How Confident is YOUR Cake Delivery?

Today I share a blog article by my friend Kara Buntin, owner of "A Cake to Remember" in Richmond, Virginia.  A brief preview: she tells a true story of a box that held the wedding cake that was picked up from a table and just dropped on the floor .... with the cake still in it!..... and how the cake survived. 

Read Kara's article by clicking HERE.

While this is definitely a rare event at a wedding, I share the story to prompt the question: How confident are you with your cake delivery?  Whether you are the bride or the cake designer, it is a good question.

Cake designers should be confident in their cake assembly and delivery and be able to convey their confidence to their client/bride.  Brides should feel confident the cake designer they have selected is more than competent in being able to get the cake to the event.

All of us are aware that "stuff happens" that is out of our control and I am in no way promoting that perfection in all things are possible.  Stuff happens.

Kara's story is a good illustration of a professional who understands many of the "stuff happens" elements and how she went above and beyond to help make sure the cake was delivered intact.  Her professional expertise helped derail what could have been one of those derailing accidents that could mar a bride's wedding day.

Good job, Kara!!


Photos of Kara's work can be seen on her website, acaketoremember.com .

A Simple Step-by-Step Assembly

While many cakes can be (and are) delivered fully assembled to the reception site, some are completed once they arrive at the venue. The cake in these photos could have been assembled ahead of time, but I opted to put it together at the venue and took some step-by-step photos to show the progress. Cakers, this is also a good visual to show how you can get two or three photos of cake designs using just one cake .... just take photos after each step!

Here is the cake as it was carried into the venue. It all fit on one large baking tray, making it easy for me to carry it. The baking tray is lined with a rubber, no-skid material (sometimes referred to as shelf liner ... can be purchased at any Dollar Store or Walmart), to prevent the cakes from sliding around during transport. Notice the supporting dowel rods are already in the cakes.Once inside, I stacked the three tiers. Since the dowel rods were already in place, it was a simple matter of just setting each tier in place:Wrapping the ribbon around the base of each tier took just a couple of minutes.Then it became a simple matter of applying the daisies, which were made from fondant ahead of time in the shop, around the cake. From the time I walked into the venue to the time I walked out (which included unpacking my cake tools, clean up, and then packing up again) was around 15 minutes.

How To Assemble a Stacked Wedding Cake

I've receive many requests for direction on how to stack a buttercream cake without "ruining" the icing on the lower tiers. Here are some step-by-step photos on how I stack a cake.










Start with a base cake, already doweled and ready to receive the upper tier......










I pick up the upper tier, supporting it with my hand and the icing spatula .....














I bring the upper tier over to the bottom tier.....











I lower the front of the upper tier into place on the lower tier. The reason I lower the front of the cake is so I can keep the spatula at the back of the cake, so if there are any errors, those will be in the back where the photographer won't see them!!! (and they are more easily fixable.)








I remove my hand from under the cake while there is still room. The cake is now being supported by the spatula. This works well for larger tiers, too.






Using the spatula, I lower the upper tier in place. I leave the spatula in place until I check the position of the tier, making sure it is centered properly. If it needs moved, LIFT the tier with the spatula. Do not scoot or push the tier without lifting it as this can cause the dowels to shift and become unstable.

I use a slight, almost imperceptible lift as I pull the spatula out from under the upper tier.

I'm not concerned with this slight marring of the icing that happened at the last second when pulling the spatula out. It will be covered with the border.

The final cake has a nice border to hide any mistakes made during stacking, then adorned with Buckeye candies.

This was a cost saving idea we came up with for the bride, who had wanted a groom's cake with Buckeye candies but she had a tight budget. We just combined the idea onto her wedding cake!