How-to: ship a cupcake (solution?)
March 13, 2008 at 7:25 PM | Posted in cupcakes, shipping | 60 CommentsWho’s really gonna read this paragraph? Everyone will make a beeline scroll down to the pictures first. Am I right? Its ok… go ahead. I’ll wait.
::staring @ my frosted cuppys with glee::
Shipped from California to Massachusetts
IHC shipping in 5 simple steps — (Why 5? Well we all know 5 is better than 4, right Nikki?)
1. 
The pièce de résistance. I give you my shipping secret – a plastic cup.
2. 
I prepared the cupcake by freezing it and then keeping the moisture in with saran wrap and secured them with a sticker. Next I added foil to the bottom of the cup to keep the cupcake in the cup. I think my next version will be to find cups that have a lid instead of using foil. Think cuppy-accino!
3. 
I also needed to find a way for the cupcakes to have limited mobility within the box so I used cardboard scraps and made dividers for individual cupcake compartments.
4. 
Waste not want not! I used the box insert to anchor the cups together at the top.
5. 
Voila! Close the top, secure it shut and ready to ship!
Alrighty… now that you’ve learned the secret, let’s talk logistics. I knew I didn’t have the luxury of dry ice or insulated shipping boxes like some professional cupcakeries do. I also do not have the funds to pay for overnight shipping either. Maybe I was asking too much with those constraints but I wanted something easy to assemble, cheap and didn’t damage the cupcake.
So I started thinking about some kind of individual container that would make gravity work for me and not against me. After weeks of pondering, it came to me! I remember sipping on a Starbuck’s iced caramel macchiato and I realized that the slightly sloped sides of the plastic cup would work great for shipping cupcakes! (Is that a stretch or what? Goes to show you, you can find inspiration anywhere!) Think about it? When you turn it upside down it doesn’t allow the cupcake to move lower. *light bulb*
I did not try my experiment with regular cupcake liners though. Not sure how well my method would work since cupcake liners tend to be less rigid compared to PNCs. Might have to give that variation a try next time!
So what do you think? Comments? Suggestions? Questions… I am all ears.
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I was wondering what kind of frosting this cupcake has. Wouldn’t the saran wrap squish it? Love your shipping idea.
Comment by Minn — March 13, 2008 #
MINN, Good question! In the picture is a cinnamon cream cheese frosting. I froze the cupcakes first so the frosting was stiff and then loosely saran wrapped at the top but tight at the bottom. ps. Nice to meet you!
Comment by CB — March 13, 2008 #
It worked, only one of the cuppys had the littlest squish mark, but honestly most people wouldn’t notice it
Comment by nikki57 — March 13, 2008 #
OMG awesome! I’m so jealous of the engineering skillz present in that project. I might have to start baking cuppies just so that I can try out the shipping method (and have another excuse to bake!)
Comment by Caitlin — March 13, 2008 #
NIKKI, little squish is better than nekkid right? ;)
CAITLIN, engineerbaker in da house! I am not an engineer by education but maybe I got engineer genes? My dad’s an engineer. If you wanna try out my idea, please feel free to send me cupcakes! ;)
Comment by CB — March 13, 2008 #
Okay so I totally smacked myself in the head when I saw this. You are awesome! Can I please hire you as an engineer? I say patent that thing once you add a lid to the bottom and make yourself some dough!
Comment by BBKiddo — March 13, 2008 #
holy crap, sensei! you are a genius!!! i’m so glad you fulfilled your quest! Congrats!
Comment by andrea — March 14, 2008 #
This is awesome! I must email this to Tommy right away…
Comment by mrsabybaby — March 14, 2008 #
Great Job!
Comment by April's Tommy — March 14, 2008 #
My only concern is with the cups being so tall. If the box got warm and turned upside down (I can see it in the postal bin now) then there is a lot of room for that frosting to go sliding if it got enough momentum and the wrapping gave way. Worst case scenario, yes, but I’d probably shorten the cups if possible. Still, between yours & Laura’s solutions, we see there are options for shipping that cost less than $40.
Comment by zebe912 — March 14, 2008 #
ZEBE – actually the cups being so tall is what prevents movement in the box. If they weren’t so tall they would fly all over the box rather than staying stable.
