off the microwave and leave your cake covered with the paper for a few minutes. This allows the heat to penetrate all the places it missed.
- If you want an extra crispy crust, finish by baking the pie in the oven over high heat for three more minutes.
How to thaw a frozen cake
The best way to thaw a frozen cake is to plan ahead. Leave it in the fridge for about eight hours so it thaws slowly and evenly.
Instead of waiting for your oven to heat up again, place the cake in its foil tent in the oven while it heats up. Start your oven on a lower heat than usual. We recommend around 200 degrees, then follow the oven preheat instructions above.
Final Thoughts
Most fruit or nut tarts with two crusts are best reheated in the oven.
Covering the pie with foil in the oven or paper in the microwave is the trick that makes the filling dance without burning the crust.
Your cake will retain its quality best if you reheat it within four or five days of making it. Do not freeze cakes and do not reheat them several times, otherwise you risk getting sick.
FAQs
What is the best way to reheat pumpkin pie? ›
The safest way to warm your pumpkin pie is to reheat it in the microwave for 10 to 30 seconds right before you are ready to eat it. Only heat the slices of pie which will immediately be eaten in order to keep the rest of the pie safe to heat for the next meal.
How do you warm up a pie? ›Heating Fully Baked Pies:
Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. Put the pie, turnovers, or pastry on a cookie sheet on foil or parchment, and lightly cover with foil. For a 9-inch pie, heat for 15-20 minutes. A 5-inch pie will take about 12-15 minutes and turnovers will take about 10-12 minutes.
Store the wrapped pie in the refrigerator for up to four days. Once you're ready to eat the pecan pie, you can serve it cool from the fridge or reheated. You can reheat it in the oven at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) for 15 minutes.
How do you heat up a pumpkin pie in the microwave? ›How do you heat up a refrigerated pumpkin pie? The quickest and easiest way to warm pumpkin pie is by the slice and in the microwave. Transfer your desired portion to a plate, microwave for 15 to 30 seconds, garnish and enjoy. If you have more patience than we often do, preheat your oven to 350° F.
Should you warm up pecan pie? ›Some pies are best served hot or at least warm. In the case of pecan pie, they are best served cooled down to room temp or even out of the fridge. You want that filling to set up like a pudding inside. Serve it while it is too warm then that stuff just comes spilling out.
How long to heat up pumpkin pie in oven? ›PUMPKIN AND PECAN PIES
Reheat in 300 degree oven for 15 minutes. Let rest for 30 minutes before serving.