For the party last night, I decided to bring a mismatched pair of cheesecakes (a white chocolate raspberry that didn't come out quite the way I had hoped, and a spiced pumpkin that was as perfect as I'm ever likely to manage).
Now the pedestrian way to bring these things would be to pack them into a cooler, but I haven't found one quite the right shape (and for some reason, winter seems to be a lousy time of year to find one in the shops). But while gathering ingredients this week, I spotted a substitute that worked beautifully....
Laundry basket. One of the stubby round ones.
Hefty makes a 2.5 gallon slider bag, which is large enough to hold a 9 inch springform pan. So each cake goes into a bag, as does a pound or two of ice.
The ice goes on the bottom, then cheesecake #1, then a disposable platter to cut the cake on. More ice, cake #2, platter. The sauce can go on top, in the cavity between the bags of ice that rest on top of the tower. A kitchen garbage bag over the top (to reduce the risk of things toppling over), and the lot goes into the trunk. Upon arrival, the kitchen bag is left behind to hold the excess ice, the rest gets unpacked indoors.
As an experiment, I lined the bottom of the pans with parchment (rather than relying on butter or spray). Getting the pans set up was something of a pain, but getting the cakes out of the pans was beautiful - just pull on the parchment border and everything slides along quite happily.
I was using 10" or so platters, which were just a touch small - the elevated rims interfere, just enough to annoy, with the knife when cutting slices. Also, I like to have a bit more splash zone for easier cleanup.
I managed to get the plates and napkins to stretch far enough, but fell short on forks. Idiot; the excess of forks can be saved for next time - the right quantity to bring is twice as many as you will need.
January 1, 2006 2:12 PM
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