Few things are as frustrating as making your famous cupcakes – really taking time to get them right and decorate them just so – to discover that they have fallen apart, mushed together, or melted down during transportation.
Luckily, though, with a couple of tips and tricks we highlight below you’ll never again have to worry about the troubles and tribulations of transporting cupcakes.
Instead you’ll know exactly how to get your decadent delights from Point A to Point B without any headache and without any hassle.
And without losing any cupcakes along the way, too!
Let’s jump right in.
How to Transport Cupcakes
When you really get down to it, figuring out the right way to transport cupcakes is a lot easier than most people realize – even if there are a couple of things you need to think about (and maybe a couple of accessories that make this a lot easier, too).
But if you use the inside info below to help you with your transportation of cupcakes from here on out you’ll lose a lot less.
The only “casualties” during transportation will be the ones that you decide to snack on on your way to the delivery drop-off!
Keep Them in the Original Baking Pan
One of the easiest ways to make sure that your cupcakes don’t come apart is to simply keep them in the original baking pan for as long as possible.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that you can’t ever pop your cupcakes out of your favorite cupcake pan. That’s not what we are suggesting at all.
You can bust them out as soon as they are done baking, decorate and dress them anyway you’d like, and then – after you get them exactly the way you want them – slide them back into the cupcake pan to “lock them into place” during transport.
The only downside here really is that you don’t have something that can go over top of the cupcakes to protect the decorations and the frosting you’ve added. If you’re only going a short distance, though, that might not be that big of a deal.
Get Your Hands on No-Skid Pan Linings
If you are committed to taking your cupcakes out of their original pan and putting them into another container it’s important that you invest in no skid pan linings.
These (usually) silicone liners are going to add a nonstick but also nonslip surface to the bottom of your container, helping to make sure your cupcakes don’t go for a tumble. They will be cemented in place (more or less).
When you take this approach, though, just know that you are usually going to have to cut down your liners to fit the kinds of containers you have on hand.
It’s always better to buy liners that are a little bit on the larger side of things and cut them to fit than have liners that don’t quite get the job done.
Stick Cupcakes with a Dot of Frosting
Another “old-fashioned” baker trick to keep your cupcakes in place is to simply squeeze a tiny dot of frosting down where you want your cupcakes to set, smooshing your cupcake down into the frosting, and let the frosting act as a kind of glue to keep it where you put it.
This trick works well in a lot of different applications, but you have to be careful trying it when the temperatures are on the warmer side of things.
If that icing doesn’t firm up and act as a glue, but instead continues to melt and deteriorate and gets really slippery, you’re going to have an even bigger cupcake mess on your hands than you would have originally.
Even still, it’s not a bad trick to keep in your toolbox.
Use a Shallow Container with a Tight Seal
Shallow containers with tight seals are the best tools to use to transport your cupcakes from one destination to another.
You don’t want containers that are so shallow that they smoosh the cupcakes (the frosting), but you want them to be as close to the top of your decorations as possible.
The smaller amount of space you are working with the less air you are going to expose your cupcakes too. This keeps your cupcakes fresh, moist, and delicious a lot longer than if they were left out, open and exposed.
Cupcake Boxes Work Wonders
Commercial cupcake boxes aren’t as expensive as you think – especially if you aren’t using them all that often. You can buy a dozen or so and pretty much call it good until you need some more in a year or two time.
These cardboard boxes are easy to fold together, come with little “cut out” inserts that hug your cupcake, and have a closable lid that protects your cupcakes while sealing out a little bit of air.
Not quite as good for longer-term transportation storage as a shallow container with a tight fitting lid, they get the job done in most situations and won’t set you back a pretty penny.
Splash Some Cash for a Specialized Cupcake Carrier
Of course, if you are spending a lot of time transporting cupcakes – we are talking about moving cupcakes every couple of days – it might be a good idea to get your hands on specialized cupcake carriers.
Amazon is loaded to the gills with these kinds of accessories, with prices that range from foolishly affordable to almost outrageously expensive for what you get and everything in between.
The important things to look for in these kind of commercial cupcake carriers include:
- Plenty of space for all the cupcakes you want to transport
- A close fitting, tight seal
- Not a lot of extra room in the “cupcake bubble” to help keep your cupcakes fresh
- A nonslip bottom that keeps the carrier itself locked into position during transport
… And a convenient carrying handle is a nice extra to have as well.
Closing Thoughts
Aside from those tips and tricks we highlighted above, it’s important to keep your cupcakes as cool as possible during transportation.
You want these cupcakes to arrive fresh, moist, and just as delicious as possible – and high temperatures are going to degrade your cupcakes faster than you would have thought possible.
It’s also not a bad idea to decorate your cupcakes at your final destination whenever possible.
This allows you to move the “raw” cupcakes without worrying about damaging delicate decorations or carefully considered frostings and flavorings.
Good luck!