Creative shipping ideas/help please! (cost, house, how much, daughter)

[fuzzymystic]

I have a dilemma and could use some ideas. I'd like to try to send a birthday cake over to my son in Iraq, and I've been trying to think of a way to package it so it's at least identifiable by the time it gets there. I thought about baking and frosting it, then over the top I'm going to put chocolate coated cookies to cover it, so if it gets tipped, the cookies will stick to the frosting and the cake won't stick to the lid of the package. I got an aluminum pan w/a lid, but I'm going to at least cover it with foil, and maybe a kind of fitted piece of cardboard, prior to putting that lid on it.

Here's my problem though. What can I put in between that and the plastic cover-there will be space, and I even thought of sticking balloons that were blown up enough to provide a barrior/cushion. But, dh said what will happen to them at 20,00 feet. Well, I don't happen to know that answer!

Do any of you have any ideas? If you do, please help me out! Thanks!

[debey]

Can you ship it in a ''flat rate'' box? I would think the pan would fit securely.....not much sliding around.....
Bubble wrap would not weigh the cake down, if you put that as the very top layer..........and bubble wrap survives air shipping.........

[Karla with a K]

I would make the cake inside out put the frosting in between the layers and you can cover the outside with powdered sugar
you can get the candy happy birthday letters and flowers to decorate

I would use parchment paper to wrap it because not much sticks to this stuff

you can also go to the bakery dept of your local grocery store and ask them if you could have a couple of the cardboard wax coated cake rounds that they use on the bottom of the cakes
I bet if you tell them you are using them to send a cake to your son over in Iraq they will just give them to you.

Another idea I had that may help keep it fresh is what if you froze the whole thing really solid then if you know someone who has one of the food saver vacuum seal machines you could vacuum seal it once you have wrapped it in parchment.
I tried this once when I sent brownies to a family member and they arrived really fresh.

If you have a air popcorn popper you could pop lots of popcorn and use that to cushion the cake pan

Also find out when the mail is sent from the APO point
Many times it only goes out certain days so that way you could gauge what day you will need to priority mail it.
That way it won't be sitting for a long time before it gets sent on its 2nd half of the journey

[masonsdaughter]

You might want to try the advice from the above post the keep the cake fresh, but without frosting the cake. Instead, send the frosting in another container. This way, there is not danger of the frosting melting into the cake. Blessings to you and your son. Tell him Happy Birthday from CD

[Karla with a K]

masonsdaughter
what a great idea !!! The frosting in the little cans is pretty tasty
How much fun will it be for him to be able to frost it then enjoy it with his fellow buddies in his unit

I would also throw in a few party hats and those whistle blow things and a HB sign and it is a party in a box

[Gypsyrhydyr]

Karla with a K had some pretty good ideas. Only improvement I can think of is to go ahead and bake/ship the cake in a "good" metal pan w/ a hard plastic lid. Or even one of those sliding metal lids. The sturdiness of the metal versus the usual bake & carry (flimsy) aluminum pans. The heavier metal would offer more protection.


PS....Our thanks to him for seving

[fuzzymystic]

Cool-thanks guys. I did think about some of these ideas, like an inside out cake and sending the frosting separately but I like the idea of having the cookies on it to seal it and keep it from getting smushed. I'm not worried about the side to side, that will be easy to fill in. I'm worrried about it getting tipped upside down.

That' a cool idea about popcorn, that's light and fluffy and would be cushioning without weighing down on the cake plus he would get a two-for-one treat! I could maybe pop some and stick it in a couple big ziplocks? Or see if we have any of that packing peanuts stuff or bubble wrap (of course that would be an extra treat too!) Oooh or maybe a couple small bags of chips, something with the air already in it!

[AksarbeN]

I’ve seen on tv and heard of a company that makes cakes that are sent to servicemen and women but I can’t remember the name.

First thing that comes to mind is fruitcakes always get mailed from one end of the country to the another. lol However that’s not what you’d want to send your son.

I believe a good homemade “sheet” cake will make it if you don’t frost it. Or I was thinking of the upside down cake that I remember ~ a sheet cake pan with all of the goodies (pineapple or peaches) on the bottom of the cake. Upside down peach cake with a can of whipped cream to use as frosting would be cool, however I don’t think you can send a can of coolwhip because it needs refrigeration.

Another idea is a large sheet cake pan and bake a large brownie with nuts in it, add those small little marshmallows near the end of the baking that would melt into the top of the brownie. You could even use colored ones to spell out his name or happy birthday. When ready for shipping ~ place an aluminum covered cardboard over the top of the marshmallows and then box the brownie for shipping.

[fuzzymystic]

Originally Posted by AksarbeN

I’ve seen on tv and heard of a company that makes cakes that are sent to servicemen and women but I can’t remember the name.

Those cakes cost over 50 bucks and they are REALLY small.
I just looked it up again, it's a nine inch round, single layer and it says "serves 8" Eight what? Please! In my house, it would serve...whoever got to it first!

I do have brownies as an option too, but I wanted to make him a cake, that's all. I got a Devil's food cake mix, dark chocolate frosting and 2 different kinds of chocolate covered cookies for the top.

[debey]

does he have a microwave? there is that reciepe.... a cake mix, & a can of pop, in a microwaveable bundt pan & "nuke".............
you could ship cake mixes & the pan, (they should have access to soda?)