Flying Cake

Many people have asked me to ship them cake. I have been very leery of shipping cake because of the time that it takes to get anywhere and the fragility of my cakes. Over two years ago I started my experiement in shipping my goodies. The first thing I shipped was a pecan pie to a friend in Dallas, and it was a success so I thought that I would branch out a bit. This year for his birthday I sent him a simple two layer cake. It was more about the flavor of the cake than the look so I thought it was a great trial. Yesterday I shipped off my first fully decorated and shaped cake!! Steve is a wicked good skier who lives part time in Alaska flying helicopters and skiing the backcountry of The Last Frontier. When he is not in Alaska or jet setting around the world he is ripping up Summit County, so I only found it fitting to send him a skiing themed cake.



I knew what I wanted the general shape of the cake to look like but was not certain how I was going to arrive at that shape. After putting together a few dry runs of pans I ended with an 8 inch round, a 6 inch taller round, and 2 8 oz ramikens. I felt this would supply me with a great shape that I would only have to carve slightly. I hate to carve off too much cake because then you just end up eating it yourself!! After the carving was done, I spread a nice thin crumb layer on the cake to seal everything in. Once the crumb layer was complete I put the cake in the fridge to allow it to cool and stiffen up.



The frosting job is very simple, but that was the point. I did not want to put eight hours into a cake that may end up in a crumb pile. The brown spots on the cake are to signify large boulders and cliffs that you might see above the treeline in the backcountry. With a pastry bag and a tip I made a few evergreens to fancy up the bottom of the cake. The interesting thing is that I had sprinkled on some coconut near the bottom of the cake to give the appearance of fresh snow. Well frosting does not like to adhere to coconut that is loose on the side of a cake. So, I had to carve out a little spot in the frosting for the trees so that they could stick to other soft frosting and not simply slide down the mountain. I will not see how the cake looks until next week, but I feel good about the effort and its chances.

Birthdays are such a big thing to me. It is the one day that you are celebrated by yourself and I have always wanted people to know how much I value them and appreciate them on their birthday. I started making birthday cakes for friends nine years ago. The first few were disasters, but the more I practice, the better they seem to get. Lets face it, it is always the thought that counts. Besides, who doesn't like to get something in the mail on their birthday?