Transporting a wedding cake

by Denise
(Ramsey, MN)

When transporting a wedding cake, how long will it stay fresh? My daughter is getting married out of state, it's about a 4 hr drive. We are thinking about getting her cake here (MN) and transport it with us, but we are planning to leave here on a Thursday and the wedding is on a Saturday. Will the cake be ok to serve to our guest? how long will it stay fresh? Do you have any ideas to help us make this work ? I think my daughter is planning a sheet cake,or maybe cupcakes.

Lorelie's response Hi Denise, As long as you keep your cakes cool, on a flat surface and propped, so that they will not slide around, then your cakes will be fine on the journey. Once they arrive to the destination you can transfer them to a refrigerator.

Do you have air conditioning in your vehicle? That may be enough, but you will be a little chilly on a long ride. So here is what I will suggest to you.

Box up the cakes well, the bakery most likely will do that for you. Do a search for dry ice online and you will find a local place that sells it in your area. Next put the cakes in a larger box, so that there is a space in between the two boxes. Fill the space with the dry ice. Cover the tops of the box and that is it. Your cakes will stay very cold for the trip. Once you arrive, transfer the cakes to a refrigerator, I am assuming you will have access to one.

The cake in the picture traveled for a total of 7 hours. One hour in a car, then switched to a van. the van took a ferry across Long Island Sound and then was delivered to a Yacht Club. It was in perfect shape upon arrival.

Here is a link to all of the photos and the instructions in more detail in my facebook page albums.

I hope this answers your transporting a wedding cake question, and keeping it fresh. Thanks for visiting. Good Luck.

Another traveling question

My friend would like me to make the grooms cake for the rehearsal dinner at her sons wedding in Nashville. We live 5 hours away. They would be leaving here on Wednesday with the cake for use on Friday.

My question is would the cake still be fresh enough and taste good if it sat that long? This will be a January wedding so it will be cold. I was thinking I could make the cakes on Sunday and freeze them. Depending on when they are leaving on Wed., I could crumb coat, ice and decorate on Tuesday and Wed.. Would that be a tight enough schedule to keep the cake fresh for Friday?

Hi, No worries, your grooms cake will be just fine if you bake and freeze on Sunday. Your schedule of crumb coating, frosting and decorating is spot on as well. The cake will be aged to perfection by Friday.

I have found that cakes, when allowed to sit for a couple of days become more flavorful especially if allowed to come to room temperature before serving. You will need to store it properly though so that the cake is not exposed to the air. So wrap it well and box them to keep them as airtight as possible.

There are quite a few pages here on this subject of freezing and freshness. Freezing cakes

Thanks for visiting!