Tried And True Way To Transport??
Decorating By shoup_family Updated 17 Aug 2007 , 2:18pm by mariannedavis
Does anyone have any tried and true way to transport cakes?? This part has proved frustrating to me. Honestly, the best way I found is to hold it while my husband drives to absord the bumps. But with multiple cakes that isn't possible.
Any advice would be appreciated!!
Figure out a place in your vehicle that is totally flat. Preferably on the floor. Put down some non-skid/sticky "shelf liner" and put the cake on that. Drive slowly. Drive VERY slowly around corners. Leave a HUGE space between your vehicle and the vehicle in front of you. Seriously, increase your normal following distance by 4, if not more.
This is what we do at the bakery I work at for wedding cakes. We deliver almost all stacked construction cakes completely assembled (in the time I've worked there, over a year, we've delivered 2 or 3 stacked construction cakes partially disassembled). We deliver about 100+ wedding cakes per year, and most of these cakes are stacked construction. Very few use pillars are all. We've never had a total cake collapse (in over 15 years of doing wedding cakes), and had very few damaged cakes (maybe 2 or three since I started working there, and they were all very minor problems, easily fixed on site). True, we have been very lucky, but honestly, besides all the worrying involved, cake deliveries aren't really that dangerous if you drive safely, and have the cake on a level and not slip surface. Of course, you need to make sure any stacked construction cakes are very well supported and secure.
~Kelsie[/i]
Thanks Kelsie, that helps me too! Honestly though, I'm not sure it's the traveling with the already stacked cake that worries me so, but the weight of the stacked cake. How are you able to move it, when it weighs so much??
Thanks for the info on this. I'm having a huge issue with this too. I don't have much floor space and I drive alone! ANY advice at all would be helpful.
Well, it depends on the size and type of cake. Most cakes I (and all the other cake decorators and deliverers where I work) can pick up and carry myself, but in the cases of extremely large or heavy cakes, we have two people deliver the cake. If for some reason it's not possible for anyone to go with you, have someone help you carry the cake the the vehicle, and find someone on site to help you unload it. I've had to do this a few times, and while it isn't the most fun or most professional (I hate doing it and try anything to avoid it), there is almost always someone there who is happy to help. Oh, and start lifting weights!
ETA: If you don't have any floor room in your vehicle, you can use towels/blankets/whatever to make a seat flat, then lay down some non-slip stuff, top it with a sturdy, flat board, another sheet of non-slip stuff and then the cake. Not the best option, but the safest I can think of if you don't have any floor space.
~Kelsie
I put my roll pat in the trunk and place the cake ontop. A roll pat is a sillicone mat made by the people who make sil pats but the roll pat is sillicone on both sides so that nothing you put on it will budge. I have had to stomp on the brakes before and the top bow flew off but the cake didn't move.
p.s lots of dowels help a lot
Can I assume this is for a non-van or non-SUV type of vehicle, then? I have a van and a Jeep Cherokee. For smaller cakes, I lay the seat down in the Jeep, put the cakes in the back and take off. I put a thick blanket down, for cushioning, plus non-skids under the cake boxes. I also have non-skids inside the cake boxes.
Well, I come into the problem that my city is extremely hilly. Some hills are so steep they are closed to uphill traffic, you can only go down. And they are simply unavoidable. It's kinda frustrating!!
I use SPS so the cake is extremely stable on its own, and set it on non-skid. That's it. We don't even drive slow any more.
SPS???
I put towels on back seat to level, top with shelf liner(Dollar Tree) and I slide cake into cardboard box (on it's side & also w/shelf liner) Sometimes I may put something in the space between the cake base & the box sides to keep it from moving.
I drove my Elmo cake 3 hours on very bumpy roads & not one piece of "fur" fell.....apparently the white knuckles, knot in stomach & my near nervous breakdown during the trip were totally unnecessary!
SPS = Single Plate System. It's the support system inside the cake holding it up. No dowels! I haven't cut a dowel in years.
Thanks! but can you explain this a little more or point me to more info, please. I hate cutting dowels!
Yes I would like to know more about the single plate system also.
Hi, I bought some egg foam from Wal-Mart that you can put on your bed to sleep on. I got the full size so I could cut it and double it. I set all my cakes in cake boxes and set it on the egg foam, put the foam upside down to avoid the points of the egg foam. I drive slower too. Sandy
Thanks Kelsie, that helps me too! Honestly though, I'm not sure it's the traveling with the already stacked cake that worries me so, but the weight of the stacked cake. How are you able to move it, when it weighs so much??
Travel unassembled and assemble onsite. I've had to do this because there was either no way I could carry or would have difficulty carrying the cake partially or completely stacked.
I borrowed my aunt's SUV, placed the waffled shelf liner down, placed cakes in boxes, and put on the shelf liner. I then placed rolled up towels in between the boxes and wheel bases to help cushion since my road to the main highway is bumpy and there always seemed to be some type of road construction on my route.
For a couple of the smaller stacked cakes, I placed a clean sheet over the back passenger seat and floorboard (the weight of the cake keeps the sheet in place). Then I put waffle shelf liner in the back passenger floorboard of my car and placed the well doweled cake in a box. I had to move the front passenger seat way up in order to get the cake box in.
The SPS, Single Plate System is from Bakery Crafts. All the parts fit together quite snugly (plate and legs.) You place the plate and leg assembly into the tiers and stack. You really can move asembled or at least partially assembled cakes. The only constraint is how much you can lift.
If you use the search function at the top of the page you'll find lots more info.
Really, I haven't cut a dowel in years, and I always tavel with at least partially assembled cakes.
The SPS, Single Plate System is from Bakery Crafts. All the parts fit together quite snugly (plate and legs.) You place the plate and leg assembly into the tiers and stack. You really can move asembled or at least partially assembled cakes. The only constraint is how much you can lift.
If you use the search function at the top of the page you'll find lots more info.
Really, I haven't cut a dowel in years, and I always tavel with at least partially assembled cakes.
Sounds great!...Thanks so much!
I'm off to search.............
I put each unassembeled layer in a plastic drawer storage that is lined with the non slip liner. i then place those on a flat surface that is also lined with non slip material. They come in different sizes so when you put the cake in the drawer it doesnt move and nothing touches it. When you get to your delivery site they stack and even have casters on the bottom drawer so you can roll your cake in and then assemble.
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