Although they’re fairly straightforward to bake, you might be wondering whether or not you can batch bake them and store them in the freezer, right?
Can You Freeze Bakewell Tarts?
Yes, you can freeze Bakewell tarts for up to 3 months. As long as they are well wrapped and covered, they will freeze extremely well. However, it’s best to freeze the Royal Icing separately, as it can become sticky when defrosted.
Do Bakewell Tarts Freeze Well? Yes
Can You Refreeze Bakewell Tarts? Yes
How to Freeze Bakewell Tarts
Freezing Bakewell tarts is an easy-to-follow process.
We would advise you to freeze them without the royal Icing topping though. Simply bag up the required icing and freeze it alongside the tarts, and you can add it to the top of your tarts once they have been defrosted.
Here are the necessary steps to freeze your Bakewell tarts:
- Allow to Cool: Once your tarts are baked, leave them on the countertop to cool before preparing them for the freezer. It will take an hour or so for them to cool completely.
- Freeze the Icing Separately: As mentioned, don’t add the royal icing at this stage. You will need to place the icing in a freezer-safe bag and add it to the freezer alongside the baked tarts.
- Wrap the Tarts: If you’ve prepared individual tarts, remove them from their tins and wrap them individually in cling film. Then place them in a Tupperware box. If you’ve baked a whole, family-sized tart, check that the container you’ve used is freezer-safe, and cover the surface thoroughly with cling film.
- Label and Freeze: Write the date you prepared the tarts on top of the container as well as the use-by date. Remember, you can freeze bakewell tarts for up to three months.
3 Tips for Freezing Bakewell Tarts
Now you know how to freeze them, we’ve got our 3 top tips which we strongly recommend following when freezing Bakewells to have the best results:
Portion Larger Tarts
If you’ve baked a family-sized Bakewell tart instead of individual tarts, you could always portion the tart before you freeze it. Why do this? Well, it means you can dip into the freezer and help yourself to an individual portion, without having to defrost the entire pie.
Freeze Bakewell Tarts Undecorated
As well as the royal icing, leave any other decorations off your tarts if you plan to freeze them. The signature cherry that tops your individual tarts can also be frozen, but it’s best to freeze it separately.
Keep Them Apart
If you’ve prepared individual tarts, position them inside the Tupperware box so they’re not touching one another. This ensures they won’t stick together when freezing, and the box will protect them from being damaged by other, heavier items that you keep in the freezer.
How Long Can You Freeze Bakewell Tarts?
You can freeze Bakewell tarts for around three months.
While they will be safe to enjoy past this date, the flavours won’t be well maintained for much longer. As such, we recommend enjoying them within the allotted three months from freezing.
Bakewell tart can be kept on a covered dish or in an airtight container for around 5 days in the fridge. After 3 days, however, you may find the pastry has softened.
How Do You Defrost Bakewell Tarts?
The day before you want to enjoy your Bakewell tarts, take them out of the freezer and allow them to thaw in the fridge overnight.
Don’t forget to take the icing out of the freezer at the same time, even though it doesn’t need as long to thaw as the bases.
Also, remember and leave yourself enough time to ice and decorate your tarts! If you need to speed things up you can always defrost the Royal Icing in the microwave on a very low heat, to get it to a suitable piping texture.
Can You Refreeze Bakewell Tarts?
There’s no harm in refreezing Bakewell tarts after you have thawed them. That being said, we certainly wouldn’t recommend refreezing them if you’ve already decorated them with icing.
The best thing to do is wrap them individually so you can take out of the freezer only what you need. As is the case with lots of cakes and tarts, the more you thaw and refreeze them, the worse their texture will become over time.
Do Bakewell Tarts Freeze Well?
Providing you don’t add the icing to your Bakewell tarts before you freeze them, and you keep them individually wrapped, you will find that they freeze extremely well.
In fact, you probably won’t be able to notice the difference between freshly baked and defrosted tarts, such is the way that they preserve your texture and flavour.
This is what makes Bakewell tarts the perfect sweet treats to prepare in batches and preserve in the freezer for whenever you want to enjoy them.
Related FAQs
If you’ve still got questions about freezing Bakewell tarts or Bakewells in general, then these may help:
Frangipane can be frozen in much the same way. The most important part is to ensure it is kept in the freezer airtight. Wrap the frangipane in multiple layers of cling film before placing it into a bag to store in the freezer. This will prevent the air from getting to it.
We would avoid freezing icing which, unfortunately, will see a dramatic change in texture once frozen. Instead, keep it off the Bakewell tart then add the icing once they have defrosted.
