Berry Baked Goods

July 10, 2009 8:28 AM

What baked good can I make that includes fresh berries (raspberries/blueberries/ or strawberries) that will travel well in the mail?

I would like to send a friend a care package including some sort of baked goods. While I know cookies travel well (and I'm shipping from NJ to Seattle), I'm going berry picking this weekend and would like to make something that includes berries if possible.

posted by pianohands to food & drink (8 comments total)

Unless you are going to next day air these, I'd avoid baking with fresh fruits; they can get moldy or weepy in my experience. Can you do preserves? Fresh berry jam and compote are very easy to make and send, if you have proper jars etc...
posted by wowbobwow at 8:47 AM on July 10

I made this cake with raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries, and it survived being carried around all day at work and then to a backyard barbecue that evening.

It does not require refrigeration, but it did start to grow mold after about 4-5 days. Such is the nature of something containing that much moisture and sugar. I'd suggest baking quickly, wrapping loosely in parchment paper, and then packing carefully and shipping overnight.

Keep in mind that berries left unrefrigerated will start to molder pretty quick on their own, so you're probably going to be doing such a thing for any baked good.

If you can find a disposable aluminum baking pan with a plastic lid at the grocery store, a mixed berry cobbler would work well too. It's pretty dense and not meant to look particularly pretty so I'm sure it would survive shipping.
posted by Juliet Banana at 8:49 AM on July 10

If you don't mind cooking the berries down into preserves (since they're going to be used immediately you do not need to know how to can, just the whole pectin-jelling deal) Linzer Cookies would work and probably last longer than moister baked goods.

There are lots of recipes for muffins with jam fillings, as well, but I think they'd start to molder as quickly as the cake I linked earlier.

When I was a little kid I used to bake corn muffins (use any cornbread recipe, or even the boxed stuff) with a dollop of jam in the middle. My homemade cornbread doesn't fall prey to mold as quickly as sweeter baked goods, but it does get dry.
posted by Juliet Banana at 8:55 AM on July 10

Someone, no names mind you, has been hinting like there's no tomorrow that we should make these. You could certainly substitute berries for the cherries. Although I don't know how well raspberries would hold up.

I think they would be nicer than cookies, but not as fragile as trying to mail an actual tart or something. You could also easily bake them in something more interesting that a square cake pan if your interested in upping the presentation.
posted by -t at 9:49 AM on July 10 [2 favorites]

What if you put together one of those gift jars with the dry ingredients for cake or muffins layered inside? You could find a recipe that incorporates fresh berries, test it with your fresh berries this weekend, and send your friend a cute dry-ingredients kit (jar of ingredients tied up pretty, nice recipe card, maybe a new baking pan) without the risk of weeping/molding fruit in the package. Unless there's something sentimental or otherwise significant about the particular berries you're picking in New Jersey, someone in Seattle probably has access to very nice fresh berries--the best strawberries and raspberries I've ever tasted have been from roadside farmstands in Oregon and Washington.
posted by Meg_Murry at 9:50 AM on July 10

If you're willing to overnight the package, closely packed scones would probably be fine.
posted by jocelmeow at 10:50 AM on July 10

I've shipped these to three different people successfully. Make sure if you attempt a hand pie that you crimp the edges well otherwise they leak a bit. Either way, as soon as they cool they firm up and you don't have to worry about it.
posted by thehmmhmm at 5:57 PM on July 10

I have shipped plastic wrapped blueberry/cranberry muffins across country via priority mail on several occasions. They arrived fine. They'll last longer if you glaze them (mix water with enough powdered sugar to make it thick but not a paste, then drizzle over the top of cooled muffins and let dry).
posted by Caviar at 11:52 AM on July 22