Your cake - Getting it there.

So you've ordered your special occasion cake and the date to enjoy it is finally here - now what? How will your cake arrive at your party venue?

Your baker probably offers delivery - for a small fee of course. Speaking for myself, I charge $25.00 for local delivery within 15 miles of my business. Outside of that area I take into consideration the mileage AND the time it takes to to travel to the site. A site that is 50 miles away may take consideralby more/less time to get there than another depending if I'm traveling up a mountain, through traffic, etc...So the more time required then the more the delivery charge.

Some people would prefer to save the delivery charge and pick the cake up themselves, which is certainly an option, but please prepare yourself. It's not quite the same as going to walmart and picking up a pack of donuts. You can't just toss it in the backseat and be on your merry way. So please read on to ensure that your special occasion cake arrives at your destination in-tact.

1) Drive an appropriate vehicle to your cake pick-up. Many of my cakes are either tiered or are packaged in rather large boxes. Don't arrive at your bakers in a sports car or an open bed pickup truck - please bring an SUV, van, hatchback or other vehicle with an airconditioned flat area. A tiered cake should NEVER be placed on the car seat, nor do I even like to place a sheet cake there. Remember that cake is suppose to be soft and moist - they might look like a house or a shoebox or a dog but they are still soft inside (hopefully) and must be handled with care and kept as level as possible. There is this pesky little thing called gravity, and if you put your sheet cake on the car seat it might end up squashed against the side of the box. Your tiered cake is held up with a system of dowels inside the cake and if it is kept at an angle those dowels could break through the soft cake and it will collapse. Please - bring an appropriate vehicle. Oh - traveling with the cake in your lap might work for some cakes, but it's really not that great of a plan either. As soon as the driver applies the brakes too quickly the cake will likely end up all over the dash/seat.

2) Keep the cake cool. If it's summer and you've ordered a buttercream cake then remember that if the cake gets too warm the buttercream will soften and ruin the beauty of your cake. Put the AC on in the car and wear a jacket. It is not a good idea to stop off at the mall and shop for an hour if it's hot and you have the cake in the car. When you get to your venue do not leave the cake in front of a sunny window for too long. If you want to display your cake outside or by a window, wait as long as you can before you put it there. If you have ordered a fondant cake then it withstands the heat much better.

3) Swerve those potholes! Gravel roads and potholes can shake the buttercream right off of the cake if you hit too many of them too hard. I have delivered buttercream cakes down gravel roads - it's doable -but go slow.

4) Try to keep the G's down when you're going down curvy roads - especially if you're traveling with a tall tiered cake. It could topple over. It will have a dowell from top to bottom to help keep the tiers in place - but if you're hitting those curves too fast it could still get slung to the side of the car - all the dowells in the world won't help you there.

5) Plan on 2 people to move a tiered cake. I know on the TV shows they have small young ladies carrying around huge tiered cakes with one hand and opening doors with the other - it's the magic of tv I guess. In reality a tiered cake is pretty heavy and one person carrying it tends to lean it towards their body. Not good. First they might get the cake on their shirt, second there could be some structural damage that might lead to a leaning cake later. Have at least two people move it and keep it level.

6) Remember that many items are placed on the cake after delivery, so if you're picking up your cake then your baker will probably not be placing toppers or fresh flowers. That's normally not a big deal - but it is something to keep in mind.

7) I'm sure I'm forgetting something that I'll have to add later, so for now my last piece of advice is this - remember that if you are picking up your cake, then your baker is not responsible for it after it leaves their hands. I always take every precaution that I can to ensure the safe arrival of a picked-up cake, but I have no control over how it is handled once it leaves my shop. So it is really worth it to either pay for delivery or to be as cautious as possible.

Now that I've probably scared you half to death I'll add that I have people picking up cakes all the time. They almost always arrive in perfect condition. I've had a groom pick up a three tiered cake and drive it to North Carolina for his wedding and I've had a family pick up a 4 tiered cake and drive it to South Boston. You can do this - just be careful. Remember - It's a cake. :)