I'll be making a three tiered (14,10,6) wedding cake & bride is set on having cream cheese frosting.  I'll use a crusting recipe but friends are transporting cake so it'll need to be stacked to travel.  Will have 1 hour trip by car & I'll send flowers separately to be added at the venue.  I'll have the cake chilled, air conditioning will be on in the car and I'll send dry ice.  My concern is that the venue is a yacht.  Cake will be out of the sun but downstairs where there won't be air conditioning.

Do you think it's possible to make this work?  I believe the cake can stay chilled until shortly before being taken to the boat.  Therefore, would it be any different from a regular room without air?  How long could it withstand these conditions?  Thanks for any help you can give.  

AI'd say you have three options: 1: politely decline the order and send her to someone else 2: say no and give a realistic sturdy buttercream 3: prepare to offer full refund for your work after she complains from it melting.

AI know it's hardly the same but I've seen a recipe for a shelf stable cream cheese frosting. It's only flavored with cream cheese extract though. I've never tried it, the extract that is. It's from LorAnn's but I'm sure they have others.

AWhat time of year? What's the weather?

I was wondering when & where too. I won't begin to say I know anything about yachts, but thinking logically, the lower parts are usually under water, and ocean water tends to be cold... lol. Is there any way of finding out what the actual temperature will be in that particular part of the boat?

I have tried it (Lorann's) and it's okay. Some customers have said it was great though. My suggestion is to do a trial batch

AI didn't like the cream cheese emulsion but some do. Besides, a cream cheese frosting and a cream cheese flavored frosting are not the same thing. Find out if she would go for the flavor, if so, you could use a sturdier BC. Otherwise I would suggest you pass on this one-- especially since you wouldn't be the one to transport it and set it up. Too much room for problems.

NO WAY I am using cream cheese icing for an outdoor wedding (on a yacht no less) OR letting her friends (who have NO idea how to professionally transport a cake) pick up and deliver the cake.  This has disaster written all over it. On so many levels.

I'd either decline the order or make some serious changes (like insisting on delivery and a different frosting).  If you do go thru with it you better have an iron-clad disclaimer noting you advised the bride against what she wanted and relieving you of any responsibility to anything that happens to the cake once it gets picked up. 

How in the world do you carry a tier cake down that kind of stairs?  Most of them are leaning ladders.  NO Way,  No how!
 

AI would be worried about the roll of the boat too. I can just envision cake all over the galley floor.

There is no way you can have a cream cheese icing, using c/c flavoring, even adding the crisco(decorators c/c icing) done that one also. don,t like it. Cream cheese and butter all the way, to get the true cream cheese taste. This is just my opinion, again tried it all. hth Personally, i would decline the order, for the same reasons others have posted.

I would not do it

AI've read on other post that someone by the name of Earlene Moore makes a shelf stable cre am cheese frosting using high ratio shortening not Crisco and people seem to love it although I have yet to try this recipe so I don't personally know how it taste but maybe you could test it out and see if you and the bride like it and go from there. I would say no for this order due to the transporting issue but if I was to do this I would not send it already stacked I would box each tier separately to avoid any mishaps and keep the design of the cake simple so there is no fixing up to do all they need to do is take out of the box and stack on top. Whatever you decide make sure your contract is iron clad in case of any mishaps

what excellent comments.  Thanks everyone for the responses!

A

I use this as my crusting cream cheese recipe, but if I'm making a dessert cake, I use a different recipe. I have one that calls for regular shortening, and it tastes 'brighter' than Earlene's in a side by side taste test. I get compliments on both though. Here's the link to her icing page. http://www.earlenescakes.com/icings.htm

I too vote No.  From the time it leaves your house to the time it's actually cut may be hours.  Cream Cheese is a dairy product and would be like leaving a potato salad out of the fridge for hours and hours.   Just add it up, people who don't know how to properly transport a cake - unknown accidents causing possible traffic backups, uneven boards on the boardwalk to the yacht, rolling seas, and they're going to be out at sea for a while so they may delay cutting the cake until later on in the evening.  I know it's exciting to get a cake order for a yacht but how exciting would it be to lose your food license.

I would tell her that if she wants this, she has to promise to keep the cake inside the airconditioned part of the boat and would insist on delivering myself. A properly stacked cake will be fine on a yacht. Of course, I guess it depends on what we're calling a yacht.
 

APersonally, this is a whole buncha mountain out of mole hill to me. If you aren't comfortable taking the order then turn it down. But voice of reason here... I have done many yacht weddings. I think you think that whoever driving the yacht will be hauling butt doing doughnuts around the bay/lake/ocean trying to win the America's Cup. Well let me tell you, they putt-putt around and go super slow, they also do whatever they can to prevent the boat from pitching. The last thing they want are guests falling over, drinks spilling all over the place, and guests puking from sea sickness especially in a situation, like a wedding, where people are eating and drinking a lot. And, I don't know if you live in an area that has real yachts, but if you do, and this wedding is on a real yacht, those things are more solid and soft floating then anything you can imagine. I am going to take a stab at guessing this is a huge boat based in the cake size requested and not some outboard tiny schooner.

When I do a yacht wedding (well, any wedding but I'm particularly on my game for these), I make sure my interior support is perfect. If you are worried just use SPS. I always refrigerate my cakes prior to transport and I would suggest you do the same. Yachts are air conditioned and have kitchens larger then your home kitchen- it must be, after all, in order for it to accommodate catering for hat, 150 people? It may even have a walk in or several walk ins, depending on the size of the boat so I seriously would not worry about the cake melting. They aren't goin to mount the thing on the deck!

I also regularly let people pick up tiered cakes. As long as you speak to the driver on the phone, DO NOT RELY ON EMAIL, to explain what kind of car they need to bring, that it needs to be clean, have a flat surface, and not drive like madmen, it will be fine. I always provide a strip of rug grip so the cake won't slide around as part of my service. Then have them sign a waiver.

As for the cream cheese icing hysteria, google it. It's shelf stable. I don't know why people are so paranoid about it, it's even OK in most cottage law states because its shelf table. Some recipes are more crusting and firmer then others, but use what you are comfortable with to get it on the cake. There are several recipes right here in the recipe index that are great like Indidebi's and I think Sugar Shack has one.

Anyway, I say take the order!

And that was the voice of reason. I got wrapped up in the air conditioning issue because of the posts on this thread, but as Scratch mentioned - it's even allowed for cottage food. We need to relax, people! 

I've done two yacht parties and let me tell you, they are the only ones I'm ever sad to leave. Best way to have a party in my opinion!