Every year we give away one CakeSafe transportation box. The 2020 giveaway winner is Erin Castor. She went through a lifetime's worth of stress in order to fix a damaged cake. Read her contest entry below, but rest assured she'll have no more cake delivery nightmares now that she has her CakeSafe!
I started making cakes as a hobby baker around March of 2018. When I first started baking I would deliver cookies and cupcakes and samples to local businesses in hopes for new customers or referrals. In August of 2018 my hard work had finally paid off, I had my first wedding cake order! I was so excited and nervous at the same time, but I was ready to take on the challenge. The bride was getting married a couple hours away from my home so we decided that I would meet her about an hour away from the venue the night before. Now, looking back this was an AWFUL, no TERRIBLE, decision, but being a novice baker I didn't know any better. I traveled for one hour (driving 10-15 miles under the speed limit with the air conditioning cranked to the lowest setting and a 5 year old yelling she was cold in the backseat... I digress) and met the bride. She was so happy with the cake and it was exactly what she wanted!! I was so proud of myself!! I made this beautiful cake and drove so far without so much as a wrinkle!
I gave the bride the same instructions that I had followed driving down the road: drive slowly, take turns cautiously and refrigerate once you get to the venue.. then she was off!! "Dang, that was easy" I thought to myself as my cake drove away. Little did I know, my short lived paradise was getting ready to turn into my first nightmare... About 20 minutes after dropping off the cake I get a call from the bride. She is FRANTIC!! Something happened to the cake, it was "falling". I thought to myself "This is not happening. Everything is still going to be fine. Nothing a little buttercream and some cool temperatures can't fix!" I asked her to meet me and we would take a look at the cake. The bottom layer had shifted and the top layer had toppled off of the cake!! This was happening less than 24 hours before the wedding.
I was shocked! How could this happen? I couldn't just leave the bride without a cake and my very new home-based business was on the line, so I said "it's no big deal, I can make you another one and deliver it to you tomorrow before the wedding." She thanked me and left me with my mess of a cake to go to her rehearsal dinner. I drove home as quickly as possible and began baking and frosting again. After a LONG 8 hours the cake was finally recreated and double reinforced! But now the scary part, I had to drive for two hours and setup this cake the next morning! I remember praying almost the entire drive that I would be able to make it there with no hiccups. Finally, I arrived to the venue and the cake was still in tact and exactly as I had assembled it. Setting up the cake was tedious but I was so happy that everything went smoothly on the trip over that I didn't mind. The bride and groom loved their cake and thanked me for all of the work that I had done to ensure their wedding day was special.