Travel and Cake Decorating

I like to decorate cakes for the special occasions my family and friends celebrate, but living far away from family and traveling to visit them can sometimes make this a challenge. I've come up with some tricks and tips for making special occasion cakes while traveling and transporting them as well, based on my personal experiences.

The major key to success for any cake decorating project is planning. Planning is even more vital to the outcome of a cake when you are traveling to the party site to bake it, or have to transport the cake there. Plan out in advance what every part of the cake will look like, which tools and decorating tips you'll need to accomplish the decorations, how many piping bags you'll need, what icing colors to bring, etc. A practice run at home, even on a smaller scale, is a great idea. This will help you to discover any surprises that might come up in technique or structure as you assemble the cake.

One of the most valuable tactics I use when I have to travel and then bake and decorate a cake is to make as much as possible ahead of time. I plan the cake decorations so they are royal icing or dried fondant and can be prepared long before the trip and then applied or attached to the cake at the site. This way I'll be sure that I won't have to do complicated piping or other "on the spot" fancy techniques.

Keeping the structure of the cake simple will make it easier when preparing a cake in someone else's kitchen or transporting it and setting it up at someone else's house. Fancy cake stands are better than pillared construction, since they don't depend on difficult balancing or installed supports. A tiered cake stand is quick and simple to set up and gives just as much impact for minimum effort.

When packing delicate decorations made from royal icing or dried fondant, it's important to make a number of extra pieces in case of breakage. Pack them in hard-sided containers padded well with layers of balled up waxed paper. Make sure to carry on the decoration boxes or place them in the car where they'll be stable and won't tip.

Make sure to plan any cake transport or trip where you'll be baking and decorating so you will have plenty of time to finish every step. Add a few hours, at least, to the amount of time you think you'll need. If you finish sooner, you'll have time to relax before the party, and if you run into any problems or delays, you'll have plenty of time available to take care of them.

I've found that the cardboard cake stands you can buy at craft stores are really convenient, since they transport very well, being flat when they're disassembled. These generally are meant to hold cupcakes, which are ideal for traveling to a place to decorate. Cupcakes can easily be transported unfrosted, efficiently frosted with a piping bag and a large star tip, and then decorated with large royal icing flowers or decorative picks.

Living far from a special occasion party site can present some challenges to a cake decorator, but these are overcome with creativity and good use of available resources.