Transporting Cakes Safely

Happy Thursday!

I hope all your cakes and deliveries went well this past weekend. We had quite a few folks in our member’s Facebook group chatting about how hard their deliveries were this weekend due to the bad weather.

Once you get that cake made and stacked, you feel really good and proud…then comes the scary part: transporting it.

Nerve racking! Ack!

Here are a few of my tips to help with that stress:

Proper Support:

The single most important factor in having a successful delivery is having your cake properly supported.

Make sure you have your supports cut to the proper height and in ample amount. I recommend one (or even 2) center dowels for the systems that allow you to place them.

If you use a plate and pillar system, make sure your boards under your tiers are securely attached to the plates, with something such as carpet or duct tape.

Sturdy Base Board:

The base/display board under your entire stacked cake must be sturdy enough to support the weight of the cake. If not, you may have cracking of the cake, icing or a catastrophic failure.

I recommend European cake drums (not American) for up to 3 tiers.

For cakes larger than that, use 1/2″ plywood, masonite or MDF. Make sure that the diameter of your base board is large enough that you can get a good sturdy grip on it with your hands when you are carrying the cake.

I recommend at least 5 – 6″ larger than the diameter of your base tier.

If you’d like to do a “2 man carry” for larger cakes, you can also put the entire cake on another large thick plywood board (that will not bend), with a piece of non skid material in between. This may make getting the cake in and out of the vehicle a bit easier. Be sure that you and your partner keep the cake level as you are carrying it.

Prepare Your Vehicle:

Make sure that you have a flat level surface in the back of your vehicle. I have a piece of large plywood cut to fit the back of my SUV that creates a level and smooth surface on which to place the cakes.

Put a piece of non skid material on the carpet (or plywood), and place the stacked cake on top of that for transport.

Inspect to make sure there are no objects that can slide into or drop onto your cake.

Make sure the car is cooled off with the A/C before loading the cake into it.

Plan Your Route:

If you are not familiar with the roads you will need to take to make your delivery, it is worth the extra time and effort to make a trial run to assess the condition of the streets. You may need to alter your original route in order to find the streets in the best condition.

Careful Driving:

Drive very slowly and keep a large gap between you and other cars to avoid having to hit your brakes quickly.

Use your hazard lights and put a cake delivery sign on the back of your vehicle so other drivers know why you are going so slow. Please not feel pressured or intimidated by other drivers who may seem impatient with you!

Chilling the Cake:

Chilled cakes are more durable and travel better. However, keep in mind the temperature and climate. You want to avoid excessive condensation of the cake caused by going from a chilled space to a warm, humid car or outside. I deliver all of my non perishable cakes at really cool room temp without any problem.

Repair Kit and Timing: