Shapes and Sizes

• The best cakes for shipping are loaf, bundt, tube or single layer. Although you can't ship a double layer cake, you can ship the same flavor and type of cake if you bake it as a single-layer sheet cake in a 9-inch square pan. Use the size of pan called for in your recipe, because a cake baked in a pan that is too large, even by just a small amount, will allow the batter to spread out and give the cake a dry, crumbly texture.

Pound Cakes

• With their abundance of butter and eggs, pound cakes are sturdy and moist enough to withstand shipping. Any variety of pound cake, from lemon to almond to poppy seed, works for mailing, as does any shape, from loaf to bundt to tube. To bake the perfect pound cake -- not so moist that it will spoil, but not so light that it will crumble -- use softened, but still cool butter, and eggs that have been out of the refrigerator for about seven or eight minutes.

Chiffon and Angel Food Cakes

• Chiffon cakes and angel food cakes share a sponge-like texture that allows them to hold up well in the mail. Chiffon cake gets its texture from eggs and oil instead of butter, and angel food cake's texture comes from egg whites stabilized with sugar and cream of tarter. You typically use a tube pan for both types of cakes.

Cakes With Fruit

• Cakes with lots of fruit generally do well with shipping. These include apple cakes, cranberry cakes and holiday fruitcake, which can last for years according to jokesters. On the other hand, the cakes can't be too moist or they will grow mold during shipping -- a moist pumpkin cake or pudding cake fall into this category.

Instead of Frosting

• Although you can't frost a cake with regular icing, you can apply a glaze or a dusting of powdered sugar or cocoa powder You can also sprinkle on sanding sugar over a glaze to add extra sparkle to the cake. Cakes with glazes will keep safely for five to seven days, so choose the fastest shipping method possible.