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Please help!! Travelling HUGE distance with wedding cake!!

post #1 of 11
8/10/12 at 7:39am
Thread Starter 
Hi All,

I'm new to this forum and fairly new to the world of cake decorating (started in Feb) and I have a major dilemma!! And hope someone can help me!

My Sister-in-law asked me to make her wedding cake for her wedding in Oct (she asked in Feb, which was why I got into cake decorating!!)

She lives in Buckinghamshire and I live in the Scottish Highlands...some 600 miles (965km!) apart!!! As we have a toddler and I will be 5.5 months pregnant with my second we have decided to drive down over 2 days.....so here-in lies my dilemma!

The cakes need to be made on the Wednesday so we can travel on the thursday and the Friday and the wedding is on the Saturday.....will buttercream or ganache keep for this length of time? Also I'm worried about the heat!! Will my cakes melt in the car?? When we get to our half way point I will take the cakes out ofT the car but they will be in the car for 6 hours on the Thursday and about 5 hours on the Friday

Has anyone done a ridiculous journey with cakes before?

Please can anyone help? I'm trying so hard not to be cursing my sister-in-law but I will be very glad when the wedding day is over!!

Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thankyou
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post #2 of 11
8/10/12 at 12:57pm
I travelled about 600 miles with a wedding cake in the summer heat (90 degrees F +) from Texas to Mississippi.
I have also travelled several times, a shorter 200 or so miles for wedding cake deliveries.

I recommend these options:
Best option:
Take separate tiers filled and crumb coated, with all supplies ready to frost, assemble, and decorate when you arrive Friday. Do as much prep work before you leave home as possible.
Next option:
Take each tier frosted & ready to decorate but keep tiers in separate boxes. Poke small holes around cake sides with toothpick or scribe for settling while traveling. (This will prevent air bubbles.) Keep the air conditioner in the car as cold as you can stand where the cakes keep very cool... take blankets and a sweater to keep warm! Assemble tiers and decorate when you arrive.
WORST option:
Traveling 600 miles with a stacked cake.. I do not recommend this as it will be most stressful & very risky.

Most importantly: take a tool kit with everything you may need to repair cracks, dents, or little accidents. If you are prepared with the tools and frosting to repair it will be less stressful.

You can do it!! icon_smile.gif
Feel free to ask any specific questions.. I'll try to help.
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post #3 of 11
8/10/12 at 1:16pm
I don't know if this is an option, but I have seen cakes put in boxes with dry ice in them so that the cakes stay cold. I would also travel unassembled, and I always have the repair kit with me, even I am just going around the block!
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post #4 of 11
8/10/12 at 3:55pm
Hi there, i recently travelled 6 hours to a wedding in Ottawa. Of course the weather was suicide and my main concern was the cakes. They were done in fondant and i feared they would sink or change shape. I boxed them, they were chilled overnight in the fridge, and were just fine. I also did cupcakes in buttercream, they however could be frozen, but i kept them at room temp boxed and they were fine. If doing tiered caked i would do a crumb coat and finish them there. My nightmare came when we arrived, the father of the groom transported the cupcakes to the venue cooler and dropped about 100 cupckes!!!!!!!! So you never know!!!!! Worst part i didn't bring anything to fix the disaster. This too, was my first wedding cake!!!!
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post #5 of 11
8/13/12 at 4:14am
I wouldnt have thought October would be warm for you or do you mean the heating in your car? If the latter obviously the boot of the car will not be heated.

I would be very very reluctant to take on a wedding cake with little or no experience. Why did your sister in law ask you if you didnt decorate before she asked?

A fruit cake would be a good option you could make it very soon, marzipan and ice before you leave home and just stack and possibly do some finishing touches when you get there.
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post #6 of 11
8/13/12 at 4:40am
Can I suggest that travelling with a toddler over two days and boxes of cake is utter madness? In the nicest possible way, of course! icon_biggrin.gif

Seriously, though, you'll be decorating cake and trying to clean your kitchen on the Wednesday when you're trying to pack; you'll be juggling boxes of cake, and passing snacks into the back seat; and you'll be trying to keep little fingers out of cake while you're staying in a hotel overnight (?). And all while fairly pregnant? That is a trip I would be absolutely dreading!

Can you take the cakes frozen and wrapped in plastic wrap, packed into something to keep them semi-frozen, and decorate when you get there?
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post #7 of 11
8/13/12 at 5:18am
Quote:
Originally Posted by nixickle

My Sister-in-law asked me to make her wedding cake for her wedding in Oct (she asked in Feb, which was why I got into cake decorating!!)

She lives in Buckinghamshire and I live in the Scottish Highlands...some 600 miles (965km!) apart!!! As we have a toddler and I will be 5.5 months pregnant with my second we have decided to drive down over 2 days.....so here-in lies my dilemma!

The cakes need to be made on the Wednesday so we can travel on the thursday and the Friday and the wedding is on the Saturday.....will buttercream or ganache keep for this length of time? Also I'm worried about the heat!! Will my cakes melt in the car?? When we get to our half way point I will take the cakes out ofT the car but they will be in the car for 6 hours on the Thursday and about 5 hours on the Friday


For a 600 mile journey over two days, I'd either do all fruit cake, or dummies with cutting cakes!

Good luck!

Suzanne x
Inside this fat body, there's a thin woman screaming to get out...... but I can usually shut her up with chocolate!
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Inside this fat body, there's a thin woman screaming to get out...... but I can usually shut her up with chocolate!
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post #8 of 11
8/16/12 at 7:13am
Thread Starter 
Thankyou everyone for your responses. It's good to know I am not alone in thinking this is utter madness!! I have no idea why my sister-in-law asked me to do this!! She knew we would be trying for a baby in April. And sh knew about the distance. And the craziest thing about all of this is that her mum is very skilled at making cakes and made her Aunty's wedding cake!!

I would love to do all fruit, but the bride would like one fruit, one chocolate and one lemon flavoured tier!!!

Taking them separately I agree is my only option!

My little one will be in nursery all day on the Wednesday and I plan on working through the night so there will be no risk of me trying to manage her too, plus hubby is well aware that he will be helping clear up and pack icon_wink.gif

We'll be staying over my in-laws house on the Thursday evening which is 6 hours from us, so I will be able to asses any damage then. Thankyou all for the tips on taking a repair kit, I'm keeping the design really really simple (I'm using ribbon to add colour and taking sugar flowers down separately which will sit on my lap so I can protect them!!) but yes I will also take a repair kit; I may even ensure she has some fondant at her end, so worse case scenario I can recover them entirely!

I'm trying so hard not to stress about this and trying so hard not to feel mad about the whole thing!! But with pregnancy hormones raging and this huge challenge; trying to stay positive about it all is getting harder and harder!

I'll keep you all posted how I get on! And thankyou all again for your responses
Xx
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post #9 of 11
8/16/12 at 3:26pm
You could put the sugar flowers in layers of cotton batting inside a shoe box or similar sized container. If you put those in the trunk/boot of the car, secured, they should travel fine. Of course, make extra in case of breakage.
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post #10 of 11
8/16/12 at 8:40pm
Good luck! Hope it goes well. icon_smile.gif
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post #11 of 11
8/16/12 at 11:21pm
I think if you ready this thread, it might be of some help....This CC member travelled with 2 cakes 1400 miles with cakes that were frozen and were perfect when they arrived at their destination. Thanks to BlakesCakes instructions!

http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=747767&highlight=

Good Luck with your cake travels! icon_smile.gif
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