Transporting Pastries: Tips & Techniques

[Amuse Bouche]

I'm making a wedding cake for a friend that will be coated in chocolate ganache. Ganache is more fragile in terms of decor than the fondant I usually use, but it's also not subject to the same problems with condensation that fondant is. I've frozen ganache before it's poured -- can I freeze the individual tiers of a ganache covered cake for transporting?

Also, I was thinking of transporting the cake (about 4 miles away) before assembling the tiers, then assembling at the reception site. Is this a good idea? Bad idea? Any tips on transporting and assembling the ganache cake without marring the finish would be greatly appreciated.

And since this is about food, in case you were curious, the bride has eventually decided on an orange cake with orange buttercream filling coated in chocolate ganache.

[Tracy K.]

I've never frozen ganache, so you would be more familiar with how it behaves after it has thawed. My concern is that the cream would misbehave upon thawing and not pour/spread as well as it should.

You absolutely must transport the cake as separate tiers and assemble the cake at the reception site. I'm not sure how the cake will be structured...but things move in cars no matter how carefully you drive. Small tiers can be transported stacked, but even with dowels through the tiers, you can have trouble with the layers slipping. It is much easier to assemble on-site...and you have more peace of mind driving there. Plus, any last minute decorations or corrections can be made and you know that they'll stay put.

Since you'll have a buttercream filling, will you also be frosting the cake with a layer of the buttercream, then coating with ganache? My thought is that if you did that, the buttercream would seal the cake while it is frozen, then you could thaw the cake and pour the ganache closer to the wedding date.

As for transporting, I always individually box my cakes (I have lots of bakery boxes...sheesh). If you are stacking layers directly on top of one another, you may run into some smooshing, but this can be covered with buttercream border, a ribbon at the base, etc. I have cut pieces of styrofoam that will make the boxes and cakes fit snugly together...surrounding the cake plate and holding the cake snugly. I don't take the cake from the top of the box, but have cut the front so it folds down and I can just slide the layer out.

Edited May 20, 2004 by Tracy K. (log)

[Wendy DeBord]

Some people do transport cakes that are already stacked, but I don't. You wouldn't want to do that with ganche because unlike buttercream you can't touch up a finger print.

I have to freeze ganche covered cakes. It's not perfect! Often you'll have beads of condensation that will mar your surface. I don't think you can do this with-out excepting that there will be water spots.

If possible, I'd wait and do the ganche after the cake is defrosted. Transport ganched cakes, then assemble on site. Use long spatulas to set your teirs-but it takes strong wrists and some experience.

Good Luck, post a photo when your done and show us how things turned out, o.k.?

[crc]

Another option would be to assemble completely...if you are more comfortable doing it at your site...then transport it. Since you are only going to be going about 4 miles? away..and drive carefully..it can be done. You can use a large moving box, lined with non-skid material, to transport the completely assembled cake and just have your air conditioning blasting to keep it cold. Drive carefully too. Watch your corners! I suggest you keep it covered/boxed until it has defrosted to help with the condensation that will occur.

How large is this cake going to be?

Careful planning and construction is the key to this. Make sure you use lots of support. Some ganache recipes behave differently when frozen & defrosted on surfaces.

Stacking on site, will depend on how comfortable you are setting up with an audience and the final design.

[Amuse Bouche]

Thanks everyone. The cake isn't going to be huge -- a 6" tier, a 9" tier and a 12" tier. I think I'm going to make a demo 6" this weekend and try freezing it -- see what happens. I'll also take a pastry bag full of ganache and a small spatula for repair work if necessary!

[DRColby]

We were at a wedding last year in SE Alaska and one of the groomsmen's father was a baker in a distance town who wanted to provide the wedding cake as a gift.

His son, a military man, had it shipped down on the Alaska ferry in several boxes - all marked "delicate cake" - for each layer. The father, who didn't attend the wedding, also sent written assembly instructions.

For a bunch of Army guys they did quite well at reassembling the cake and it looked just like it was direct from the bakery. Somehow I think this type of thing is quite common in small town AK weddings.

dave

[Samaki]

Freezing the ganache-covered cakes won't affect flavor or texture, but you will lose some shine, and, as Wendy mentioned, you might get a few water spots.

