Sending a birthday cake to Afghanistan

fb88

gibson123 wrote: »

But you can Royal Ice a Chocolate Cake. You can do the choc cake, and then cover it with fondant icing, then Royal Icing. Will keep for months. However BCPO is usually quite quick, so the going off bit is less of an issue, if you buy the cake from a good baker, ask them to pack it for you for sending through the post, they have all sorts of packaging options for this type of thing.

Thanks very much for your reply! I hope I don't sound silly but what is BCPO?

fb88

Thanks for your help everyone, have lots of suggestions so going to have a think about what would be best

Is icing on cakes likely to melt/get messy? I'm not really sure!?

Thanks again

mrbrightside842

Apparently marzipan smells of Semtex (explosive) so avoid that to stop it being torn apart!

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ragz wrote: »

Any cake with icing all over will last longer, as heavy as possible (ie not a light sponge) so it will keep. Ginger/treacle loaf cake would work, though not sure if you could ice that.

You could wrap it in greaseproof paper, then in foil.

Thanks so much for your response, I'll probably sound silly here but is the standard 'supermarket cake' a heavy sponge?

DuckEggGingham

You can make a cake in a jar Not a fool proof idea as the delays in post getting to them sometimes may ruin the life of the sponge lol Though its not so bad now, Christmas though is a nightmare as thats when everyone sends a soldier a parcel so post from loved ones can be delayed by up to 8 weeks because of the bulk but this time of year is not so bad.

I would personally buy a shop brought sponge as it would most likely last longer based on the preservatives (lol sorry!) I would use a circle cutter and cut a "round" out...pop that into the jar then I would do a layer of icing and finish off with another "round" of cake. Sprinkle on some icing sugar and then seal the jar. Make a cute tag and maybe attach a candle and a plastic fork to the label?

I am sure I have seen them online, maybe google to get some ideas?

Good luck!

allybee101

My Mum sent my brother sponge cakes when he was out in Afghanistan.
She baked the sponge cake and once cooled wrapped in in clingfilm. She made buttercream icing and put it in a sandwich bag - sealed and double wrapped. Included instructions to snip corner of bag off and decorate cake as required.

It stops the cake from going soggy!

He was out there October-March last time so it would have been cooler, but it could work.

I used to send him shortbread and biscuits. Brownies are also good.

Homemade stuff always trumps shop bought, and will survive the journey if well wrapped.

allybee101

BCPO is probably BFPO - British Forces Post Office

PipneyJane

You might want to look at recipes for honey cake. In theory, it keeps for months (never lasts long enough in my house). The texture is quite dense and solid. Tastes wonderful. They're made with oil instead of butter/margerine, which lowers the cost. Any Jewish cookery site or recipe book will contain a recipe.

fb88

Thanks everyone, he really likes chocolate cake so might follow the suggestion of icing with fondant icing then royal icing. Do you think that would be okay? I hope so!

Will also make some brownies and other biscuits as well!

Thanks

littlegreenparrot

When my brother was in Iraq I made a gingerbread biscuit dough and cut it into the letters for Happy Birthday, then used those little gel icing bottles to decorate it. They all fitted into an old margerine tub that I covered with paper.
They travel and keep well, and there's nothing in there to melt!