After yesterday's brill 'making gifts' post, I am going to make and gift wrap cakes as presents for the children's teachers.
I was planning on making carrot cakes - I'll make and freeze the actual 'sponge' in advance, and then frost them just prior to giving them at the end of school term.
However - if I'm giving the cake as a gift I wonder if I have to put an 'eat by' date on it? If so, how do I work out how long the cake will last? I usually make a carrot cake frosting out of cream cheese, butter, lemon and icing sugar. I'd happily leave a carrot cake to be munched through covered on my kitchen worktop for 3 or 4 days - my kitchen is reasonably cool, but I don't want to cause any upset tummies in anyone if their kitchen is hotter! I could therefore put on the label 'refrigerate and eat by 'X', or I could mess around with making a frosting that doesn't have cream cheese in it, although I think that would spoil the taste a bit..
Do you reckon a carrot cake will last a week if refrigerated, or any ideas how to find out?