As for transporting it assembled, while I've done this successfully with buttercream and with fondant wedding cakes, I'd be hesitant to try it with ganache. it's just so fragile. I think your best bet is pouring the ganache on site. Second best is transporting unassembled layers.

[McDuff]

Once you have the cake assembled with straws and whatnot, drive a sharpened quarter inch dowel right into it, pinning all three layers together. Get a sheet of foam insulation at Home Depot, some of the wire thingies used to hold fiberglass batts between floor joists to pin the foam together and some duct tape to make sure and make a box that the board the cake is on exactly fits into. Use bamboo skewers to pin the cake board to the foam. If you have planned this part well, you can slide the last piece of foam into the opening like a door and pin it in place. Set this contraption on a level surface in your volvo station wagon and you can drive it to san diego and back no problema. I've delivered cakes 50 miles doing this.

[chefpeon]

Gosh you guys......I'm confused.

I'm not exactly sure what the fuss is about in this li'l topic!

I've been specializing in wedding cakes for 14 years. I've done LOTS of ganache wedding cakes.

If they were to be stacked directly on top of each other, I stacked them in the shop, just like any other wedding cake (buttercream, marzipan, modeling chocolate, etc). If you know a few simple little tricks, ganache doesn't pose any particular problem in pre-stacking and transporting.

I much prefer to do most assembly and decorating in the shop. It's my "comfy zone". If I make a mistake, (me? a mistake? NEVER!) I have all my tools, icings and my walk-in to help me. On site, you have an audience (sometimes) and you have to be very careful not to make a mess on the nice linens. Would I want to be stacking a ganache cake on site where I can risk little chocolate smears on the nice tablecloths? Heck no. I also hate it when people watch me.....I feel like I'm jinxed when they do.....like I'm going to trip over a chair leg and dump the whole cake on the floor. No, I like to make my wedding cake deliveries as fuss free and disaster free as possible. I slink in and out in under 10 minutes and no one even knows I've been there......I like it that way. I am............

THE STEALTH PASTRY CHEF!

Anyway, here's how I do it, and this pretty much applies to all cakes I do......

I'm going to explain my technique as though I were doing a 3 tier stacked ganache cake though.

1. Split, fill, and ice each tier. I use a medium chocolate buttercream.

Of course, each tier is on its own little cardboard circle (the 6 inch cake is on a 6 inch board, 8 inch on an 8 inch board, and the 10 inch, which is the bottom tier, is on a 14 inch round 1/2 inch thick plywood or particle board covered with the appropriate colored polyfoil.)

2. Let the iced cakes sit in the walk in til firm. If I'm impatient I stick em in the freezer for a bit.

While I'm waiting for them to firm up, I either make fresh ganache or take some ganache out of the freezer or walk-in and warm it up so that it's pourable but not hot! You don't want to melt the buttercream off with hot ganache! You don't want the ganache too cool either, or it doesn't cover the cake smoothly, rather, it looks all drippy because it sets up as it moves down the sides of the cake. Yeah, I'm sure you know that drill. So anyway, I pour my ganache over the cakes, then put the cakes back in the walk-in to set up a bit.

3. After they've set up, it's time to stack! I pull the bottom tier out of the walk-in (that's the 10 inch cake sitting on the 14 inch plywood board), and I take an 8 inch cardboard circle and center it on top of the cake. I don't care that it's marring the surface, because that's going to be covered by the 8 inch tier. I trace a circle around the cardboard lightly with a long bamboo skewer, and remove the cardboard. I now know exactly where I'm going to place my next tier. Now for the supports......meet my friends the "heavy duty bar straws". The big plastic kind.....like you get in your milkshake at Dairy Queen. I take one straw and stick it all the way down through the center of the cake. I mark with my thumb the point on the straw where it's flush with the top of the cake. I remove the straw, and cut it at the point where I've marked it with my thumb. Then I proceed to cut about 8 more straws exactly that same length using my first straw as a guide.

I put the center straw back in the hole I originally made with it and place the rest of my straws

in the cake in a circular pattern within the circle that I made with my bamboo skewer. I then pipe a spiral of chocolate buttercream within that circle. I go in the walk-in to grab my 8 inch tier.

