Birthday party in the park! Here's a good question from reader Theresa.
I am organizing a birthday picnic BBQ for 2 friends next weekend. We're expecting about 20 guests. Our picnic site is at a park so we have no access to a refrigerator or freezer (just coolers). Could you suggest a birthday cake (or cupcakes? Pies?) that is tasty, easy to make, transportable, and won't melt at the sight of the sun? Thanks so much!
Theresa, a birthday park in the picnic sounds like a blast. It's not difficult to make a birthday cake (or pie) that will stand up well to the summer sun.
We would avoid cupcakes, first of all, because they are just hard to transport. Unless you have a special cupcake carrier it's hard to get all those slippery, slidey cupcakes across town un-smooshed.
We would prefer a 9x13 cake, baked in regular cake pan with one of those plastic lids that seals firmly. Check out some good options in this post: Essential Baking Tools: Pans.
Avoid the multiple layers, and just bake a yellow cake from scratch. This sort of sheet cake is the most practical option. It may not be as dramatic as you would like, but you can still dress it up. Two cakes would be plenty for that amount of people. Check out our easy recipe here:
To dress it up, we suggest fudgy chocolate icing. This particular recipe will get a little soft in the sun, but it won't run or melt. In fact, it will be even more delicious a little warm.
• DIY Whipped Chocolate Frosting
To dress it up, we suggest bringing a couple pints of raspberries and a bar of good chocolate. When you get to the park, uncover the frosted cakes and cover with raspberries and chocolate curls. Here's how to make chocolate curls; just bring along a vegetable peeler.
If we were going to bake a cake for a friend and bring it to a picnic, that's how we would most likely go about it. Pies are a great option too. We'll toss it out to the readers now; what would you bring to a birthday party in the park?
Related: On Birthday Cake for Breakfast
(Image: Flickr member ChocolateMonster licensed for use under Creative Commons)
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Cupcakes w/o frosting? Maybe take powdered sugar in a separate bag to sprinkle on top before serving?
view Susmita's profile
I'm going to throw out two options for cakes I've made:
A Chipotle Flourless Chocolate Cake:
http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/007254chipotle_flourless_chocolate_cake.php
Or Black Cherry Vanilla Cupcakes:
http://vanillagarlic.blogspot.com/2007/06/vanilla-bean-black-cherry-cupcakes.html
Both are very easy to make and each is very sun proof and picnic friendly.
view protogarrett's profile
I would do cupcakes and bring icing to frost on site. That way the icing can chill in the cooler until you're ready for it and you can transport many un-iced cupcakes. Added bonus is that you don't need extra forks or plates for cupcakes.
view caw261's profile
why not make some pie or cobbler?
Rhubarb crisp perhaps?
I do like the idea of the cake with the berries, but I'd definitely go for a chocolate cake. And please, please don't use a mix!
view revolution9's profile
How about a bundt cake, sprinkled w/confectioners sugar then served w/fresh fruit on the side?
view turtleesq's profile
My mom loved making me birthday cakes and mailing them to me in college. A few times she made a giant cookie cake, that would be 2 huge chocolate chip cookies (baked in cake pans) with chocolate in between as the layer frosting. It transported well through the mail, so to the park it would be no sweat. Easy to eat too, b/c its slices of cookie, so no plates or forks required (good for college students too!) just bring a sharp enough knife to slice up layers of cookie!
view FromTheFuture's profile
I like turtleesq's idea.
Even better, make a bundt cake and put fruit filling in the middle (of the actual cake, not the hole). Just pour half the batter into the pan, then pour in your favourite fruit compote (even pie filling works) then cover with the rest of the batter.
DELICIOUS.
all the talk of cake makes me hungry
view revolution9's profile
I have this friend whose aunt makes seriously nice cakes (like $300-500 cakes). We had a bbq for the 4th and the cake she brought was cool, moist and stayed awesome in the sun.
She told me her secret was that as soon as the cakes where done baking she immediately put them in the freezer overnight. Next day she took them out, frosted the cake frozen and let it sit on the counter for a couple of hours, this way, the cake is relatively cool and able to be outside for a bit (at least 2 hours)
view wwoolsey's profile
Just bake cupcakes in mason jars...then you can add the frosting and decorations on top, screw on the lid and easily transport them in their original box to the picnic....plus they look super cute this way
http://cscakedesign.blogspot.com/2008/04/cupcakes-in-jar.html
view fischbowl's profile
My favourite birthday cake is a marble bundt cake (made with really good 70% chocolate and cake flour), with just powdered sugar on top. That would travel well, no matter the weather.
view mschatelaine's profile
I've transported a spiced bundt cake to work before and it worked beautifully. I drizzled warm frosting on it and it made a nice glaze. Divine. :)
view Marbargarbo's profile