Okay, to start, I am new to the cake biz. I have my biggest order to date so far, 5 dozen cupcakes, half with gumpaste tiaras, and half with little petal rose toppers, all with SMBC. The gal who ordered them is a pal of my husband's, so I said no problem to delivering them to her 64 miles south of me.. in the dead of summer, and no experience with this distance, as I have never gone further than like 25 miles. So, as far as she knows everything is okie dokie, I know I can figure something out.

Here is my question, if I pack them by the dozen, in a large camping cooler, with a couple or less pounds of dry ice, will the gumpaste hold up okay without becoming tacky, AND will the dry ice keep them cold, without freezing them? She said she doesn't have space to refridgerate them, and insists on getting them the day before the event (baby shower), I think it's in the morning or something.

Anyway, what are your thoughts on this?

I'm not sure about your packing plan, but could you refrigerate them with icing over night before delivery (should help the buttercream stay) and put the gumpaste pieces toppers on when you arrive? If she's a friend i'm sure she'll have no problem with you assembling a bit in her kitchen. That's what I would probably do.

Anybody else have advice?

i agree with traveling over an hour i would assemble them when i arrived at the house. with extras just incase of breakage.

I'm not sure how long dry ice lasts....and some SMBC recipes have to be refrigerated. If she doesn't have space to refrigerate them, can she keep the dry ice refilled?

Can you make the tiaras and roses out of modeling chocolate? That way if they are cold, it's all good.

Thank you for the idea with the modeling chocolate! I will remember that for next time. I think I will get em real firm the night before and put them together at her place, so that way I know the end product will be perfection. I guess the dry ice was a bit extreme, huh? lol, I have a tendancy to over think things.

I have one, or two, questions about modeling chocolate, can I cut and frill petals the same as gumpaste or fondant, and will modeling chocolate hold up better in the fridge than gumpaste/fondant?

My take on dry ice- it is a great tool! We transported 6 dozen cupcakes 1300 miles for our son's birthday last September. We purchased boxes for this purpose (dry ice and food transportation) from a mailing center; got the dry ice at Fred Meyers. I froze the frosted cupcakes and wrapped them well before packing them into Gladware and my husband packed them in with the dry ice. Dry ice evaporates slowly so ventilation is critical. You put your baked goods above it or below it depending on whether you want the cakes to remain frozen or cool. Google dry ice to confirm all this. Those cupcakes arrived in great shape in spite of traveling in the cartop carrier which was our solution to the ventalation issue.
If your client doesn't have enough regrigerator space this could be your answer. Just be sure they know the proper way to work with the dry ice.
Good luck!
CCFW

Great! Good, good info, thanks so much!

I just traveled 1400 miles with 2 frozen cakes packed with dry ice. Just remember to put the ice on top if you want to keep something frozen, and on the bottom if you just want to keep something cold. I kept the cakes frozen, but i didn't want 20 pounds of dry ice on top of them so I put the dry ice on bottom. Since the cakes were frozen when I put them in the cooler and it stayed closed and in the trunk, they were still frozen when we arrived.

10 pounds of dry ice will last 24 hours, so you could leave the cupcakes in the cooler if you wanted. You could decorate when you deliver and put the cupcakes back in the boxes and back in the cooler until the party. As long as you leave the boxes closed while they come to room temperature, you shoudln't have a big issue with condensation on your decorations. HTH

Can you ice them on site? Maybe keep the buttercream on ice and ice there?

I packed the iced cupcakes by the dozen, put 5 lbs.dry ice in bottom of cooler, then the boxes on top and filled empty space with butcher paper. My delivery plan ended up changing last minute, on the client's end, so I ended up bringing them to her half way since she said she would be in those parts anyway. I was extremely apprehensive about doing that since I'd worked so long on making each little flower and crown, with child's name in RI with wilton #1 tip, perfect. I cautioned my client that the gumpaste could get tacky and wilt. She took them anyway. The following morning, she sent me pics and they were still perfect, lucky for me! Even though it all ended up honky dory, it was still a scare for me. Then again, I feel like once they leave my posession, they are no longer my responsibility. Thank you everyone that gave me advice with this matter (: