This post contains affiliate links.
Traveling with a cheesecake can be really frustrating when you’re on the road for more than an hour at a time. This delicate dessert takes a long time to make yet it can fall apart in less than an hour. So you might be asking yourself: What’s the best way to travel with a cheesecake?
How to travel with a cheesecake? Get a small-sized cooler depending on the size of your cheesecake. Cool the inside of the cooler ahead of time with ice. When ready, put ice packs inside to cover the bottom of the cooler. Cover your cheesecake with plastic wrap and put it inside the cooler on top of the ice packs. Close the lid.
In the past few years, I’ve traveled with my cheesecakes to a couple of cities. Some were close, and some were far. Throughout my journey, I’ve learned a bunch of helpful tips that I know for sure will get your cheesecake to its destination safely.
Put Your Cheesecake In A Cooler With Ice
I learned the hard way that traveling with cheesecake is NOT an easy task. It was very disturbing to see my cheesecake melt and fall apart when I arrived at my destination. As a person who has to travel to see my family, I always want to treat them to this fluffy dessert that I create.
If you’re looking to bake different-sized cheesecakes, I found the perfect 3 piece set of Springform Pans that I recently got for myself! This 3-piece set comes with 4, 7, and 9-inch Nonstick Springform Pans, which you can check out on Amazon!
Best way to travel with cheesecake:
- Choose a cooler depanding on the size of the cheesecake
- Cool the inside of the cooler with ice ahead of time
- Take the regular ice out of the cooler
- Put ice packs inside to cover the bottom of the cooler
- Cover the cheesecake with plastic wrap
- Put the cheesecake inside the cooler on top of the ice packs
- Make sure that the cheesecake fits in snugg so it wont fall
- Shut the cooler’s lid tightly
Before beginning to make your cheesecake you need to consider how far you’ll need to drive. This will allow you to prepare what you need ahead of time so that you can still arrive with a beautiful dessert. If your drive is estimated to be anywhere between 30 minutes to 2 hours long, this method should work great for you.
Look for a small or large cooler to use. The cooler’s size depends on what size cheesecake you’re planning on making. I recommend getting a cooler that can fit your cheesecake perfectly. This is because the smaller the cooler, the longer it will stay cool. Preferably, the cooler also has to be easy to carry with two handles on both sides so that you can carry it upright.
Put some ice in the cooler to cool it ahead of time. This allows the cooler to get cold in the meantime. (I would recommend leaving your cheesecake in the Spring Form Pan that you baked it in for proper transport).
When ready, spill all the ice out and put enough fresh ice packs to cover the bottom of the cooler. Take your cheesecake out of the fridge and GENTLY cover it with plastic wrap. Place it on top of the ice packs inside the cooler and close the lid.
After arriving at your destination and taking the cheesecake out of its pan, you might not know the proper way of cutting this cheesecake. Check out my article where I spoke in-depth about The Proper Ways of Cutting a Cheesecake.
Freeze Your Cheesecake
Cheesecake is a type of cake that can be made in many different ways. In my opinion, it truly stands out from most other cakes. This makes this cake very unpredictable.
Depending on how you make it, the cheesecake can have many different types of crust. It can also have many different types of toppings ranging from fruit and nuts all the way to even vegetables. The consistency of the cheesecake is no different. It can be firm, strong, and stable or it can be made with looser jello-like consistency making it very gentle.
This leads us to talk about the “freezing your cheesecake” method. This technique of freezing a cheesecake ahead of time has several different reasons to be used:
- This method could be used if you have made a gentle cheesecake with looser consistency that you need to travel with.
- This method could also be used when you have to travel a long journey of more than 2 hours at a time.
Take your cheesecake out of the oven and let it sit and cool down for a little. After it is cooled enough, place the cheesecake in the freezer to freeze. Now that you’ve made the perfect frozen cheesecake and you’re proud of your creation, you’re ready to head out to your destination.
Take the cheesecake out of the freezer and cover it snugly with a sheet of aluminum foil. This will trap the cold in between the foil and the pan keeping your cake colder for longer.
*Side Note: If you’re looking to learn How to Decorate Your Cheesecake With Fruits The Right Way, It’s not as easy as you think. There are many ways in which you can decorate your cheesecake and you want to do it right. I wrote about it recently in my article that you can find here!
Put Most Cheesecake Toppings After Travel
It’s a known fact that most of the time we tend to eat with our eyes. The flavor is a major factor in a cheesecake but if it doesn’t deliver in appearance, chances are it won’t be eaten.
Cheesecakes have a range of colors and toppings. If you’re planning on transporting a cheesecake over a long distance, you need to know whether to decorate before or after the transportation.
If you’re using a topping like ganache, it’s better to add it BEFORE you transport. The ganache needs to be properly cooled just as well as the cheesecake. If you do this after you’ve arrived at your destination, chances are it won’t have enough time to cool. The method I found most effective is:
- Allow the cheesecake to cool down to room temperature before placing into the fridge to properly firm up for at least 1 hour
- Make your ganache and allow it to cool down. Do not allow it to cool too much as this will make it harder to work with later. 20 minutes should be enough time to cool down
- Take the cheesecake out of the fridge and decorate it with the ganache in your desired fashion (Using hot ganache can weaken the integrity of the cake)
- Place the cheesecake in the fridge for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight if you’re baking the day before
If you prefer a fresher take on your cake by adding fruits, a sauce such as a coulis, or simply a dash of powdered sugar, it’s best to decorate it AFTER you arrive at your destination. To save time, make your coulis or any fruit sauce that you’re planning on using and transport it in a container. Make sure it’s cool enough to prevent any condensation in the container.
For fresh fruit, you can cut them up ahead of time and bring them with you in a container. Make sure you line your container with a paper towel and pat the fruit dry as much as possible. Excess moisture can cause the fruit to rot over a prolonged travel time.
Additionally, putting fruit on the cheesecake before travel will cause discoloration of the cheesecake. This will ruin the overall presentation of the cake.
If you’re using smaller berries, such as blueberries that don’t require cutting, use the same method as before by lining up a container with a paper towel and patting them dry.
Powdered sugar can make any dessert look like a beautiful treat to both the eyes and taste buds. If you sprinkle it on top of your cheesecake ahead of time, the moisture from the cake will slowly dissolve the sugar and eventually disappear. Sprinkle on powdered sugar AFTER transportation, preferably right before serving.
Stabilize Your Cheesecake For The Road
Keeping your cheesecake from toppling over while on the road is one of the most important things you can try to do. No matter how hard you try to travel safely with your cheesecake, one wrong move and the cheesecake is no more.
After many years of traveling with this marvelous cake, I recommend doing the following while traveling in your car:
- Avoid placing the cheesecake on the seats of the car
- Put the cheesecake on the floor behind the driver’s seat
- If available, grab a couple of ice packs and put them around the cake. This will avoid the cake moving around while keeping it cold
- If not, take a few towels and put them around the cheesecake and a put few underneath the driver’s seat as well
- Drive safely! Cheesecakes are delicate desserts that need to be treated as such
Now you are ready to conquer any distance of travel to deliver your cheesecake to its destination safely. Doing these methods will make sure that a long car ride to a friend’s house won’t throw all that hard work out the window.
To Summarize…
Whatever reasons you might have for using any of the above-mentioned methods, all that matters is that YOU AND YOUR CHEESECAKE get to your destination safely. The cheesecake is a marvelous piece of art that needs to be handled with care.
This masterpiece needs to be shared with others! That’s why traveling with a cheesecake can help your family and friends to indulge in this beautiful dessert.
