How to Store Cupcakes

Cupcakes are a lovely addition to any celebration. Obviously fresh-baked cupcakes will taste the best, but making them does require a bit of prep work and it can be hard to fit this into your schedule. Storing them short-term on your counter or longer-term in your freezer can buy you some time before serving them.

Both frosted and unfrosted cupcakes can easily be kept in an airtight container at room temperature or in a freezer with a small amount of preparation.

1 Give the cupcakes time to cool completely. If you just removed your cupcakes from the oven, let them cool, uncovered, for at least one hour.^[1] If you put them in a container when they’re hot, condensation will build up and make them soggy.
- Cooling the cupcakes on a wire cooling rack causes them to cool faster and stops the bottoms of the cupcakes from turning soggy or steamy. This is because the air is able to circulate all around them, which doesn’t happen if the cupcakes are sitting on a plate or cutting board.^[2]
2 Frost your cupcakes if you won’t have time later. It’s better to frost your cupcakes as close to the time that they’ll be eaten as possible, but sometimes schedules won’t allow for this! Just be mindful that any frostings with dairy products should be refrigerated, not left out.^[3]
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4 Lay a sheet of wax paper on the bottom of the container. Cut it if you need to make it the right size to fit in your container. Wax paper is great because it has a thin layer of wax over it that…