Frosted Birthday Brownies: Mail-able?

February 15, 2013 5:05 PM

I want to make brownies for my son's birthday and mail them to him. This is not a problem. What might be a problem, however...

...is that I want to write "Happy Birthday Son'sName" on the pan of brownies first. But I am afraid that the frosting will chip off in transit. Is there any type of (white) frosting I can make that will stick really well onto the brownies?

another complication is that I know that the best way to mail brownies is to cut them into squares first and then stack the squares or put them in bags or something -- and that sending the pan as an uncut whole is maybe a little bit riskier (is this even true?).

and for more information, I am planning to send the box by USPS, but I could use another method if that would be preferable, and in the box I am packing a couple of more gifts (tee shirts, to be exact). I plan on packing everything up very tightly somehow.

The birthday box needs to be sent on Wednesday to make sure to get there on Saturday (son's birthday is Sunday)

Any help with this appreciated.

posted by DMelanogaster to Food & Drink (11 answers total)

You have to seal off the brownies from the rest of the package. Anything short of that is just asking for oily crumbs everywhere, staining everything, and flying out of the package as soon as the outer layer of tape comes off the box. I speak from experience. If that means finding an extra, extra large ziplock bag, then so be it. But seal that pan off.

Now, as to the writing, would blondies be out of the question? You could mix most of the batter as regular brownie, then make a little bit of the blondie batter on the side. Layer the colors into the pan before baking, and use a knife to write out the message. Or you could pipe the blondie batter on top of the brownie batter. It might turn out a little swirly and abstract, but you could just go over it with frosting once they're done. That way if the frosting flakes off the brownies still say Happy Birthday Son.
posted by carsonb at 5:13 PM on February 15, 2013 [2 favorites]

An imperfect solution....print something with edible ink on a sheet of edible paper then stick it on top of either each one, or the uncut tray. Less chippable, but not as simple or do-at-homeable.

(In Australia some franchised cake stores do this.)
posted by taff at 5:13 PM on February 15, 2013

How about you cut them into squares with a letter or two on each square, wrap them individually and he'll have a puzzle to solve. Plus, since they're individually wrapped, he'll be sure to enjoy a fresh brownie each time.

Instead of icing, you could press M&M candies - M&M Mini ones - into the tops of the brownies to spell out each letter, they will stay put.
posted by NoraCharles at 5:15 PM on February 15, 2013 [3 favorites]

If you write on the top, lay down a layer of wax paper, seal the pan up with a ziplock bag, and then pack the tshirts on top to cushion the writing, they might make it. Son should be able to peel off the wax paper but leave enough writing to see the message. OR, put a piece of glad wrap on top and he can see the message before he peels it off to eat them.
posted by raisingsand at 5:54 PM on February 15, 2013

Best answer: What about creating a channel in the brownies in the shape of the letters you need and piping your icing into them? Then when they're wrapped in cling wrap, it'll stay.
posted by sunshinesky at 6:12 PM on February 15, 2013

Best answer: Wilton makes cookie icing in a bottle that looks remarkably like Elmer's glue, that would dry hard and hold up as long as you could keep the brownies intact.
posted by terilou at 8:38 PM on February 15, 2013

Mailing the brownies uncut and still in the pan they were baked in is actually the best way, in my experience. Bake them in a foil or cardboard tray that comes with a lid (they have them in the normal grocery store in the baking aisle here). Cut a piece of styrofoam or similar so that it exactly fills the space between the top of the brownie and the lid. Cut windows in the styrofoam corresponding to where you want to write (optionally, cover the styrofoam with plastic wrap if it looks like it will shed styrofoam pieces from the cut edges). Put your styrofoam on the brownies, write on the brownie in the windows that you cut, put the lid on, and tape the whole thing really well.
posted by anaelith at 9:24 AM on February 16, 2013

Response by poster: Thank you for all these great ideas. Here is where I am now, after processing all the posts:

I think I'm going to make some stiff cardboard cutouts in the shape of the letters of his name. Luckily there are only three letters in his name. So...Then I'm going to make the brownies and another recipe, of white chocolate brownies. Then I'm going to pour the white chocolate batter into the cardboard letter cutout things. Then I'm going to pour the brown chocolate batter all around the cardboard things. Then I'm going to REMOVE the cardboard things, and, I hope, the batters are stiff/thick enough that the (white chocolate batter) name won't totally flow into the brown chocolate background, if I am very careful (???)

Then I will bake the pan of heterogenous brownies.

I so hope that you'll be able to see the name after they're baked, and it won't just register "Botched marble brownies."

OR I will follow anaelith's suggestion. Except I'm not that sure I can do it very well. I'm imagining styrofoam shards going all over the brownies, sticking to everything, etc. I"m not very good with that sort of project.

OR I will follow terilou's suggestion with a modification: after the brownies are baked, I could take a sharp tool and make tracks in the shape of the three letters of my son's name, and then fill in those tracks with Wilson's cookie frosting. Then cover everything with plastic wrap. But I am afraid the letters will come out with the plastic wrap. This is why I like my idea of baking the letters right into the brownies, with lighter-colored batter, the best.

Still thinking about this though, obviously.
posted by DMelanogaster at 4:13 PM on February 16, 2013

Response by poster: oh I think what I"m talking about is sort of like carsonb's suggestion, except for my elaborate plan to make these temporary cardboard cutouts to give more structure to the three letters, but thank you, carsonb.
posted by DMelanogaster at 4:16 PM on February 16, 2013

Royal icing is the way to. Turns into delicious rock hard letters.
posted by plinth at 4:13 AM on February 18, 2013

Response by poster: plinth, it's not so much about rock hard letters. It's about adherence to the not-rock hard brownies.
posted by DMelanogaster at 7:57 AM on February 18, 2013