Category Archives: Cupcake Commuting

This past week, Felkerino and I ventured out with his daughter to do some cupcake commuting. Destination: Hello Cupcake on Capitol Hill.

Sheesh, was it hot. Temperatures hovered around 100 degrees and bright sun abounded.

Curious to see how cupcakes would fare in the Hello Cupcake to-go box, we each committed to eating a cupcake in the store and to eating one later. It was a family sacrifice for science.

Cupcake Commuting Team

This also followed some advice we had received previously. If you are going to haul cupcakes around for science, make sure that what you’re carrying is worth it. They were. I can’t say Hello Cupcake makes the best cupcakes ever, but they definitely satisfied my sweet tooth, and their cream cheese frosting is well worth a nibble.

Felkerino, certain that the to-go container would send the cupcakes tumbling all over the place, insisted on putting plastic wrap over the top. The woman at Hello Cupcake helpfully provided some for us.

A little plastic wrap will do the trick.

All boxed up and ready to roll.

We stashed the cupcakes in my Acorn saddle bag, where they nestled rather nicely.

Acorn saddle bag. Perfect cupcake transport device.

And then, the two-mile test began.

First, I employed the Goldilocks principle, trying not to move so fast as to disturb the cupcakes, while simultaneously maintaining forward momentum. I needed to get the cupcakes home as quickly as possible so that the brilliant heat did not melt the edible treasures.

Game face. Cupcake commuting on the Velo Orange

Upon arrival, we looked to see how we had done.

Cupcakes upon arrival. Some melting going on.

Overall, we did pretty well. The cupcakes’ frosting had begun to spread and stick to the saran wrap, but not terribly so. In addition, they had not tossed around in the box at all.

Well done, Cupcake Commuting Team! By the way, we also confirmed that the taste of the cupcakes was not affected. Yum.

Enjoy the weekend, all! If you go out to cupcake commute, be sure to document and tell me about it.

You may recall that I recently had a birthday and that Felkerino birthday-cake-bike-commuted with a somewhat messy, yet still savory, outcome.

Birthday Cake

I also embarked on a cake-commuting expedition earlier this year, and was waiting for just the right moment to write about it. I now realize that the right moment would have been one week before my birthday. Nevertheless, I share it with you now in the hope of educating others about successful cake commuting. Yes, it’s cake commuting class. Pay attention!

Rule 1. Do not have your birthday or special occasion in the middle of summer, at least not in Washington, D.C. The sweltering heat makes the cake frosting too delicate.

Rule 2. If you must have your birthday in the summertime, make sure to live close to a bakery to minimize the effects of the heat on your cake.

Furin's Cake Inside

Rule 3. Take a pannier or bag that allows the cake to lay flat. It’s a gravity thing. Also, don’t get greedy. Make sure to order a cake that fits in a box no larger than your carrying device allows.

Rule 4. If you have any worry about marring the icing, eliminate the custom message, or add it on yourself when you get home. That way, the icing can get a little messed up in transit, but it won’t be as noticeable.

Rule 5. Be kind to your cake. Don’t ride like a maniac or go over lots of railroad tracks or bumps that might send your cake rocking around in its box. Save that for another ride.

Fragile: Birthday Cake Inside!

Rule 6. Don’t sneak a piece before the celebration, thinking that no one will notice. They will notice.

During my own cake commute experience (which also featured a scrumptious Furin’s of Georgetown cake), I told the manager that I would be transporting my cake by bike. He informed me not to worry. Furin’s bakes the cake, places it on a piece of cardboard, and inserts the cake and cardboard in the box. They tape the cardboard down securely to minimize any movement.

That sounded like a bicycle-friendly method to me. I paid for my cake and hit the road.

Birthday Cake Commute = Pretty good

After taking my own cake commute (following all of the above rules), I concluded that my cake looked pretty good. There was a little frosting indentation on the right-hand-corner, but overall not bad. I give myself an A-. And the cake itself deserved an A+. Furin’s chocolate cakes are incredible!

