Pastry chefs across Holland America Line's fleet are showcasing their favourite creations during Cake Me Away, a new Lido Market dessert celebration. Debuting on board in time for National Cake Day on November 26, Cake Me Away displays more than 22 tantalising five-layer cakes in 16 decadent flavours, with extra servings of the most popular types.
Holland America Line's international pastry team also has created a selection of mini-jar cakes that will be added to the daily dessert rotation at Sweet Spot in Lido Market.
"Our pastry team has some of the most talented chefs in the world, and Cake Me Away allows us to bring flavours from their home countries to our guests," said Michael Stendebach, vice president of food, beverage and guest services at Holland America Line.
"The culinary team is always developing new ideas, and Cake Me Away gives them the opportunity to share their favourites and introduce new original cakes for our guests to enjoy."
Cake Me Away occurs once on seven-day cruises and multiple times on longer sailings, depending on length, in Lido Market. Cake Me Away combines culinary décor with all-time favourite and popular cake flavours – including original cakes like the Heaven and Hell cake (which layers angel and devil's food cakes with a peanut butter frosting).
To accommodate the dietary needs of all guests, Cake Me Away selections include gluten-free, vegan and no-sugar-added options.
Mini-jar cakes are a bite-size take on the current trend of layered jar cakes. Holland America Line's mini-jar cakes will be offered daily in Lido Market. Flavours will rotate among the following:
- Black Forest: devil's food cake layered with kirsch frosting and cherry compote, topped with chocolate shavings and a cherry.
- Carrot Cake: traditional carrot cake layered with cream cheese frosting, topped with toasted and chopped walnuts.
- Cookies and Cream: devil's food cake layered between cream cheese frosting, and Oreo cookies.
- Key Lime Pie: key lime filling baked on a graham cracker crust, then topped with Crème Chantilly and candied lime zest.
- Red Velvet: layers of red velvet cake, chocolate buttercream and cream cheese frosting topped with red velvet crumbs and white chocolate shavings.
- S'mores: layers of graham cracker crumbs, devil's food cake crumbs, boiled icing and chocolate mousse with torched icing.
- Strawberry Pavlova: chopped meringue layered with white mousse, fresh strawberries, strawberry sauce and chopped meringue.
Comprising 198 pastry and assistant chefs across the fleet, the pastry team hails from India, Colombia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines, bringing their local tastes and recipes to Cake Me Away. For example, one shipboard favourite introduced by pastry chefs from the Philippines is Sans Rival cake — meaning "unrivalled" in French — which layers buttercream, meringue and chopped cashews.