I place the 8 inch tier on top of my 10 inch tier carefully with my handy dandy elbow spatula.

4. Now meet my friends, the "long bamboo skewers". You know, the skewers commonly used for shish kebabs. My 8 inch tier is now sitting on my 10 inch tier. I take one of the long bamboo skewers, and stick it down through the center of the 8 inch cake til it hits the cardboard circle that the 8 inch cake is sitting on. I then take a little hammer, or more likely, the side of my wire snips that I use, and hammer the skewer down through the cardboard until it hits the plywood board that the 10 inch is sitting on. At this point the skewer is still sticking up out of the 8 inch cake a bit. I lift the skewer out slightly, and snip off about 2 to 3 inches of it with my wire snips, then place that little piece on top of the skewer in the cake and use that to hammer the skewer back down until it hits the plywood board again. I pull my little piece out and throw it away. I now have an 8 inch cake on top of a 10 inch cake with a skewer going down through both of them. See?

I put two more skewers in in the same way keeping them closely grouped in the center with the

first one.

5. Then I repeat the whole process for the 6 inch tier....the straws in the 8 inch to support the 6, then place the 6 with a little spiral of chocolate buttercream, then hammer 1 to 3 skewers on the top of the 6, down through the 8. I then fill in the little holes that I made with the skewers on the 6 inch with a little ganache.....and voila! I have a stacked ganache cake that will NOT slide apart.....even in an earthquake. Ok. A small earthquake.

6. I then pipe the bottom borders as needed and decorate as needed.

As you'll recall this whole thing is sitting on a 14 inch round plywood board. I take my 14x14x20 box and cut down one side so I can slide my finished cake inside. Because the 10 inch cake is on a 14 inch board and the box is 14x14, there is no way the sides of the box will mar the finish on the cake. I cannot stress enough how handy it is to have the right sized box.....saves a lot of transportation worries! I then tape up the side of the box that I'd cut down, and put the finished cake in the box back in the walk-in, and there it sits til delivery time.

7. Delivery time! Put box in car. Crank up A/C if needed. Drive carefully. Ignore people honking at me as I hold up traffic on the freeway. Get to delivery site. Put cake on a little cart or carry it if it's not too heavy. Locate cake table. Cut down side of box, slide cake out. Put on table. Leave.

Yes, it's just that easy. No muss, no on-site stress, no sliding, no marring. I've done this hundreds of times.....yes, hundreds. Never a problem......ever.

Some people are incredulous that I use bar straws as supports, thinking I am crazy not to use

wooden dowels. But you know what? They totally work, they are cheap, and they are easy to cut.

You have to remember to use enough of them and place them evenly apart. As a general rule, I will use 5 straws in an 8 inch cake to support a 6 inch cake on top of it. Obviously, the bottom tier will have the most straws because it has the most weight to support.

I know this was a long post, but I wanted to show you that if you know the right tricks, this isn't at all as hard as it seems!

Cheers! Annie

[FistFullaRoux]

Couldn't you touch up a minor scuff in the ganache with very judicious use of a small torch?

And the only other advice I have is make sure the air conditioner in the transport vehicle works, and works well. Crank up the vehicle at least 20 minutes before and let the AC cool things as much as possible (I know, with gas at $2+ a gallon, that seems excessive, but you'll only use like 35 cents worth). Especially dealing with chocolate.

The orange/ganache combo sounds really good though...

[Wendy DeBord]

Annie once when I was inserting a dowel to do the center support thing, it bent my card board that my middle cake was sitting on.....made the whole cake unstable, lopsided. Granted I don't have to do transporting anymore, just in house....but I'll never insert a center dowel/skewer again. I tryed pre-cutting a center whole for a center dowel, but who can hit that spot when you can't see it, not me....still weakens the cardboards.

I must be the most accident prone person around, cause over time I've had things happen that move me away from one method to another. Getting your dowels perfectly cut is the most important thing and that applies to using straws too. At one time I had my chef cutting my dowels with a pipe cutter. That worked great, but I still wound up with dowels varying in height, sure only very small fractions off but this happened: I accidentally wound up with dowels on one side of my cake being a hair shorter then the other side (on the base cake). It took a long time for this problem to show up, I got the rest of my tiers up and decorated and then slowly it did the lean thing...it was a heavy cake and a heart breaking site. Anyway I wound up loosing one tier completely, it went from a 5 tier to a four tier...and I was late for setup in the room (the chef and manager still don't trust me totally and think I'll be late again, even though I've done many cakes since then). It was just a horrible experience.