Before I launch into the sweet topic of my post, I’d like to welcome another researcher to the cupcake commuting circle. Girl on a Bike has sucessfully completed her first cupcake experiment. She used cakelove cupcakes. I love how she describes cupcakes as “a frosting transportation device.” She has a point. Read about her experiment here.

And now a return to the topic at hand, birthday cake commuting. This past week I celebrated my birthday. Another year older, another year ____________ (insert clever word here). Because it was my birthday, Felkerino was in charge of tracking down a cake. You just can’t have a birthday without cake, and I don’t believe in cupcakes for birthdays.

Felkerino ordered a vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream frosting from Furin’s of Georgetown and used his bicycle and pannier to pick it up. His commute setup is similar to that of my Surly LHT (except that he is riding a Rivendell Atlantis). We both use a Nitto Camper rear rack and Ortlieb panniers. Below you can see a shot of my Surly LHT (for basic comparison purposes only).

Sometimes I wonder if Felkerino reads my blog. I think I’ve given some good ideas about carrying baked goods, such as cupcakes, and I would have thought these helpful hints might transfer over to cake transport. When I opened up the cake box, here is what I found.

Furin's Cake, post-ride

Felkerino informed me that he inserted the cake with care, and made sure it was laid flat in the bottom of the pannier. He flanked the box on both sides with some sort of material to make sure the box did not wiggle back and forth as he pedaled. However, he also thought it would be a good idea to put something over the top of the box to prevent any upward motion. This last step was the fatal flaw in his cake commuting technique, as this made the box bend inward and left the cake slightly marred.

Birthday Cake

That’s ok. Felkerino’s just a beginner with this stuff. I’m sure his skills will improve over time. Despite the commute-induced cosmetic flaws, the cake was delectable, and I think its taste was improved by the fact that he brought it home by bicycle. I’m off to have another piece right now. Thanks, Felkerino!

And as always, if you have any of your own cake-by-bicycle-transportation stories to share, I’d love to read them. Oh, and if you know of any other bakeries in the area that we should investigate, please let me know. I’m always looking for new places!

It’s been a great day over here at Chasing Mailboxes. First, yesterday’s post about Capital Bikeshare was featured on DCBlogs. Second, I learned that I have a collaborator on my rapidly unfolding cupcaking commuting research project.

My new partner in cupcake commuting research is fellow D.C.-area cyclist and blogger, Freewheel. What a relief! I’d hate to think I had to do all these experiments alone.

Freewheel gives a full run-down of his own experiment, “Rising to the Cupcake Challenge,” which also used Lavender Cupcakery cupcakes, here.

There were a few differences between Freewheel’s and my experiments.

1. I used the two-cupcake to-go container. Freewheel chose the four-cupcake container (for science, I’m sure).
2. I stowed my cupcakes in my rear Carradice bag. Freewheel placed his cupcakes on a rear rack, wrapped the box in bubble wrap, and secured the box using his Pletscher “rat trap” rack.
3. I conducted my experiment in the last days of summer. Freewheel conducted his in the waning days of winter. At least, I hope they’re waning.

You may recall that my Lavender Cupcakery commute ended like this:

Lavender Cupcakery Cupcakes-Post Commute

Freewheel’s commute experiment resulted in this. In short, I’d say our results are quite similar, except that:

• He has to eat four battered cupcakes. I only had to eat two.
• Freewheel’s cupcakes are less melted than mine. I attribute this to his having conducted his experiment in February.

One of the big questions I have for Freewheel is why he decided that the bubble wrap would work better on the outside of the box. When I look at the image above as well as his own photo, it would seem to me that the bubble wrap would provide more benefit inside the to-go container. Based on his post, he wrapped the box in bubble wrap to protect it. But isn’t protecting the cupcake the most important? Is it a chicken and egg issue? You tell me.

Freewheel’s post concludes with a determined “This isn’t over!” It is so not over. We will uncover the secrets of successful cupcake commuting. We have to, for science. Who’s with us?