AHas anyone successfully shipped a cake somewhere? How did you prep it for shipping? Did it work out ok?

I have already figured if I am going to do this, I will use mud cake because of its shelf life. And probably cover it in fondant. I really want to send a small cake to a family member but I don't even know of this is possible. I would hate for her to open the box and find a squashed mess.

Where are you from? Here in the States I wouldn't chance it. Some people have gotten good results but it is really hit or miss. I sent my husband cookies for Valentine's Day back when we were dating and lived 3000 miles apart. They were a crumbled mess when they got to him. They still tasted good thankfully. lol. 

It's relatively easy if you do it Peggy Porschen style: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.574235722628465.1073741847.105724396146269&type=3

On a more serious note, you could take a look at carinascupcakes.co.uk - she has a tutorial for mailing fondant covered cakes (and cupcakes).

Me personally, wouldn't do it, because the Spanish postal service is awful and I can imagine them tipping the thing upside down, carrying it under one arm, leaving it in the sun etc. That's if they didn't eat it at the post office. 

I'm in Canada.  Thanks for that link Dayti, I will check it out.

I am also worried about the box being tipped, tossed, etc.  Every box I've received in the mail has looked like its taken a little abuse, definitely more than a cake should be able to handle unless I cushion it extremely well.  Hmm... I'll give it some more thought.  Maybe wrap up a cake and toss it around for a bit, then open it and see if it died haha.  

Just looked at the first link... private jet?!  That cake better have been worth more than the flight!

In case anyone is wondering, this turned out to be WAY more trouble than its worth.  Factoring in the weight of the cake, the size of the box (including enough room to pad the cake on all sides), and its fragileness... it was just getting to be expensive and still no guarantees of safety.  Mission aborted, I sent bite sized goodies instead.

AI sent cookies from Houston,TX to an Air Force base in Okinawa,Japan. I paid for express shipping and everything. It was a disaster. That told me everything I needed to know about mailing baked goods lol. I know it's POSSIBLE. But as stated. More trouble than it's worth

AWhen my husband was deployed to Afghanistan I actually figured out one way to send him cake. Mason jars! I made the cake, vacuum sealed it and sent it. Unfortunately I DID have I send him gross canned frosting since homemade never would have made it there in tact but he loved it since it was his birthday and he wasn't getting any cake otherwise.

that's a really interesting idea!  How did you vacuum seal the jars?  

A

The same way as if you were canning. Boil the water, put the lid on, put the jars in the water, then let them sit on the counter for 24 hours to seal it all in. The instructions usually come with the mason jars. Even with it taking about two weeks to get to him (slooooooooowwwww mail), he said it tasted amazing.

AIf only I had known this then. Poor baby got chocolate cookie dust lol. He was so disappointed. Although this is for cakes I could have done something similar for cookies I suppose.

Thanks bct!  That was the first thing that came to mind for vacuum sealing the jars (my parents canned a lot when I was growing up) but for some reason I just didn't think you could do that to a cake as well.  I'll definitely try this the next time I feel like shipping something :)

A

I want to say I saw it somewhere. Pinterest maybe. I get so many care package ideas from there.

haha. I bet he loved them anyway. I think you probably could to keep them fresh. Not sure about crumbling though.