I’d probably remove the icing before eating.

I don’t know… maybe ask a baker? Or try microwaving it for a short time? I’m not sure about that idea, but it’s all I can think of.

My advice would be the same as noellajean’s.

I didn’t realise people kept cake for years to eat later on. I thought it was for memory purposes only

A recently ate some wedding cake which is a bit over 5 years old. Knowing them it would not have been re-iced. The icing was still reasonably soft. I know the icing didn’t have almond in it at all. That may make a difference – I don’t know.

drink LOTS of alcohol before eating it LOL

Do people really keep cake for this many years and expect to be able to eat it? I would be keeping it for memorabilia, but to eat….I don’t think so! Sounds like the damage is already done to your icing, but enjoy the cake

our cake maker told us to take the fondant icing off and microwave the cake a bit to make it softer. not sure what to do with the fondant, I would be hoping that it thaws out a bit on the bench and hope that it doesn’t go yuk

You could try taking the icing off, specially if it is a fondant icing.

I thought the top layer was supposed to be eaten on your first anniversary…

As to the icing all I can suggest is let it sit on the bench to defrost, do cover it in a teatowel (make sure it is 100% dry) and keep checking every 15mins or so, depending on how large the cake it, you may need to change the teatowel after a while if it gets damp. I hope this helps as this is what my cake decorator friend has suggested to me in the past and it worked.

I can only suggest short stints in the microwave or perhaps placing a warm damp tea-towel over the cake (not certain if the tea-towel idea will result in sticky icing though.)
Hope some other moms can help. Good Luck.