Bake sale decision. To freeze or not to freeze?

[hippywife]

So, the cheesecake I made last night is for a bake sale tomorrow at work, just for my coworkers and the residents of our retirement community. I'm thinking of selling it by the slice to raise more money. I have fresh strawberries to slice as decoration and topping. I want it to look really pretty.

I figure slices of cheesecake really can't sit out very long at a bake sale and,e ven tho there is a nearby fridge, you can't sell it if people can't see it. I'm thinking I will slice it tonight and wrap each piece and freeze it. I'm not sure what to do about the strawberries. I'm thinking I will either fan them along the crust with the crowns on them, or layer them on each slice with the wider end of the slices towards the crust and the narrower end pointing toward the narrower end of the cheesecake.

Do you think it will be okay if I do that before freezing the cheesecake slices so the whole thing ends up wrapped together and frozen? Or should I freeze the strawberry slices separately, then assemble the decoration on the frozen cheesecake slices?

Or should I just not freeze any of it and hope it all sells really quickly?

Decisions, decisions.

[NMDemDist2]

1. just float it over a bowl of ice

it will keep for hours like that as long as you refresh the ice as needed

[hippywife]

2. I thought about that, too.

Might be a lot less work that way. I'm anticipating that it will sell pretty quickly. I have a reputation around the place. ;)

[NMDemDist2]

3. there ya go then!

problem solved eh?

[hippywife]

4. Probly.

Presliced with a little parchment paper in between each, ya think?

[NMDemDist2]

5. that will make it neater to serve for sure

and it'll look like you're a pro! ;)

[hippywife]

6. Thanx for talking it out with me, sweetie.

Much appreciated. :hug:

[NMDemDist2]

7. my distinct pleasure

:pals:

[Warpy]

8. Right, I think freezing it isn't a very good idea

keeping it over ice is a great idea. Unless it's midsummer, the cheesecake will be long gone before any bacteria have a chance of multiplying to dangerous levels even if it's held at room temperature. Remember, that cheesecake will stay cold just because of its mass.

Keeping it on a plate over a bowl of ice is probably not even necessary this time of year, but if it makes you feel safer, do it.

[hippywife]

9. I did float it on ice

in my very old, but still very functional Rubbermaid container (the very large round one they don't seem to make anymore, I think it was originally for pies. Kind of looks like a UFO.) It did sell pretty quick but not quick enough that it didn't start to soften a tad so I stuck it in the fridge for a bit, too.

It probably didn't sell as quickly as I thought it would because we placed a price of $3/slice and it was next to cookies, muffins, and slices of quick breads that were priced at .50 for multiple pieces. And old people don't usually like to pay that much even tho I only cut it into 8 slices, so they were pretty large. The ladies that did buy it let me know that it was "to die for!" One told me that she took it right home and ate it, all of it, before 10:00 this morning. She said she didn't mean to eat it all but couldn't stop, then she had a tummy ache. She's one of our younger more active residents. And I'm already baking two of my very moist, yet dense carrot cakes for her husband's memorial service (as my contribution, not for pay.)

I am hoping that word gets around and I get some folks wanting to pay me to bake for their luncheons, bridge parties, etc. Last year after the bake sale, the same family ordered three lemon cakes from me within a couple of months and paid $12 for each.

[housewolf]

10. Congratulations!

What a wonderful bake sale success! I hope you get some orders, that would be terrific!

What flavor did you end up making? You might have said up-thread but I missed it.


Congrats again


:party: :party: :party:

[hippywife]

11. Hey there! Thanx!

I just made a plain cheesecake with a chocolate crumb crust.

http://www.joyofbaking.com/Cheesecake.html

I didn't get around (again!) to doing the sour cream topping because it was midnight Wednesday night in the midst of all the storms that I finally pulled it out of the oven. I really want to get to that tho! I did find some Meyer lemons at the grocery for $1.99 for a bag of half a dozen of them so I used the zest of two of those. I was tempted to add just a bit of the juice, too, but wanted to stay on recipe for the most part since it wasn't for home.

I was planning on slicing the stawberries and fanning them on each slice with the crown still attached but didn't want to do it too soon and risk the juices softening or discoloring the cake. Once again, I was awake for a couple of hours in the middle of the night Thursday. By the time I got up Friday morning, it was too late to do anything but add a whole berry to the top of each slice for decoration.

I haven't seen you around for a few days, I hope you're doing okay. What's been going on at your place?

:hug:

[housewolf]

12. I've been around but perhaps a bit quieter

I've posted replies to a few posts here in C&B this week, but I'm really a baker and not much of a salad/main dish/side dish cook (or eater either, for that matter) so I don't always have much to add on those topics.

Been shakin' my head on a daily basis in GD-P and GD, feel like it's often best to avoid the conflict there and just not comment, so you may not have seen me around much this week.

Lemon zest is great in "plain vanilla" cheesecake - it gives just a tiny hint of lemon that adds and complements the richness of the vanilla. I think you did the best thing by adding one whole strawberry to each slice for the bake sale - most definitely the simplest thing and it gives people the choice of having it or not. If I get a chance later today, I'll scan in & post a pic of a strawberry-covered cheesecake that might give you some inspiration for some other occasion.

Thanks for the hug! and here's one back-atcha

:hug: