Transporting a cake recently I pondered on the skills and tactics needed to bring it safely on its journey.
It really does depend on the cake. A sturdy fruit or Madeira cake for example will happily slide around the footwell of the passenger seat without coming to much harm. This is the best place for it, as it can’t drop off the seat and come to harm, and the seats usually have a camber, so decorations may slide. I have a random paranoia that it’ll slip sideways on top of the gearstick, but that may just be me :)
Delicate decorations or layered cakes usually need a willing passengers lap. Cake boards are great, provided that you have secured your cake to it (royal icing does the trick). Trays help too, as they have a lip round the side restricting it moving too much. For important occasions spare decorations and a piping bag of icing to reattach parts should be taken.
One good solution for transporting and storing cakes is to set it on the lid of the tin and put the main body over the top. That way, when you get there you don’t have to risk dropping it getting it out of the tin again. It’s usually helpful to write ‘TOP’ on the bottom of the tin, so no-one accidentally turns it ‘right-side’ up. Roses or Quality Street tins are perfect for the most popular cake sizes. I normally lose a few throughout the year to friends, but gain more (filled with sweets!) at Christmas.
If you fancy something a bit more fancy these are good, but to all intents and purposes are cardboard boxes. They do allow you to take the sides apart and slide it off however, which is a big advantage. I'm sometimes tempted to get one of these cupcake caddys, but I'd prefer something a bit more multipurpose.
The closest to disaster I came is when I was the passenger and trying to keep a pavlova on the plate. Bouncy along on the twisty back roads trying to act as a human gyroscope was no easy feat. Unfortunately in the half-hour trip, the cream softened the meringue resulting in a mini avalanche all over my arm, which I wasn’t able to get at to clean up. Luckily the rest remained intact, and was a success when we made it to our destination.
So the next time you despair at the snail-like pace of the car in front, stop and consider that, just possibly, they may be transporting a pavlova.
7 comments:
Hi
Love your blog.... but those cake boxes are soooooooo expensive!
May i recommend giving these a try.... Almond Art - Cake Boxes they also regularly have special offers on them =D.
Thanks for the comment. I'll have a look at the site, though I'm normally cheap and just use sweetie tins and plastic tubs :)
I always tell our customers to put the cakes in the boot of the cake, because it's nice and level. It also stops someone getting sore arms and knees trying to balance a cake on their lap in the Car! Putting a cake in the footwell is ok, but usually you find once your paste a 12" cake box you can't get it in. The white two piece wedding boxes are great for transporting a cake in the boot of a car. But if you are transporting a stacked cake then you will need a heavy duty transport box - they are expensive but well worth having - we always use these to send out our stacked wedding cakes.
cake decorator
Thanks for the comment, never thought about the boot before. I like to keep and eye on it! May try it out if I do a big cake though.
I always find sitting the cake board on bubble wrap prevents slipping, whether in a box or straight on floor of car.
I always put some bubble wrap under cake board in car. Prevents it from slipping. This works whether in a box or straight onto floor. Hope this is a helpful tip.
Thanks for the comment Cupcake Queen, sorry I'm just noticing it now. Might give bubblewrap a go if I don't pop them all first!
Post a Comment