So I did alittle research and after reading rave reviews I bought a set of "stress-free" cake supports-man do I love those! Their not cheap so they'd be painful to use in a bakery setting-but I won't do a cake with-out them any more....their fast, easy and accurate.

I guess my point is lots of methods work just fine, until one day something happens. Cutting straws or dowels will always be prone to human error.

I've never been able to touch up a poured ganche coated cake. You always can see it.

[crc]

Wendy, so sorry to hear you had that happen! The stress free supports are a great investment but if you are not on site, can be a pain to get back.(I have had some tossed even ) Foamcore is an alternative to the cardboad cake circle & very easy to cut. Like Annie, If I am transporting, ( I like to be in and out of there very quickly)I use dowels straight through everytime with a stacked design and I have never had a problem yet.

[chefpeon]

Wendy

I don't use dowels. Well, I did once for a cake that was particularly heavy and huge......8 tiers high....that was an exception.

But truly, the method that I outlined above really works....there is no "weakening of the cardboard" or anything like that. The bamboo skewers are so thin they pierce right through like a needle. I can honestly say, that I have NEVER had a cake disaster in my entire career. No falling, no sinking, no melting, no toppling. Some of the sculpted cakes I do can be an engineering nightmare, but I'm proud to say I conquered the challenges of them, and all arrived at site, undamaged and exactly the way they left the shop. I don't consider myself an expert on many

subjects, but on this one I do. Doing cakes runs in my blood, I do it well, and I love to share

the knowledge. I was taught by one of the best cake designers in the country (Mike McCarey of Mike's Amazing Cakes) and it's the least I can do to pass down the awesome "secrets" he showed me. I am so fortunate to have mentored under him.

If I were there, Wendy, I could teach you how to do cakes so that they are stress and worry free. I'm sorry that you had those disasters happen to you! It's no fun. Even though it doesn't happen to me, I'm always afraid that it will.....but I suppose a little paranoia is a good thing....it keeps you on your toes!

Annie

[Wendy DeBord]

Ohhh, you learned from MIKE, cool.......... I'm only familar with his work shown at his site. Does he have a book yet? He does do auesome work! Maybe I read too much into it but- I think it seems like he has a great sense of humor too. I'm allllll ears if you'd be kind enough to pass on any of those secrets, pleaseeeeeeeeee?

I know that tons of people set up using the method you described Annie, I live under a cloud of if anything can go wrong-it always happens to me. I think Murphys law was written by a guy that sat behind me in grade school.

[chefpeon]

I know that tons of people set up using the method you described Annie, I live under a cloud of if anything can go wrong-it always happens to me. I think Murphys law was written by a guy that sat behind me in grade school.

Well, after reading your thread about "burning down the house", I guess I believe you! Boy, you sure picked a challenging profession, given your proclivity for "accidents"! There's SO MANY things that CAN go wrong! Do you think you'll die of old age, or from some horrible pastry accident? I can see it now......."I don't know Officer, I saw Wendy scraping down an 80 qt Hobart full of buttercream.....and....then.....she was just.....gone!"

Later, the local news interviews the rescue team:

"It was horrific Bob....we dug our way through the buttercream to get to her......but it was too late......and <SOB> she was still clinging to her bowl scraper!"

What you asked about Mike: I don't believe he has a book out....yet. But knowing him I wouldn't be surprised if he was working on one. He's really good at marketing himself, so I know if he had the opportunity, he wouldn't pass it up.

He does have a wicked sense of humor....he can be very funny. But he also has a dark side, and it's ugly. I've had the "pleasure" of experiencing it a few times. I will say that it worked to my advantage after he opened his own shop and became my competition. His gruffness scared a lot of customers over to my shop because they couldn't deal with his personality. Goes to show that there's always a silver lining!

