Holland America’s New Dessert Extravaganza: “Cake Me Away”
Introduction
The two things I love most in life both start with the letter C: cruising and cake. My husband and son have mostly accepted their positions, tied at number four. However Henry (my dog) continues to work tirelessly to improve his standing – he now politely excuses himself after farting and has finally adjusted to daylight savings time and is back to pawing me awake for his morning walk at 6am instead of 5am. And then there are his melancholy puppy dog eyes, which he’s been practicing at the dinner table every night for fifteen years. Still though, even though my husband rushes him to the Burger King drive-thru every time he flashes those big brown peepers, looking all famished like he didn’t just eat his regular kibble plus a slice of sidewalk pizza, he remains stuck at number three on my favorites list. Sorry buddy, even if you start going outside to fart and let me sleep until 7am, you just can’t compete with chocolate ganache (seriously though, let a gal sleep and take those toxic fumes outdoors).
Which brings me to an exciting announcement from Holland America, one that makes me think they’ve hacked into my brain to identify the one thing that would make me love them even more: CAKE!
Holland America Announces a New Dessert Extravaganza: “Cake Me Away!”
In a November 16, 2023 press release, Holland America Line announced “Cake Me Away,” a special complimentary dessert celebration that will take place in the Lido Marketplace buffet (occurring once on seven-day itineraries and multiple times on longer cruises) as well as new mini-jar cakes that will be offered daily in the buffet. “Cake Me Away” will feature 22 five-layer cakes in 16 different flavors, with gluten free, vegan, and sugar free options available.
What Cake Flavors will be Offered?
Some of the 16 different cake options offered at “Cake Me Away” on every Holland America ship will include:
- Almond Roca Cake: Layers chocolate cake with chocolate ganache, whipped cream, and homemade almond roca (a hard toffee with chopped nuts and chocolate).
- Carrot Cake: A traditional carrot cake with warm spices, chopped nuts, and cream cheese frosting.
- Concorde Cake: A gluten-free option made from chocolate meringue.
- Cookies and Cream Cake: Alternating layers of cake and crushed chocolate cookies.
- Crème Brûlée Cake: Inspired by the classic French dessert with vanilla cake, creamy custard, and pastry cream.
- Heaven and Hell Cake: Features layers of angel and devil’s food cakes topped with peanut butter frosting.
- Mille Crepe Cake: Features layers of cream and crepes.
- Sans Rival Cake: A recipe from the Philippines that layers buttercream, meringue, and chopped cashews.
What Mini-jar Cakes will be Offered?
Mini-jar cakes are a bite-sized layered jar cakes and will be offered daily in Lido Market at no extra charge. Flavors will rotate among the following:
- Black Forest: Devil’s food cake layered with kirsch frosting and cherry compote and topped with chocolate shavings and a cherry.
- Carrot Cake: Traditional carrot cake layered with cream cheese frosting and 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.
Will the Cakes be Baked Fresh?
Yes! The cakes will be baked fresh onboard by the fleet’s 198 specially trained pastry and assistant chefs from India, Colombia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines. Michael Stendebach, vice president of food, beverage and guest services at Holland America Line, said in the press release: “Our pastry team has some of the most talented chefs in the world, and Cake Me Away allows us to bring flavors from their home countries to our guests.” He went on to say: “The culinary team is always developing new ideas, and Cake Me Away gives them the opportunity to share their favorites and introduce new original cakes for our guests to enjoy.”
When and Where Can I Try these New Cakes?
Both “Cake Me Away” and the new mini-jar cakes will debut on National Cake Day, November 26, 2023 on all Holland America ships.
I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to hop on a Holland America ship and try ALL these cakes! And if I can combine cruising and cake into a single line item on my favorites list, maybe ol’ Henry can move into the number two spot after all (and my family can finally make it into the top three, lol).
And with that…
Class Dismissed!
Homework (10 points): Which of these cakes are you most looking forward to trying? Share to the comments.
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