suggest a dessert that satisfies my bizarre logistical constraints

November 24, 2018 10:40 PM

I'm going to come back from a week out of town and then later the same day leave again for a potluck in another state. Can the hive mind suggest a dessert which can be prepared, stored for a week, then transported for six hours at room temperature and served without a kitchen? Preferably finger food, preferably can be pre-portioned. Savory is fine. Cheap is good.

Some ideas:
- cheese and a terrine or rillette with crackers
- cut up some fruit, like a pineapple
- chocolate
- can you freeze an unbaked pie or cookies and then bake it and take it out the door within a few hours?
- ???

posted by meaty shoe puppet to Food & Drink (22 answers total)

You can absolutely freeze the dough for many cookies and then thaw and bake- and sometimes bake from frozen- just search Google for freezer cookies. Many cookies also store well already baked- I decorate and ice Christmas sugar cookies over Thanksgiving weekend and bust them out a month later, and they’re not much worse for the wear.
posted by charmedimsure at 10:44 PM on November 24, 2018

I don't know about unbaked cookies but you can absolutely freeze baked ones and take them out when you leave for the potluck and they'll be fine.

My mom does this every year for Christmas cookies (she already has 52 dozen of various types frozen back this year) and they're perfectly good for months.
posted by bowmaniac at 10:45 PM on November 24, 2018

- can you freeze an unbaked pie or cookies and then bake it and take it out the door within a few hours?

Absolutely! Assuming you have a couple of hours to bake and cool, I think some sort of slice-and-bake cookies are your best bet. Make the cookie dough, freeze in logs, and then bake when you get back. I make a version of these sables flavored with ground cardamom (and with chopped-up dark chocolate in place of the cacao nibs if I can't be bothered to get those) that are always a hit. This brown sugar shortbread is another stalwart; sometimes I add toasted coconut too.
posted by karayel at 10:47 PM on November 24, 2018

I have made and frozen and later baked and enjoyed Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies many times (just roll into a log as karayel suggests, like the cookie dough you get in the store and freeze).
posted by tiger tiger at 12:33 AM on November 25, 2018

You could make chocolate salami. It's relatively straightforward, and you can change up the ingredients to suit palates and pockets. It will store well and travel well, and there are a million versions out there if the linked recipe isn't entirely your thing.
posted by ninazer0 at 12:51 AM on November 25, 2018

Scotch tablet. Just put it in an airtight Tupperware and leave it in the fridge for the week-- should be fine and have come up to room temperature when you get to the potluck.
posted by Rush-That-Speaks at 1:05 AM on November 25, 2018

Banana bread freezes decently and is always a hit. Just bake it and wrap it well before you freeze it, and I think you could probably just let it thaw on the car ride. Add nuts and/or chocolate chips to make it more festive.
posted by the sockening at 1:08 AM on November 25, 2018

My mom freezes pretty much every baked good (after baking them, not before). Not just cookies but also brownies, rugelach, hamentashen, those jam-filled loaves that I don't know what they're called, whatever. None of them seem to be any the worse for wear after.
posted by phoenixy at 1:13 AM on November 25, 2018

Freezing balls of cookie dough scooped with an ice cream scooper is standard bakery practice, you can throw them straight into the oven without a defrost, it helps some cookies (snickerdoodles) hold their shape instead of puddling. That being said, you totally have my permission to go pick up snacks at the store instead of using your interstate downtime doing meal prep.
posted by moonlight on vermont at 2:09 AM on November 25, 2018

Yeah, freezing both cooked and uncooked baked goods works well, but as moonlight says, it's totally legit to grab a box of brownie bites from the grocery store if you're not feeling it.
posted by metasarah at 5:05 AM on November 25, 2018

Some cookies — like springerles — are meant to be baked and aged, with no special treatment other than storing in an airtight container.
posted by kittydelsol at 5:54 AM on November 25, 2018

You could do a chocolate trifle. Buy refrigerated chocolate pudding, cool whip, two bite brownies before you leave on first trip. When you come back, just layer and serve. Skor bits are good too.

A less sweet option- brie, grapes, crackers.
posted by Ftsqg at 6:00 AM on November 25, 2018

The best cookies for freezing for a long time and then baking right before transport/consumption are called "icebox cookies", a style of cookie pretty much invented along with freezers becoming common in most homes. My family has a go-to one called nut cookies, but there are many different recipes and you can just google up "icebox [favorite flavor] cookies" and get a good one.

Simply, you make the batter which is usually very sturdy, place it onto cling wrap or wax paper, roll it up into a log (you can squish it to have flat sides or have another profile, too) and set it in the freezer. After it's frozen through you cut it into slices and bake the cookies as normal. You can also of course freeze the log, slice into cookies, reassemble the log with paper between the slices and refreeze for even faster cookie baking. And because they are normally such sturdy things you can bake them and refreeze them and thaw them with no real issue.

Here's a cheddar version for a savory option! I might just make these...
posted by Mizu at 6:43 AM on November 25, 2018

Pound cake is good for this. You can bake it, slice it, put it in the freezer, take it out and pack it, and and transport it wherever it needs to go.
posted by Autumnheart at 7:10 AM on November 25, 2018

Puppy chow could be stored in an airtight container for a week. May want to put it in the fridge.
posted by buttonedup at 7:12 AM on November 25, 2018

This seems like a good scenario for mini cheesecakes or cheesecake bars, which can be made ahead and frozen. 6 hours seems like just about the right amount of time to fully defrost at room temperature without spending much time in the danger zone.
posted by drlith at 7:21 AM on November 25, 2018

Macarons would meet this criteria. They are usually better after a few rays
posted by Northbysomewhatcrazy at 7:37 AM on November 25, 2018

Baklava
posted by Segundus at 10:06 AM on November 25, 2018

This just begs for a flourless chocolate cake. They tend to get better with a good long rest.
posted by mumimor at 12:05 PM on November 25, 2018

Russian tea cakes (and their boozy cousins, rum balls) actually taste best if they're allowed to age for a week or so. Store 'em in a sealed Tupperware, nestled in plenty of powdered sugar.
posted by ourobouros at 2:38 PM on November 25, 2018

If this were me, I'd just spring for a bag or two of Cuties Mandarin oranges, or some other citrus fruit. Just pick them up at the store, on the way to the potluck. People might especially enjoy them if there's the seasonal colds going around.

Bonus - they can be cut up at the potluck, and used to garnish people's drinks!
posted by spinifex23 at 11:52 PM on November 25, 2018

> If this were me, I'd just spring for a bag or two of Cuties Mandarin oranges, or some other citrus fruit. Just pick them up at the store, on the way to the potluck. People might especially enjoy them if there's the seasonal colds going around.

Seconded. It is really nice to have something fresh and juicy to cut all the bready stuff, there is still enough of a vestigial tradition of oranges for the winter holidays that Mandarins/clementines feel more festive than other fruit, and they're cute af.
posted by desuetude at 8:17 AM on November 26, 2018