I’m sure that at some point between the always hot CA and the not so hot MA they got warm and flipped over and that wasn’t a problem. The wrapping had no chance of coming off the cupcakes because CB secured the bottom of the cupcake with a sticker. The frosting wasn’t going anywhere
Comment by nikki57 — March 14, 2008 #
Wow! My husband comments on your blog now? He doesn’t even comment on mine! LOL :)
Comment by mrsabybaby — March 14, 2008 #
I think it’s brilliant! I don’t have one of those fancy cupcake boxes you put the them in, but I’m thinking I might have to order some and try it out. Would the cups still work if they weren’t so secured? I may have to experiment with this!
Comment by Mary — March 14, 2008 #
Thanks, Nice you meet you too. Ok another question, Do you mark the box fragile or this side up. You see I think it’s amazing that shipping went so well. But then again your idea is really good. You beat the postal system. Amazing.
Comment by Minn — March 14, 2008 #
Woohoo!!! I knew you had it in you! You deserve a cupcake for all your efforts. :)
Comment by Alanna — March 14, 2008 #
So smart! I never would have thought about that idea either… you put my little idea I had to shame…..
Comment by NinaBeth — March 14, 2008 #
Brilliant! So, did the inverted PNC not work because it was too mobile in the box? Maybe you could still use that idea combined with the current one, so that there would be like an inner PNC shell to prevent any squishing. This thing has taken over my brain lol I’m such a dork. Also, did you cut that insert out with an exacto knife, cus it looks perfect!
Comment by Kristina — March 14, 2008 #
Wow!! I am so glad that you figured this out! Makes me want to bake and ship! :)
Comment by April — March 14, 2008 #
BB, I think I probably channeled my inner enginner to get this idea. I am inspired by many engineer bloggie friends ;) As for patent, those mofos are hella expensive! and I have a feeling that my “invention” isn’t very patent worth… yet. ;)
ANDREA, dude! sensei makes me feel old. Let’s think of something else less tranny mess and more FIERCE mkay?
MRSYABY, haha. AT probably thinks I am the biggest nutso huh?
APRIL’S TOMMY, I know who you are! Tommy will suffice. haha. I am uber impressed that I get a hubbie comment. My T has no idea what my blog URL is much less comment. That settles it. He gets a husband kick in the arse tonight.
ZEBE, Actually I think the height of the cups helped it keep stable. It hit right at the top of the lid so there was no room to flip. Not sure about the temp sitch but I think the climate between CA –> MA kinda covers most of it. Though I am not sure being kinda spoiled in CA ;)
NIKKI, good points. I should update my BU about the sticker. Thanks for being my shipping guinea pig! YRMSMBNB.
Comment by CB — March 14, 2008 #
MARY, honestly I don’t think it really matters the type of box. The big points for me were immobility of the cupcakes to flip upside down and get smashed. I think if you find any ol box that is the same height as the cup it should work. I do think the dividers helped minimize the space for the cups to fall over too. Give it a try! If you need my address I can email you ;)
MINN, Nope. I did not put any special instructions on the box. I wanted to see how it would survive the normal rigors of the shipping with no additional pampering so I just tossed it down into the mail shoot sent it on its way. Thanks for your compliments!
ALANNA, haha. I definitely deserve a cupcake! You offering? I will take a vanilla bean cupcake please… Mmmmm
NINA, what were you ideas?? I wanna hear!
KRISTINA, you crack me up! I think the inverted PNC could work but I think I made this batch of frosting kinda high so when I tried to tape the 2 PNCs together it kinda smooshed down on the frosting. I didn’t make the insert. It comes with the special cupcake boxes I have. My efforts with an exacto knife would be hideous!
APRIL, thanky! Please feel free to ship me cupcakes anytime! haha
Comment by CB — March 14, 2008 #
you rule, mrs. smartypants!
Comment by Racheypoo — March 14, 2008 #
RACHEYPOO, not sure if its “smarty” or sad that I have so much time on my hands that this is what I fill it with. LOL
Comment by CB — March 14, 2008 #
What are “sprinkles”? Whatever they are you’ve gotta lot of ‘em. 27,000 or so. Do they have something to do with “droggies”?
Comment by Todd — March 14, 2008 #
TODD, is this my hubs?? HAHA! you spelled “dragees” so wrong. thanks for stopping by. Ok you don’t have to sleep on the couch tonight. ;)
Comment by CB — March 14, 2008 #
Congrats on a job well done!!! (Now, please send me some cuppycakes!)
