Cake transport, please help bakers!

[PeachyGreenBean]

Good morning!
I need some advice on the best way to transport a cake please, I just can't decide.

Due to time off work this coming week, I will bake and decorate the cake, then I'm planning to freeze it whole. It will be a two layer chocolate cake with buttercream, heavily decorated.

I need to then drive two hours and the party is the next day so :
Cake baked, decorated and frozen by the 6th.
Travel on the 14th
Party on the 15th

Do I defrost at home the night before travel OR take it up straight from the freezer and defrost the night before the party OR pack it ice boxes and try to take it up frozen OR something else?

Appreciate this is a first world problem but any advice would be very welcome, thanks in advance!

I should caveat that I've not done this, but if I were attempting that I think I would take it out the freezer immediately prior to travel and allow it to defrost on the journey.

Will you have someone to babysit the cake on the journey or does it need to travel entirely unsupervised?

Thank you for replying, that is what I'm leaning towards, just hoping for a cool day and no journey delays. It'll have to go in the boot unsupervised unfortunately. There might even be two if I'm persuaded to make one for another birthday person 😬

Defrost en- route.

Ideally you would take it out of the freezer the day before and defrost slowly in the fridge under a cover so it doesn't dry out.

Travelling I would put it in a cake carrier inside an Esky / cool box to prevent it getting hot in patches. At the very least inside a large cardboard box.

You can't decorate before freezing, icing and buttercream etc don't freeze well.
So you make the cake layers and freeze wrapped in clingfilm.
Defrost thoroughly day before. Decorate day before, keep in fridge overnight then transport on the day.

Let it defrost while you drive. Put it in the boot in a cake box with nothing that can hit off it, other things can go in the boot just make sure they can’t slide or fall on it. Don’t have someone babysit it in the car, if you brake suddenly or any other sudden movement they will squish the box.

Thanks all, concensus seems to be freezer too car and then into the fridge at the other side. I'll wedge it flat into the boot so it can't move around, it'll be rectangular so a slightly easier shape.

@heldinadream you're making me doubt myself but pretty sure you absolutely can freeze a fully decorated cake. Not the most ideal but I have no other time to do it.
I am torn between high butter content buttercream and whipped ganache though.

@PeachyGreenBean sorry didn't mean to put dampener on it! You could well be right, I was just erring on the side of caution.
Consensus seems to not agree with me though so I bow to that.
Good luck with your cake! 🎂

@heldinadream thank you, I appreciate the sanity check!

Leave it frozen, put it into a cardboard cake box, put the box into a big plastic bag, black bag if needs be then put it into the boot of the car which by the way is by far the safest place to transport a cake, place the box right up against the back of the back seat with the back of the cake facing forward towards front of car just in case you do have to brake and it slides. Have the cake on it's own board obviously and put that on non slip matting in the box and ideally a bit of mat under the box then too.

It will thaw during the journey and overnight and will be perfect for next day party. Do not unwrap it until next day, by leaving it in the box and bag any condensation will form on the box/bag protecting the surface of the cake from marking. There is no need to thaw a cake in a fridge and they thaw relatively quickly depending on size, there is no need to refrigerate it again at destination unless it has perishable fillings like fresh cream/cream cheese.

You wouldn't believe where and how much cake I have taken on long journeys!
Always always in boot, never ever being held by another passenger, drive smoothly as in no flying around corners or over ramps, cake driving as it's known !

@marylou25 thank you very much, that sounds like a solid plan. Definitely don't unwrap until the next day? I was planning to cling it once totally frozen, won't that take the buttercream off with it if defrosted?
Thankfully I've a nice perfectly square dip in my boot so can wedge it in really well with other boxes but I never would have thought about putting it with the back facing the front, that's genius.

I wouldn't clingfilm it if you can avoid it, that would have to be taken off before thawing or it would damage it trying to take it off when soft. Clingfilm it if you must but only if the reason is you haven't room in the freezer for a box, but take off the clingfilm when you take it out of the freezer and put it into the cardboard cake box and bag when it's still solid. Even if you clingfilm in freezer you need to put it into an airtight bag in there too, many clingfilms are porous so don't actually prevent freezer burn, I usually do one layer of cling on things and then into a freezer bag.

Don't unwrap from bag/box until next morning anyway, you want to be sure it is fully thawed and no more condensation forming, condensation will form on outermost surfaces so better to keep cake covered as much as possible until thawed. Most people call this the cake 'sweating' after being in fridge or freezer but it's simply condensation same as you would see on a beer bottle that was in the fridge and then moved to room temperature.

@marylou25 super helpful thank you. Luckily I have a totally empty freezer in the garage (Xmas freezer) so it can go on for this. So just cardboard cake box and bin bag over and into the freezer, is that right? Then freezer to car, leave it as it is until the morning of the party?

Don't use ganache, it goes really dull when refrigerated or frozen

Yes

@marylou25 my thanks to you, it worked perfectly. Birthday kids thrilled 💐

Look fabulous @PeachyGreenBean - I'm so glad they transported okay!