Transporting a cake is the most horrific part of making a cake, and if you’re a baker or someone who wants to carry your own wedding cake, you’ll need to put them in the back of your car. And indeed, you can’t see or protect the cake while driving.

How to Prepare to Transport a Wedding Cake?

We’ll be listing some tips from wedding cake bakers in this article as they’ve practiced delivering cakes with the help of trial bridal cakes and experimented down windy two-lane roads. Here are Melissa‘s two cents on how to deliver a wedding cake by yourself.

Make All the Decorations before Stacking the Tiers

Many posts on baking forums suggest stacking their tiers and decorating them on-site, in reverse order. This is something you want to avoid. Indeed, handling a fully decorated cake in tiers is scary and tricky. You need to make sure the side of the cake doesn’t get touched when stacking them. You’ll have more opportunities to respond to mistakes when you work smaller first.

Stack the Cake’s Tiers at Home

We’ve tried assembling at home and on site. When assembling the cake on site, it can come with a lot of pressure as caters and staff are all watching you! We’ve experienced almost dropping the top tier of the wedding cake while trying to set it on the top tier.

There are so many things that could go wrong. So, why not assemble your cake at home, wherein if things do go wrong, you can work methodically and react freely to any disastrous moments?

Besides that, if you’re transporting the tiers separately, you need to handle two to four tiers of separate cakes sliding around your car’s trunk every time you slow down! You shouldn’t have to go through that kind of anxiety.

This is why we recommend stacking the tiers at home. Indeed, this doesn’t apply to extremely tall cakes, like those cakes over 4 levels or above 16″ tall. Ensure that the bottom is supported by a cake board that stands the entire cake’s weight so that you can lift the cake as a whole.

After stacking the tiers, add some extra frosting around each tier’s base. This can be in any pattern or design that suits the entire cake’s décor. This hides the seams and adds some “glue” to hold the layers in place. A secure and “sweet” encouragement for every tier to make sure they stay exactly where you want them to. 

Dowel the Cake Tiers Properly

Ensure that you dowel every cake layer before stacking for proper structural support. We recommend wooden dowels as they’re narrow and sturdy, which lets you cut them evenly in one stroke. Wooden dowels will also support the cake tiers above easily.

You must drive a long, sharpened wooden dowel within the cake’s center for transport. Carefully place it through the cardboard cake circles that support every tier until you reach the cake’s base. Bakers usually do this when the cake is on the serving board and press the point of the dowel into the serving board. All this effort ensures that all the tiers won’t slide around, and the center dowel will help the cake stand upright and centered. 

What to do with the Cake on the Road

Now that you know what you should do before putting the cake in your vehicle, let’s look at the things you should do to keep the cake safe and secure while driving.

Keep Your Car Cold

Your car isn’t a fridge, but you need to make it as close to one as possible. Max out your AC and make your car cold (this won’t dry out your cake unless perhaps it’s a naked cake). Turn your car with the AC on for at least 5 minutes before putting the cake inside. This is especially the case during the summer when many weddings take place. Also, as your cake will be coming out of a refrigerator before you transport it, a cooler car will make the cake less likely to sweat while driving.

Drive Like No One’s on the Road

This may seem awkward, but if you’re delivering a glam wedding cake or a tiered cake, you should drive like you own the road, like everyone will make way for you.

It doesn’t matter if you’re driving 15 miles under the speed limit with a car or two speedings next to you and giving you menacing glares as they pass. It doesn’t matter if others are honking at you. At the end of the car trip, what matters is you arrive with the cake that doesn’t have any smushed frosting or sagging due to any instant brakes around the corners.

Drive like you’re delivering your baby rolling around inside the trunk, and his life depends on your skills in turning with zero momentums.