Comment by Beth — March 15, 2008 #
BETH, haha. I am sure that can be
riggedarranged.Comment by CB — March 15, 2008 #
Bahaha T you are one funny bastard.
Comment by nikki57 — March 17, 2008 #
Yay! This makes me so happy…I wanted to make my brother cupcakes for his birthday but I was too afraid of sending them off! I will def keep this in mind :)
Comment by Sophie A. — March 19, 2008 #
SOPHIE, Definitely try it and let me know what you think! Any suggestions appreciate… :)
Comment by CB — March 19, 2008 #
Amazing how complicated it is to ship such wonderful treats! :)
Now about that password…. i need hints!
cupcakesareawesome
cupcakesarefab
cupcakesaregreat
help! :)
Comment by Nikita — March 20, 2008 #
NIKITA, haha. email me yes or no questions.
Comment by CB — March 20, 2008 #
LOL at Todd’s comment!
Comment by Rachel — March 25, 2008 #
Hi i found you on google while looking for ideas on how to ship cupcakes :-). I’ve noticed a number of other forums suggesting that the icing shouldn’t be frozen and that it should be added later – apparently it doesn’t taste as good if it’s frozen. What are your thoughts on that? Do they taste just as good?
Thanks!
Comment by auschick — May 6, 2008 #
AUSCHICK, hi there! I can only go on personal experience and I think if you want to ship it, freezing the frosting is a must in my opinion. I don’t taste a difference freezing or not and I’ve never had any complaints from my “taste-testers” either! If you try to ship some cupcakes using my method, come back and let me know what you think, k? :)
Comment by CB — May 6, 2008 #
Would it be crazy to try to ship cupcakes to Afghanastan? I have a friend that would I would love to be able to send a birthday cupcake or four. How long would you say a cupcake is good for? Generally when I send him a package it takes about 1 week to get there. Thanks your blog rocks and I’m learning soooo much.
Comment by Marianne — July 17, 2008 #
MARIANNE, You are such a sweetheart for wanting to ship cupcakes to Afghanistan ♥ Honestly I am not sure how well the frosting will hold up in the traveling heat esp during the summer. Maybe in the winter months would be better to keep the frosting stabilized. The longer that the cupcake can keep frozen/cold it will retain its moisture and taste good but I am really not sure after 7 days. I’d include some ice packs if possible. If you ship some, I would love to hear an update from you/friend about the final result!
Comment by CB — July 18, 2008 #
You are my new best friend. Thank you so much for posting this! I was just beginning to explore the possibility of shipping cupcakes from my online store and a friend sent me your link. Full credit will go to you for shipping method if/when I decide to go for it!
Comment by Missie — October 23, 2008 #
MISSIE, haha. Always good for the soul to have more best friends. Definitely let me know what you think if you try my shipping solution. I think there’s always room for improvement and would love to hear your thoughts.
Comment by CB — October 23, 2008 #
Thank you so much for this! I’m going to start using my talents to sell cupcakes and baked goods out of home, and i had no idea how to package and send them! GENIUS!
Comment by Melanie — October 30, 2008 #
MELANIE, Your welcome! I wouldn’t say my method is full proof. You’d probably wanna include some ice packs to keep the cupcakes cold esp in the summer. Definitely a good starting idea but something that still needs to be perfected. Let me know if you make any modifications. I love to hear!
Comment by CB — October 30, 2008 #
Hello, I just tried shipping cupcakes for the first time the other day, with the above method, & it bombed, you can see my experience here littlebigcakes.blogspot.com please let me know if I have done anything wrong, or if there is a better solution? Thank you!!
Comment by Kara — February 12, 2009 #
KARA, Sorry to hear your cupcakes didn’t survive their trip. :( Did the cupcakes flip in the cup? Did the frosting get smooshed? If its the frosting, did you freeze the cupcake before shipping? Need more details so I know what I did vs what you did.
Comment by CB — February 12, 2009 #
CB, the cupcakes were fit pretty nicely in the cup, you can’t really tell by the pictures but you can kind of see in 5th picture here, http://littlebigcakes.blogspot.com/2009/02/project-of-daynight-shipping-cupcakes.html that I took some saran wrap and wrapped it around the top rim of the cupcake so it would stay put.
