NYC Cake Girl

I received a phone call a few weeks ago from our client Scott, he said he would be in town for work.  And because he was in NYC for work, he and his partner David, would be getting married. (Because they can’t get married in California – shame on you California.)  So as a surprise to his new husband, Scott got the wedding cake from us. (David loves Ron and his work.) Scott and I designed the cake over the phone and while we were talking about the design details he said that he was going to be married on the Conan O’Brien show.  (Scott is a costume designer for the show.)

Our clients David & Scott.

David and Scott during their ceremony on the Conan O'Brien Show.

So on November 3, in the Beacon Theater, Scott & David, were married by Conan himself on the Conan O’Brien Show.  After the taping of the show, they headed off to Carmine’s for a gathering of friends and family for dinner and Scott surprised David with his wedding cake from Ron.

The cake was three tiers in white fondant with lavender confectionary bands and bows with a bright orange sugar poppy. The flavor was vanilla cake with caramel buttercream. Yummy!

So congrats to Scott and David – may you have a long and happy life together!

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We have flown cakes via private planes (Our preference, it goes right to the plane, there is no waiting and we have access to the cakes at all times.)   We have also flown cakes via commercial airlines. Is this our favorite option?  Nope, it’s not.  We will do it? Yes we will.  Is it expensive?  Yes it is.  What a lot of people don’t realize is that it’s not that easy to fly a cake commercially.  You can’t just put a cake in a box and pop it on a plane.  Because our cakes are fragile, we take extra precaution in crating the cakes for this kind of delivery. (Yep I said crating, the cake does not go in just a cardboard box – that would just be silly and some what dangerous, what happens if a suitcase fell on the cake? Smush.)

So here is some insight as to what it takes to fly one of our cakes on a commercial airline.

• You need to be certified by the carrier, which we are. (Your company needs to go through a security check.)
• Flight availability. Additional cargo packaging is not always guaranteed for a flight. All people and luggage are. (Sometimes you have to wait for another flight that has room for additional cargo, which is what a cake is considered.)
• Crating.  We have special crates made for the cake.  It’s what they ship sculpture in.  Two sides are wood, and two sides are plexiglass so the airline crew can see what cargo they are handling.

This is the kind of crate we have made. There are handles on each side so it is easier for two people to pick it up.

• Placement on the airplane.  This is predetermined by the amount of luggage already in cargo.  You have no choice as to where its location is in the cargo hold; all of the weight needs to be distributed evenly.
• Temperature control.  Despite popular belief, it is not colder in the cargo hold; this is a direct quote from my contact at the airline.  The temperature is almost the same as the main cabin where people sit.  You can’t just put dry ice in the box (unless you are certified) because that is considered a “dangerous chemical”, and you need to be specially certified with the airline in order to transport dry ice.

The plexiglass gets screwed into place using a drill.

• When we deliver to the airport, a refrigerated van takes delivers the cake, we don’t know how long we have to wait to get the cake on the plane, so we want to keep the cake cold for as long as possible.
• Weight of the cake.  We can only go up to 100 pounds for each crate and that is including the weight of the crate.  So design needs to really be thought out in order to achieve this.  If the cake is over the 100 pounds, they will not ship it.

This is a cake we flew to Florida in 2007. All crated up and ready to go for a ride on an airplane.

• When it’s picked up, another refrigerated van is needed; we need to get the cake back into a cold environment and then to a refrigerated location until the event.  (We like to keep our cakes cold so that they can sit out during the entire event for everyone to enjoy.)

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I would personally like to welcome all of you to the start of the 2011 “wedding season”.  This is a big weekend for us as we have 13 cakes going out.  So, of course I woke up at 3am and ran to my computer to check my online schedule to make sure everything is on the up an up.  I will also check this schedule about 10 other times today to calm my nerves.  I start to really get anxious at about 3pm when I know that deliveries are being made.  And then I become that obnoxious person that always checks my phone in case our staff person delivering has called me with any concerns.

Tomorrow, I will be doing deliveries.  Yes, even I know how to set up cakes (topsy-turvy, floating tiers and whatever else my crazy talented staff has dreamed up).  Please remember that my title at work has “etc…” in it.  I will be going to 3 locations, and I am actually invited to one of the parties! (Happy Birthday David Beahm!)

We could only fit 9 of the cakes in this walk in fridge, the other 4 are in the other one.

So let it begin…my weekends will now be filled with lots of anxiety (as Ron’s are too I am sure…).  ”Did the cake get there?” “Did the client like how it looked?” Did they think it tasted good?”  These are the questions that will occupy my mind until November.  But that’s OK, I love what I do…

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