How to keep several pies and cakes cool?

[pdxvintagette]

This year will be my boyfriends' 10th consecutive year at Burning Man (he's the shiny Silver Guy), and I want to throw him a Tenthiversary party sometime early in the week. Baking ala-1950s-housewife is sort of my specialty. We do have a small trailer with tiny fridge/freezer, but it wouldn't hold as many baked goods as I plan to bring - and we generally use it for regular foodstuffs anyway. I'm thinking of brining two to three cakes and five pies or so - I would like to be able to invite as many people as we meet on the street that day.

Luckily, we have more capacity than we know what to do with, as we are hauling said trailer with a 24 foot box truck that is bringing some supplies for other camps. But there's still plenty of room. We arrive Monday night, and I could certainly have the party on Tuesday, but I want to make sure that my tupperwared Baked Goods arrive unmelted and unspoiled. What would you recommend for keeping relatively spoilable baked goods safe and cool for the trip and the heat? I was thinking a smaller chest style freezer packed with dry ice might be more effective than simple coolers, but could really use feedback from those with more experience!

Also, you're most certainly invited. And you want to come - I make stellar Swiss Buttercream frosting. Just find the silver guy on the street early on and ask where the cake will be!

[Captain Goddammit]

If I were in your shoes I'd scratch up a cheap or free full size fridge and bring/buy/rent a nice quiet Honda generator.

[dragonpilot]

The dry ice may FREEZE your baked goods...it may work, but I thot dry ice was for keeping things frozen, not just cool.

[Dr. Pyro]

Beware of dry ice. It froze a bottle of Blue Sapphire Gin solid. Took half a day to thaw out.

[Savannah]

There is a 13 page dry ice thread here (I remembered vaguely that it existed and googled eplaya dry ice):
http://eplaya.burningman.org/viewtopic.php?t=3232

Which ought to tell you if it's going to be too powerful for you, or if there are ways to mitigate that.

Good luck! I hope to run into your party . . .

[Elliot]

On that Dry Ice thread, there is also talk of Dry Ice imparting an undesirable flavor on foods.

Regular ice -- frozen water -- in blocks would be safer. You may have to go to a local ice supplier to get real blocks, not the grocery store.

I once used a dead refrigerator -- stripped of its cooling apparatus and laid on its back -- as a giant ice chest. Seemed to work well enough.

You would want to make sure melt water can not splash up onto the cakes when the vehicle is in motion.

Captain, have you run a Honda EU while going down the road? No problem with fuel sloshing in the carburetor in an essentially stationary machine?

(Why do a couple of these sentences sound like Gyre wrote them? )

[Captain Goddammit]

(Why do a couple of these sentences sound like Gyre wrote them? )

Lol...

Yes, one year I needed to keep an electric refrigerator cold on the way to BRC and ran a Honda EU2000 the whole way, no problems at all.
Our cake maker in question would have to figure out where to carry the genny - I had mine on the trailer - but I can't think of anything nearly as good as simply strapping a cheap Craigslist real refrigerator to the wall inside that box truck.
Lots of room for cakes and pies, perfect temp control, no water logging issues... why wouldn't you do it? And then on the playa you'd have a real fridge with a real freezer. Which would rock.

[Elliot]

...simply strapping a cheap Craigslist real refrigerator to the wall inside that box truck. ...

... With stout blocking to keep the refrigerator coils from being crushed against the wall. Except that some refrigerators do not have external coils, such as the old Admiral in my kitchen, which would be the best way to go.

[pdxvintagette]

Yes, one year I needed to keep an electric refrigerator cold on the way to BRC and ran a Honda EU2000 the whole way, no problems at all.
Our cake maker in question would have to figure out where to carry the genny - I had mine on the trailer - but I can't think of anything nearly as good as simply strapping a cheap Craigslist real refrigerator to the wall inside that box truck.
Lots of room for cakes and pies, perfect temp control, no water logging issues... why wouldn't you do it? And then on the playa you'd have a real fridge with a real freezer. Which would rock.

This makes perfect sense. We have a big, noisy generator that we don't use much, but had been looking at the smaller, quiet variety. A fridge would have more than enough room and would give us all sorts of options for cooking for friends, too, and a place to store the fruit juice for my Tiki Torch punch! Honestly, I'm not sure why I jumped to the options that included freezing the cake. Defrosted cake just isn't as good. I am uncertain about how to vent for the generator in there while we're in motion, which seems important, unless I also come up with a need for a portable gas chamber.

[Elliot]

Ah yes, you don't want to use a noisy generator. The Captain and I are both members of the Honda EU-series Worship Society, which might give you a hint. They are worth the money. Perhaps you could mount it on the tongue of the trailer?

[dragonpilot]

And if you opt for the frig, don't lay it on its side while you're traveling down the road, thinking that it will travel better that way. It will, but frigs are made to run level...that's why RV owners go to some lengths to ensure their RVs are level when they park.

[soygurl]

This might all be a moot point because you can't get a Nevada temporary food permit for items prepared in a home kitchen, off playa. Which is something you need if you're planning to give out cake and pie to the public. Sorry.