Annie

[CanadianBakin']

I've never found a good way to transport cupcakes and I was wondering if anyone has a tried and true method. I did some for a friend's wedding and as we were using mini Pannetone liners it was no problem since they (the liners) were large enough to encompass the cupcake and icing. But those colours aren't suitable for everyone. When I have to use normal liners I have had some problems with the icing getting bumped. Freezing them helps, but they thaw quickly. If they are top heavy and the box isn't totally full, they can fall over and I haven't found anyone who sells those plastic cupcake holders they use at the grocery store. What do you do?

[Marlene]

I have one of these and I use it all the time. Use the flat side for rectangular cakes and reverse it to hold 18 cupcakes.

[Jeni Hicks]

Unfortunately I don't have a pic, but DH made up this cool contraption for cupcake transport....basically, take a large sheet cake box, and make a grid out of crisscrossing strips of cardboard (he just taped them together really well - it's pretty sturdy). He then glued little "blocks" of cardboard along the edges of the box (every few inches) for the grid to rest on. The grid is suspended about 1 1/2" above the base of the sheet cake box (and below the "overhang" of the cupcakes). You just place a cupcake in each square, and it's held in place - the grid pieces of cardboard act as spacers, so the cupcakes can't run into each other, and also give you some room to get your hands in there to remove the cupcakes once you've transported them. You can then use the lid from the sheet cake box to completely protect the cupcakes. I've been able to put 40 cupcakes in a box at one time.

The cake box was about $3, and the cardboard was cut from an unused packing box (no cardboard touches actual cake or frosting at any time). I've used the same one about 20 times so far, and it's still going strong - no messes, and everything is still held firmly in place.

[Ling]

Of course, I am not transporting huge numbers of cupcakes at any one time, but I frost and fill the cupcakes, then pop them back into the muffin tin I baked them in, and transport them to my friends' houses that way.

[sanrensho]

I have one of these and I use it all the time.  Use the flat side for rectangular cakes and reverse it to hold 18 cupcakes.

←

Michael's sells virtually the same rectangular cake/cupcake holder with the reversible bottom. I think it was CA$30-40, less with the 40% off coupon that they always run in the paper.

I know for a fact it is available locally as I was looking at one last month (North Van and West Van store).

[CanadianBakin']

Thanks for the great ideas! I will be able to use those for personal use.

I should have mentioned that I bake for other people. So I need to be able to package them in a way that either I can deliver them or so a customer can pick up the order and transport it safely to it's destination. In otherwords, they need to be in a container I don't need to get back. Any additional ideas?

[Jeni Hicks]

Well - expanding on what I use above, you could always use white (or another colour) foam core to make the grid, and secure it within the box the same way. That way it will look a lot more professional. The bonus is that it's a cheap way to package, especially if you won't be getting the box back. I know that sheet cake boxes can be had for less if you're willing to shop around....

It's the sturdiest way I can think to package the cupcakes - ESPECIALLY if your customers might be the ones doing the transporting.

[2010]

I've made cupcakes for my son's school bake sales and on occasion, I make pastries for my husband to bring to work and I transport them all in these Rubbermaid containers http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=prod...2283&lpage=none

They're sturdy, airtight, stackable and see through so people transporting it can see what's inside. I have a few in different sizes but I mostly use the 12 quart.

[Beanie]

I've never found a good way to transport cupcakes and I was wondering if anyone has a tried and true method. I did some for a friend's wedding and as we were using mini Pannetone liners it was no problem since they (the liners) were large enough to encompass the cupcake and icing. But those colours aren't suitable for everyone. When I have to use normal liners I have had some problems with the icing getting bumped. Freezing them helps, but they thaw quickly. If they are top heavy and the box isn't totally full, they can fall over and I haven't found anyone who sells those plastic cupcake holders they use at the grocery store. What do you do?

←

What about baking them in the muffin trays shown on this web site? The whole thing could be lifted and put in a box.

[K8memphis]

Well if you got it all figured out math-wise, you could thread white string through evenly spaced little holes in the cardboard bakery type boxes. Dip the end of the string in wax to make it threadable. Or even thread it through a needle with a big head. ??? Going both ways to criss cross & hold securely--you just have to do the math. Just a wild random thought. It really wouldn't be that hard though.

'Member back in the old days when all baked goods would be wrapped up in white string??????

Edited January 18, 2006 by K8memphis (log)