Is there any reasonable way to ship cupcakes and not have them get destroyed?

This Place does. I think they have special boxes for them. You can always email them, asking for some advice. Or, you can just forgo the baking and order the treats from Cupcake Royale.

I assume they are frosted. No, it isn’t easy but it can be done. Go to a local bakery that makes cupcakes, they should have a box with an insert to hold cupcakes. Tape the cupcakes to the bottom of the box, so they don’t bounce around during shipping. Wrap the box in plastic wrap so they don’t dry out, and send priority mail. Put on fragile and this end up stickers and you’re good to go.

My thought was to fit them tightly (but obviously not mushed) into a throw-away plastic container, surround that by newspaper or something in the box, and label it “fragile” and “this end up” everywhere I can.

Hey, @AstroChuck… does the post office pay as much attention to those stickers as we hope?

@poofandmook You’d need to royal ice the bottoms of the cupcakes to the cupcake holder, then let that dry before shipping ‘em out.

@SpatzieLover: I’m sorry… royal ice?

Here’s a trick I learned from my mother-in-law: stick a few toothpicks in the top to act as tent poles and keep whatever is above them from touching the frosting.

@poofandmook
Royal Icing It will prevent shifting, and it is what bakeries do when they have to transport cakes/cupcakes.

I load packages into trucks…last night a woman I was loading with said “If you can’t reach up there, just step on that box”.............................so probably not.

@Jeruba That’s a good idea…however, even with a “This Side Up” they are likely to be thrown around in shipping…Maybe cut up skewers would work so they couldn’t be shifted in transport. (I do the toothpick thing if I’m driving the cake/baked goods to a relatives house)

Maybe if I put some styrofoam in the bottom of the box, stick toothpicks in the styrofoam, and then put the cupcake down onto the toothpicks?

edit: I meant in the bottom of the throw-away container, in addition to them being snugly fit inside.

@SpatzieLover You’re correct. “This side up” means nothing.

Actually, @poofandmook, this really does sound very challenging. I understand that you don’t shy away from fighting dragons, but we’re talking about the postal service. Maybe do some more heart-shaped cookies for your sweetie and save the cupcakes until he comes home? Or try something less crushable and better able to last a few days, such as butter tarts, which are simply heaven. My mother used to make them for my Canadian father; hers had raisins and walnuts both. She sent me a batch at college once, and they traveled nicely from Massachusetts to the Midwest.

@Jeruba: I had these wild fantasies of being the best girlfriend on the planet and sending him adorable cupcakes to share with his college roommates… lol
lurve for saying I don’t shy away from fighting dragons! LOL :D

My other plan was chocolate chip pumpkin muffins… those aren’t frosted, so they can be padded into the container with paper towels and arrive just fine. Maybe I do those. Phooey. LOL

@poofandmook You could always send the cupcakes and a container of home-made frosting with a spatula for him to frost them when they arrive. That way he gets home baked goodness and a chance to lick the bowl/spoon! ;0)

I would certainly nominate you for best girlfriend on the planet, cupcakes or no cupcakes.

The thing about fragile baked goods is this: if they do get destroyed en route, or even not destroyed but just kind of spoiled and not as nice as you meant them to be, they will just look heart-wrenchingly sad and make him want to cry, and he won’t want to tell you. All those little loving virtual happy faces turned to grief. Don’t risk it. Better to choose something sturdy that will carry your love unbroken. True love has a healthy measure of realism in it.

@poofandmook Yeah, mailing anything with frosting is waaaay hard and usually ends in gooey crumbles… I’ve had success with brownies, though. I lined a box with tinfoil and packaged them in really tight so they couldn’t shift. I was told they went through the mail just fine – you could double check with @adreamofautumn though! :)

Brownies! Perfect.

Once when I was ill during HS, my best friend sent me a big batch of home baked chocolate chip cookies and packed the box with freshly popped pop corn to hold the cookie package in place. It was a delight to open (my dog like the “packing material”, too ;)

If you send them unfrosted, wrap each cupcake, or the whole box. The frosting helps hold in moisture. I worked at Magnolia Bakery in NYC for a while, this is how they stored their cupcakes.

They will still taste good even if they don’t look pretty when they get there. :)

Here is my thought. The inserts I have seen are cardboard with indentations kind of like cup holders. Put the cupcakes in the holes, then poke toothpicks in a circle around each cupcake just under the top of the insert. Like a wagon wheel with the cupcake as the hub. That way if they get turned over the toothpicks will hold them in the insert. Not sure I explained that very well…

well you could order them offline and then have them shipped to the person you want them shipped to but if you have made the cupcakes yourself then I dont know. Well without getting them destroyed anyway

You can take the top of an old box and cut large x’s in rows. Then place the cupcakes in those x’s, that should keep them stable. Or you could send them in a carrying case. Here is how not to.

CAn I make a suggestion?
Put the cupcakes unfrosted into the container and then fill a fluting bag full of frosting, that way they can frost them when they get them? add some sprinkles in a sandwich baggie..if it’s for a kiddo they would have so much fun doing the decorating themselves :)

I know this post is old, but hopefully my technique helps someone. First, freeze the cupcakes overnight. Stick a toothpick horizontally, linking all cupcakes together. Then take a cardboard cut-out and tape the cupcakes on it. (I use double-sided Scotch tape.) Wrap frozen freezer packs in aliminum foil individually and place inside ziplock bags. DONT SKIP THIS STEP. If it happens to break, your cupcakes will be protected. Place in insulated lunch bag. Place the bag in the box and add newspaper so the bag is held tightly. Write FRAGILE on all sides on the box and add a “this side up ” message. My freezer packs that ive sent are usually still cold after 2 days and are perfect when unfrozen.