[Sic Pup]

So as not to have a thread actually hit page two without the requisite tangent I have to tell you that I cannot see the term "pies and cakes" without bringing back childhood memories. I'm probably dating myself but I grew up in an ethic neighborhood where we would have truck deliveries of not only milk and butter but bleach and ammonia in large 5 gal bottles, knife sharpening services and baked goods by an old immigrant couple with distinct accents. It didn't matter if it was the wife or the husband but after stopping the vehicle and ringing the bell exactly three times you could not help but become bug eyed and jaw-dropped with the curious sound of "poison cakes".

We were too poor to indulge most weeks but I always got a checkerboard cake on my birthday, not so much because I particularly liked the cake (hey it's cake, it's all relative) but more so to figure out how they accomplished the, seemingly, miraculous feat of wedding the vanilla and chocolate cake in such a fashion.

I was a curious child (in more ways than one).

[theCryptofishist]

I really liked marble cakes, for what I suspect were similar reasons.

[lemur]

all the sweet green icing flowing down...

[theJOYOUS]

[quote="pdxvintagette"] Hi ~ happy and surprised to see this thread and know that someone else has attempted what I plan to do this year. PDXVINTAGETTE ~ did you ever get your cakes and pies successfully to playa and if so, how'd you keep them fresh? I've got to travel and store cupcakes for a wedding from Wednesday to Wednesday ~ open to options. Please let me know... don't have the means to bring a genny & a fridge, so I hope you figured something else out!

Thank you!

[Jovankat]

Oh god cupcakes on the playa would BLOW MY FREAKING MIND

[bluemiragemi]

IMO and YMMV, I would go with baked goods that are made to withstand the conditions on the playa. Something simple that will hold up.

I'm making a few batches of cookies as gifts for my camp and to gift to folks. They'll be oatmeal and peanut butter variations because I know it'll hold up to the temperature.

What about items like buttermilk cake and Texas sheet cake? Cupcakes without the frosting...keep the frosting in a separate container and add it right before consuming? That way you can keep the stability of the frosting/whipped cream/whatever topping, separate from the integrity of the cake consistency. Hummingbird or carrot cakes should also hold up. I'm thinking anything light and fluffy (sponge cake, with frosting on it) or mixing wet and baked ingredients (a fruit pie), might not work so well?

[Jovankat]

Thank you for that post luemiragemi, you've just inspired me to bake Anzac biscuits for the playa! They're a recipe that was designed during World War 1 to keep well when mailed to the troops half a world a way. I reckon they'll be playa proof!

theJOYOUS would using a recipe that's closer to a muffin than a cupcake maybe help? Muffins often have a bit of a crust that would probably only be improved by the dry conditions on the playa but then crust then keeps the inside protected and moist.

[VultureChow]

What do you have the means to bring? I bake cinnamon rolls on playa with a small stove and a folding oven. Do you have room in a cooler for them? Can you do a dry ice cooler? How many cup cakes are we talking about?

If I had to do this, it would depend on the volume. If I only need say one or two dozen, I would bake them on playa and then use canned frosting(this does not need to be refrigerated) to decorate there. Maybe make some candy man logos to put on top ahead of time for decoration.

If I had more to do, I would bake the cakes ahead of time and freeze (without frosting on them.) Keep frozen in dry ice cooler. Then thaw and decorate on playa.

If I had choices, I would do a frozen cake over cupcakes. They pack better for the volume. Three round layers individually wrapped and then frozen. Assemble on playa.

[theCryptofishist]

That cake's long since eaten. It was a thread from last year.

Not that there isn't value in spreading information about playa baking, but it is more general now.

[Mojojita]

Oh god cupcakes on the playa would BLOW MY FREAKING MIND

The little Camp Chef oven can do them easily - they were at Costco not long ago.

[jneilvindy]

Oh god cupcakes on the playa would BLOW MY FREAKING MIND

viewtopic.php?f=364&t=69615

You might wanna wander by that camp....

[Jovankat]

Oh god cupcakes on the playa would BLOW MY FREAKING MIND

The little Camp Chef oven can do them easily - they were at Costco not long ago.

I'm more into the eating than the baking.

Oh and the sociopolitical discussions of what the popularity of cupcakes *MEANS*

No really, there are a lot of articles out there about that stuff.

Oh god cupcakes on the playa would BLOW MY FREAKING MIND

viewtopic.php?f=364&t=69615

You might wanna wander by that camp....

Already on the list. My cupcake radar is finely tuned don't you worry!

[bluemiragemi]

Honestly, I am all about the sexuality of cupcakes. It's fascinating. And disturbing lol. CRUMBS IS CLOSING OH NOES.

[VultureChow]

Honestly, I am all about the sexuality of cupcakes. It's fascinating. And disturbing lol.

[Jovankat]

Honestly, I am all about the sexuality of cupcakes. It's fascinating. And disturbing lol.

This is highly relevant to my interests

[AntiM]

Oh god cupcakes on the playa would BLOW MY FREAKING MIND

The little Camp Chef oven can do them easily - they were at Costco not long ago.

We love our Camp Chef. We bring pre-made dough for cookies and sweet rolls, and biscuits (flaky, out of the tube biscuits). Larry does most of the baking. I have not tried baking from scratch, or even a mix, on the playa, because we are not equipped for clean up. I am a messy baker. But is is entirely possible.

Our Aussie newb has talked about making the Anzac biscuits for us. I hope he can pull it off!

[Jovankat]

I'd forgotten I planned on doing that, thanks for the reminder!

[AntiM]

Does your recipe include Golden Syrup? Not always available in the US.