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Personal cabinetThermal stability of wedding cakes during transportation and outdoor display: a review of environmental factors, structural risks, and engineering approaches
Bibliographic description of the article for the citation:
Nykytiuk Iryna. Thermal stability of wedding cakes during transportation and outdoor display: a review of environmental factors, structural risks, and engineering approaches//Science online: International Scientific e-zine - 2026. - №6. - https://nauka-online.com/en/publications/technical-sciences/2026/6/05-39/
Annotation: The increasing complexity of modern wedding cake designs has transformed pastry production into a multidisciplinary field combining culinary arts, food science, structural engineering, and logistics management. Contemporary wedding cakes frequently incorporate multiple tiers, suspended elements, edible sculptures, and temperature-sensitive fillings, making them highly vulnerable to environmental conditions during transportation and display. Outdoor wedding events present additional challenges due to elevated temperatures, solar radiation, humidity fluctuations, and limited access to refrigeration. This review examines the factors affecting the thermal stability of wedding cakes during transportation and outdoor display. Particular attention is given to the thermal behavior of ganache and buttercream finishing systems, the influence of environmental conditions on structural integrity, and the role of transportation-induced mechanical stresses. Published literature from food engineering, confectionery science, thermal processing, and food preservation was analyzed to identify critical variables associated with cake stability. In addition, engineering approaches commonly used in professional cake production were evaluated as methods for reducing structural and thermal risks. The analysis indicates that environmental temperature, direct solar exposure, relative humidity, and transportation duration are the principal factors influencing cake performance. Chocolate ganache coatings demonstrate superior thermal stability compared with buttercream systems due to the crystalline structure of cocoa butter and reduced susceptibility to deformation at elevated temperatures [3; 14]. Furthermore, the integration of engineering principles, including load distribution systems, thermal insulation, and transportation planning, significantly improves the reliability of large-scale wedding cake installations. The findings highlight the importance of adopting interdisciplinary approaches in modern cake architecture and provide practical recommendations for pastry professionals involved in the production and delivery of premium wedding cakes.