<p>I plan to ship a homemade b-day sheetcake to my D, and received some good suggestions and recipes on the Frosting thread. I think a chocolate ganache-topped cake would be her favorite, so I’d like to try that. From a food safety angle, is it safe to ship a cake frosted with chocolate ganache without refrigeration? I could freeze the cake first. We are in the Pacific Northwest, so heat should not be a factor. It will take 2 days to reach her – one-night shipping is too expensive.</p>
<p>Can you put dry ice or some frozen ice packs in with it? We have had frozen pasties shipped to us from Michigan in the past but i can’t recall how they were packed.</p>
<p>Here is a link with some suggestions that may - or may not - be helpful. If you scroll down the page there are some tips for packaging.</p>
<p>[url=<a href=“http://www.baking911.com/howto/mail.htm]howto_mail[/url”>http://www.baking911.com/howto/mail.htm]howto_mail[/url</a>]</p>
<p>(Off topic, but I couldn’t help it) “frozen pasties,” swimscatsmom? That conjures up quite a visual! Brrrrr! ;)</p>
<p>:o oops :o s/b Pastys</p>
<p>Mind you in August round here when the temp hits 104 frozen pasties might be a good idea. Maybe I could invent them.</p>
<p>Thanks for the link, swimcatsmom. Unfortunately I seem determined to disregard some of the advice – I plan to ship the cake in its covered pan (rather than removing it from the pan, wrapping in plastic, and returning to the cleaned pan; and I want to frost it myself instead of sending frosting alongside). That said, the advice seems sound. I keep thinking the frosting ingredients are similar to truffles, which are sold and stored unrefrigerated…</p>
<p>I think it should be fine. We usually take a few days to eat cake that has a ganache frosting and it doesn’t go bad. I agree that frozen icepacks in the box might ease your mind.</p>
<p>Mathmom, whenever we’ve had a cake with chocolate ganache it’s also had a mousse type filling so I’ve always kept it in the refrigerator. I was hoping to hear from someone like you with “counter” experience. Thank you!</p>
<p>Ship me one as a trial run And I’ll let you know how it works out :D</p>
<p>lol, swimcatsmom. You have just reinforced my impression of CCers as such a thoughtful and generous bunch!</p>
<p>Ganache is made with fresh cream which is why it needs refrigeration. If it goes overnight mail and it’s not summer, it should be OK, but I’d thrown in some coolers.</p>
<p>Ganache should be absolutely fine in the mail as long as it is reasonably cool at all points, and that is not really a food safety issue but a melting one. It does not need refrigeration. (The sugar in the chocolate, plus the fact that the cream is brought to the boil, make it perfectly safe at room temp for days.) I would put a few frozen gel packs in the box just on general principles. If you can get the kind that are covered in a king of fibercloth-like stuff, they won’t sweat and that will be better.</p>
<p>Thanks, Consolation. I’m glad you said it’s not a food safety issue, since I shipped the cake on Monday and it should arrive today! I froze it first and included a gel pack as well as putting the cake in one of those insulated bags I happened to have. I’m curious to hear about the cake’s condition upon arrival since a post on a birthday thread this week described a shipped cake as resembling a pile of dirt. We shall see!</p>
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<p>When I was in grad school, shortly after my parents separated, my dad went through a domesticity phase. I went to the mail one day to receive a box about the size and shape of a textbook, with my dad’s return address. I opened it and inside was a gallon-sized ziplock bag. Inside the ziplock bag was what looked like a bag-shaped brick of granola.</p>
<p>“Hey,” said my dad next time he called, “Did you get the oatmeal raisin cookies I sent?” I responded, “Is <em>that</em> what they were?”</p>
<p>He was very disappointed until I told him that it made an excellent ice cream topping. (Students gladly take baked goods no matter what shape they’re in!)</p>
<p>I just sent boxes of cookies to my son and nephew. I always wonder if they arrive in crumbs or intact.</p>
<p>Just heard from the birthday girl, who was very sweet about the cake but noted, “I don’t think they kept it flat.” When I asked what shape it was in, she said she had tried to figure out whether there had been something on top – “I saw some pink.” So much for the frosted inscription and frosting flowers (painstakingly applied in a variety of buttercream shades atop the ganache), lol! “It was really good, though; we ate some of it.”</p>
<p>LOL, zipyourlips! At least it tasted fine! </p>
<p>They ate some of it? Can they ship the leftovers to me? ;)</p>
<p>BunsenBurner, since D is not exactly the tidiest person in the world and the dorm room has institutional carpeting (that obviously can’t be wiped down), maybe it’s just as well if they don’t try to eat too much of it!</p>
<p>When shipping things like cookies, the most important thing is to minimize the ability of the items to move inside the package. Pack them tightly inside a container, then pack that container inside a box with firm packing material around it.</p>
<p>They may still break when the UPS guy drop-kicks the box across the distribution center, or melt when they leave it inside the un-airconditioned truck in the blazing sun over the weekend, but they are unlikely to be actually pulverized.</p>
<p>It is actually possible, by the way, to purchase styrofoam shipping boxes with made-to-fit cardboard shipping cartons. And there are online sites where you can get advice about how many gel packs per cubic foot to use depending on the number of days in transit.</p>
<p>And then there is the power of prayer. 
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<p>Speaking as one who has been through the mill on shipping perishable, heat-sensitive food items.</p>
<p>PS: again with the icing! I am having a really hard time restraining myself from making a cake. I’ve even started looking longingly at the tubs of frosting in the supermarket, and I loathe that stuff. :)</p>