The frosting was very smooshed though. I froze them for about 30 min. to an hour before I covered them in saran wrap, & then once they were in the box I froze them over night & the next day until I took them to the post office. It was 2 day shipping also, so they weren’t in there for a week or anything. The sad part is I was doing that as a test, but I sent some out today for a friend’s birthday and I didn’t find out the results of the first delivery until after I sent out the second one! So I’m hoping this second delivery has a better ending.. hah.
Comment by Kara — February 12, 2009 #
KARA, Hmmm… You did everything the same as I did. The only thing I can think of is that I froze the cupcake overnight before wrapping it loosely with saran wrap so it gave the frosting some room to defroze. Did you wrap the saran wrap too tight against the frosting? Hopefully the 2nd batch ships better.
Comment by CB — February 14, 2009 #
thanks this is great! im baking some cupcakes for a friends birthday but just want to make sure everything is gona work out. I’m supposed to freeze the cupcakes over night? .. If I send them overnight delivery, how will the frosting be when they arrive? .. still frozen? or is there a chance the frosting melts and messes up?
Comment by NN — February 18, 2009 #
NN, To be honest it really depends on the weather. I would think it would be defrosted by the time it arrives to your friend but it might still retain its shape depending on the weather and how “frozen” the frosting is. I definitely recommend overnight shipping for the best results. Maybe include an ice pack or 2 to keep the temperature consistent during travel too. Hope that helps! Let me know how it turns out. GL!
Comment by CB — February 19, 2009 #
CB, where did you get the top that you put on the box? or the whole box if they came together.
Comment by Denise — April 17, 2009 #
DENISE, I get my cupcake boxes and inserts from BRP Boxshop. They come in quantities of 100. Hope that helps!
Comment by CB — April 17, 2009 #
Cool! I just ordered from them today!!!! Thanks
Comment by Denise — April 17, 2009 #
hi，i love ur site,i love to baking too,and sales it online..also find the best way fot sky courier!~
sale alot and ship alot too.
haha, i ship cheese cake too some time~i home can be ur friends^.^
Comment by wendy — November 29, 2009 #
can try to slide some unused paper on the empty space,,can less the cakes move!,less the chance shaking
Comment by wendy — November 29, 2009 #
my msn,wendy81884@livemail.com
webside , xuansbakery.blogspot.com
all,can make friends?
Comment by wendy — November 29, 2009 #
I know this post is almost 2 years old … but I just found it, and I gotta say, this is incredibly clever. Good brain on ya.
Comment by Kate — January 25, 2010 #
wow i totally misread that as “i remember shipping an iced macchiato” i’m like who in the hell did she mail a drink to!??!?! anyway this is so extremely clever thanks for sharing!
Comment by karen — May 1, 2010 #
Hi Clara,
I still do not understand how the foil keeps the cupcake from smashing into the bottom of the cup if the box were to be turned upside down. Could you please clarify?
Thanks!
Comment by Monique — July 6, 2010 #
Sorry if my instructions were confusing. It’s not really the foil that keeps the cupcake from smashing. It’s the cup. You’ll want to find a cup that has tapered sides so that when you put a cupcake inside and turn the upside down, the cupcake doesn’t move b/c the width of the cup is smaller than the width of the cupcake liner. Does that make more sense?
Comment by CB — July 20, 2010 #
Check this shipping idea out!!!
Putting the cupcakes in a jar!
http://www.beantownbaker.com/2008/11/shipping-cupcakes-in-jar.html
Comment by Kim — July 11, 2010 #
Thank you so much for posting this idea! I definitely want to give this a try :) Where did you buy your cups and what kind are they (how many ounces) so that I know to get the right ones.
Comment by Amber — July 18, 2010 #
I think they were regular ol clear cups from my grocery store. Sorry I can’t be more exact. (This post is 2 years old and my memory isn’t what it use to be. LOL) You could bring in a frozen cupcake (You’ll probably get some weird looks!) and see how it fits inside one of the cups before buying. Just make sure that the cup is tapered enough so that the cupcake doesn’t slip inside the cup. HTH!
Comment by CB — July 20, 2010 #
We ship cupcakes all over the us!
We even change the recipes to suit your diet!
Low fat, low carb, or low calorie.
Gourmet cupcakes for all occasions.
http://www.GuiltFreecomfort.com
Our method is surprisingly similar to yours!!
Comment by Guilt-Free Comfort — July 29, 2010 #