The Deerslayer's Wife
Embracing the Hunting Lifestyle
How to Do a Birthday Cake at the Hunting Camp
The Deerslayer family recently converged at the ranch to celebrate two birthdays, Deerslayer’s and one daughter’s who drove in from college. Don’t forget that it’s been hotter than stink in Texas and the thought of heating up the cabin by baking a cake didn’t appeal to me one bit. I love my family dearly but no one wanted birthday cake if it meant that our one room camphouse/sleeping quarters would become too warm to, well, sleep in.
I solved the problem by baking my cake at home before we headed up to the hunting camp. I cooled the two layers of the chocolate cake, wrapped them in cling wrap, and froze them.
I packed the ingredients that I needed to assemble the cake on location: blackberry filling (aka blackberry jam), prepared (store-bought!) dark chocolate icing, sliced almonds (not shown above) and a cake carrier to be used to cart the left-over cake back to college with my Junior Deerslayer.
The frozen layers of cake were packed in our Yeti 65 cooler with the other foods that I cooked ahead of time and froze for the trip to cut back on on-site cooking time. Because everything that went into the cooler was already frozen, it was easier to keep everything that way for the 8 hour trip. I chose the Yeti 65 because it’s just the right size to hold frozen evening meals for 4 people for several days. The frozen foods plus frozen cake leave just enough room for a 10 lb. bag of ice.
Good meals, good cake, cool camp house. Priceless!
If you have any tips on transporting yummy desserts for hungry hunters, please share.
The Deerslayer's Wife 
The cake looks amazing!
Thank you kindly! The instant coffee added a really rich chocolate flavor.
Thanks. A bit of espresso powder really gives it a richer chocolatey taste. Super easy, too.