Shipping Cakes?

Decorating By Nicolle711 Updated 17 Jul 2008 , 4:52pm by erinalicia

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Nicolle711 Posted 16 Jul 2008 , 2:00pm
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Can this be done? I was standing in line at the post office and had a very random thought. I remember a friend of mine telling me a co-worker of hers ordered a cake from San Fran., an exotic cake, for her friends bachelorette party. It didn't occur to me then but now I can't help but wonder how would you ship a cake? Can this be done? Have any of you tried and succeeded or failed?

My random thought of the day icon_biggrin.gif

14 replies
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keyshia Posted 16 Jul 2008 , 2:04pm
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I've been wondering the same thing. Sorry to be of no help with the question, but I'd love to see if you get an answer. icon_biggrin.gif

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Laura102777 Posted 16 Jul 2008 , 2:16pm
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I've seen a few people online who will ship them. I can't imagine that they'd arrive in very good condition, though. I know the other day when I was reading the thread about Mike's Amazing Cakes, I looked at his website, and he ships cakes. It says he ships them by counter-to-counter service through the major airlines, and you have to pick them up at your airport, so it's not like the FedEx or UPS trucks are going to pull up to your house with one of his cakes. Maybe the airport people are more cautious and can deliver them intact. I'm sure he wouldn't offer it if they weren't successful. I bet it costs a huge chunk of money to have one shipped like that, though!

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ladybug76 Posted 16 Jul 2008 , 2:16pm
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I've been wondering the same thing.... I will definitely be watching for a reply with tons of information. Thanks for starting this forum!! thumbs_up.gif

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Chef_Rinny Posted 16 Jul 2008 , 2:21pm
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I personally deliver all my cakes to the customers house/reception because I am so afraid of something happening in transport-I couldn't ever imagine shipping a cake!

I wonder what would happen if the cake got damaged in transport... the cake decorator would have to have some sort of disclaimer-but that wouldn't make for a very happy customer.

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Nicolle711 Posted 16 Jul 2008 , 2:31pm
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PHEW! I wasn't the only one with this question then icon_lol.gif

I agree, I am a little of a control freak and wouldn't feel comfortable shipping a cake. I have to hand deliver to make sure everything goes well and is set up right. And even when you do set-up and you think things will go well, something happens icon_surprised.gif But airlines shipping! Now that is interesting! It definitely must cost quite a bit a money and I am sure you will pass that charge onto the customer but like you mentioned laura, what if there are damages? icon_rolleyes.gif

Thanks for your feedback guys icon_biggrin.gif

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aundron Posted 16 Jul 2008 , 2:32pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nicolle711

Can this be done? I was standing in line at the post office and had a very random thought. I remember a friend of mine telling me a co-worker of hers ordered a cake from San Fran., an exotic cake, for her friends bachelorette party. It didn't occur to me then but now I can't help but wonder how would you ship a cake? Can this be done? Have any of you tried and succeeded or failed?

My random thought of the day icon_biggrin.gif





I've tried it once. A friend of mine wanted to see if it could be accomplished. He paid for the shipping cost, which was 100.00. I shipped it UPS and it got there intact, but he said the fondant had a crack on top.

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Nicolle711 Posted 16 Jul 2008 , 2:36pm
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icon_surprised.gif Through UPS???!!! Impressive! Did you have to give them special instructions? How did you package the cake? Very impressed with your experiment thumbs_up.gif

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aundron Posted 16 Jul 2008 , 2:49pm
post #9 of 15
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nicolle711

icon_surprised.gif Through UPS???!!! Impressive! Did you have to give them special instructions? How did you package the cake? Very impressed with your experiment thumbs_up.gif




The lady at UPS packed it for me, but she knew it was a cake though. She put these styrofoam looking boards in the box, on the sides and top to surround the cake, then she put the styrofoam peanuts in there.

All that stuff was extra, but he was willing to pay the cost of it to see if it would work!!

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mayra Posted 16 Jul 2008 , 4:56pm
post #10 of 15

I am going to make my mother a purse cake for her bday in October and sendingit from NY to Chicago. I will let you know how it goes. icon_rolleyes.gif

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Nicolle711 Posted 16 Jul 2008 , 5:10pm
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icon_surprised.gif Oh! Definitely keep us posted! icon_biggrin.gif

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beachcakes Posted 16 Jul 2008 , 10:47pm
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I did it in February. I shipped the two 6" minnie cakes in my photos from NY to FL. They made it there pretty much unharmed - one slid on the board and just had to be pushed back in the center.

They were fondant covered and shipped frozen for stability. Each was double wrapped in plastic wrap, wrapped in bubble wrap and put in its own small box with packing peanuts. (The ears were in their own boxes with bubble wrap also). All these boxes were put into a larger box with more bubble wrap & packing peanuts. I shipped overnight and wrote "fragile" all over it so there was less chance of the box being tossed around - even so, the mailman carried the box off the truck SIDEWAYS!

Be prepared though, it cost $50 to ship two 6" cakes overnight!! I used US Postal Service.

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bobwonderbuns Posted 16 Jul 2008 , 10:58pm
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Mike of Mikes Amazing Cakes and Sylvia Weinstock both ship cakes, but they pack them as freight and fly them to their destinations.

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Laura102777 Posted 16 Jul 2008 , 11:34pm
post #14 of 15
Quote:
Originally Posted by beachcakes

I did it in February. I shipped the two 6" minnie cakes in my photos from NY to FL. They made it there pretty much unharmed - one slid on the board and just had to be pushed back in the center.

They were fondant covered and shipped frozen for stability. Each was double wrapped in plastic wrap, wrapped in bubble wrap and put in its own small box with packing peanuts. (The ears were in their own boxes with bubble wrap also). All these boxes were put into a larger box with more bubble wrap & packing peanuts. I shipped overnight and wrote "fragile" all over it so there was less chance of the box being tossed around - even so, the mailman carried the box off the truck SIDEWAYS!

Be prepared though, it cost $50 to ship two 6" cakes overnight!! I used US Postal Service.




Yeah, you can write Fragile all you want, but it's pretty much meaningless. Even if every single person that handled it treated it like eggshells, there's so much automated equipment that those packages go through, that it would be pointless.

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erinalicia Posted 17 Jul 2008 , 4:52pm
post #15 of 15

I shipped a Thomas the train cake to my nephew in Oklahoma (1200 miles from me) and I used UPS. I didn't do overnight shipping and the cake still arrived in a couple of days and was intact. It looked pretty good structurally. I used rbc to cover it and should have used fondant. The rbc started to droop in a place on the back. I have a picture of it after delivery.

My friend who's having a baby in a little less than 2 weeks wants me to make a "welcome to the world" cake for her and wants me to ship it too... (oklahoma again). I'm going to try to do the overnight shipping but I'm going to keep the cake small and lower profile so I can get it in a smaller box.

I hope it arrives in one piece. With all the boxes and packaging peanuts and paper shreds we get because of my son, I think I have enough material to keep it from getting smooshed.

I'll let you know how it goes. icon_smile.gif

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