As the cake flows

This week while I alternated between dissertationing and running many miles my husband, Trey, crafted a glacier for my birthday. I, and several geology-loving friends, appreciated Trey's masterful attention to detail as he included lateral and terminal moraines (rocks scraped and piled along the glacier margin and snout) as well as a cryoconite hole and a proglacial lake. Fortunately, there was no life living in that cryoconite hole... and we all had our fill of buttery cream. In a few weeks for Women In Science Day I am hosting a 2 hour clinic for 60ish 7-10th grade girls on glacier dynamics. Normally, I'd use flubber (a glue-borax hybrid), but after seeing this cake, there may be some advantages to butter cream.