My aunt is wanting me to make a cake for my grandmother's 75th birthday in October. I live in West TN and would have to ship the cake to Georgia (I won't be able to attend).

Have any of you ever shipped a cake? If so, how could I do this?

I am wanting to do a 2 tier heart cake covered in fondant.

Her birthday is October 18.

if you search the forums for "mailing a cake" or "shipping a cake" you'll find lots of responses........I've shipped many cakes as have others on here......the most important thing is to make sure the cake is secure and doesn't move around a lot inside of the box.

generally what I do: I put a piece of parchment paper on the top of the cake, then I put another cake circle on the top of the cake (this way if the cake gets turned upside down it has some stability)...then I wrap paper towels around the outer edges of the cake (this helps with excess moisture and cushions the sides of the cake). Then I put the cake inside of a small box just barely bigger than the cake itself and stuff paper towels everywhere around it, on top, bottom, sides. Then close that box up and shake it and flip it upside down making sure the cake itself doesn't seem to be shifting around inside of the box.

then I put that box inside of a larger box and give the boxed cake about 3-4 inches of room on all sides, top, and bottom and fill all empty spaces with packing peanuts/newspaper/bubble wrap....whatever you have. Then close that box and give it a flip and a good shake and make sure everything feels secure.

The cake will get damaged from moving around mostly....the second box w/ peanuts or whatever will ensure that if someone stands on the box, or sits on it, or puts a heavy box on top of it that if it were to dent, it wouldn't affect the cake in the smaller box!

I've shipped about 9 cakes so far, all fondant covered, and none of them have ever arrived with ANY damage. My method may seem like overkill to some, but it works so I haven't changed it any.