Omg What Do I Do?

Decorating By cheekysweets Updated 3 Aug 2006 , 3:12pm by thecakemaker

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cheekysweets Posted 24 Jul 2006 , 10:07pm
post #1 of 25

The girl I just sold a cake to called and said she was in her car for one hour and the cake completely toppled over. The cake is the bird watcher cake in my photos. She said the top half slid completely off the bottom. I just can't imagine I have two dowels in the base cake to support the mound. Also I use a very dense cake and the cakes were frozen when I made it. I just can't understand how it happened she said she drove slowly all the way home. I took my 3 hours to make the cake today with all the baking icing coloring and fondant colored ahead of time. What would you do?????

24 replies
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Doug Posted 24 Jul 2006 , 10:10pm
post #2 of 25

did you put a dowel that went all the way through BOTH layers?

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aliciaL_77 Posted 24 Jul 2006 , 10:12pm
post #3 of 25

I would maybe offer a discount on the next cake. It left you in perfect condition and it was partially her driving that caused it to fall.... Just my 2 cents

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irisinbloom Posted 24 Jul 2006 , 10:12pm
post #4 of 25

I really hate this happened to her and it sounds like you did your part. But I look at it this way after its out of your hands its her cake, don't mean to sound harsh but thats kinda the way I see iticon_smile.gif

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cheekysweets Posted 24 Jul 2006 , 10:14pm
post #5 of 25

The doewls were 2 6in cookie sticks push down in the base cake to support the half sports ball cake on top the two halves of the base cake separated.

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Gingoodies Posted 24 Jul 2006 , 10:21pm
post #6 of 25

My usual rule of thumb is... "once the cake is picked up / delivered, its not in my control anymore!! " icon_confused.gif That said... I hate to have a disappointed customer. I have been known to redo and/or fix cakes that have "died" once they were picked up. icon_cool.gif Is it possible that your top cake was too heavy? A cake like that should have been doweled through both cakes, not just the bottom one. If it is at all within your ability, I would offer to go to the cake and try to fix it.

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Kiddiekakes Posted 24 Jul 2006 , 10:23pm
post #7 of 25

Beautiful cake!!! So when she called what exactly did she want you to do?? Refund? Fix it?? The way I see it and as few others have commented also is that it left your hone in perfect condition...what she does with it after she leaves is out of your hands.It would take an aweful lot of driving silly to make it shift so suddenly. I guess for your reputations sake I would offer to fix it but I mean really.....I had this happen to me also a few months ago.A lady left with her bowling cake and called 25 minutes later to say that she slammed on the brakes for whatever reason and the cake slid off the front seat into the dashboard..Go figure..the front seat.I told her to bring it back over expecting just a bit of crunched edges...Oh my...it was smashed all to pieces.I did what I could but...she gave me a $20.00 tip!!

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Doug Posted 24 Jul 2006 , 10:28pm
post #8 of 25

as I see it, faulty construction, the lack of a dowel, going all the way through both parts of the cake was a contributing factor to the cake's demise. after all, we all know that cake boards are slippery and that support dowels are meant to hold UP not TOGETHER

at the least, you should offer to repair it.

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Gingoodies Posted 24 Jul 2006 , 10:28pm
post #9 of 25

OK.. one problem I see here is.. cookie sticks are not dowels. If the cake shifted for whatever reason, stoping short.. hard turn.. etc., cookie sticks can break very easily. Also it was kind of warm here in NJ today.. did she have the air on in the car? What kind of filling did you use in the base cake? That might have started to melt and the weight of the top of the cake would pull it down.

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leta Posted 24 Jul 2006 , 10:50pm
post #10 of 25

Was the top mound on a board itself? That is a requirement. How tall is your base cake? And only 2 sticks? The top layer could lean one way or the other pivoting on the 2 sticks (like a teeter totter) putting pressure on one side of the base. That's like having a chair with 2 legs, won't hold you up--you'll tip over. I'm not sure what a cookie stick is. Is it like a sucker stick? I would probably use a straw instead-- if the straw would be thicker than a cookie stick--or wooden dowels.

I wonder what she considers slow driving.... Those jug handles and traffic circles in NJ are a tapedshut.gif

Sorry this happened to your very very cute cake. icon_sad.gif

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Doug Posted 24 Jul 2006 , 10:55pm
post #11 of 25

three strikes:
1 > no central dowel
2 > wrong kind of support
3 > wrong number of supports (2 instead of min. 3)

definately, choose an "r" -- repair, replace, refund

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lsawyer Posted 24 Jul 2006 , 11:01pm
post #12 of 25

I would have used 6 wooden dowels, or 3-4 plastic dowels, along with a center dowel to hold it all together. (I don't trust plastic staws.) Is it too late to go there and repair it? It's such a pretty cake.

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Price Posted 24 Jul 2006 , 11:03pm
post #13 of 25

If at all possible, I would offer to try repair the cake for her. If not repairable, but still edible, I would probably offer part of the money back. Chalk this one up to experience. I have learned my lesson. When transporting a cake --- refrigerate, dowel and pray! Your cake looks pretty tall. I agree you should have put a dowel down through the center of all the layers. You didn't say if you had a filling in the cake or not. If so, you should keep the filling to a thin layer. If the filling layer is too thick it can cause the top layer to slid off of the bottom.

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TheChocolateMoose Posted 24 Jul 2006 , 11:12pm
post #14 of 25

Sooooo very sorry to hear about the cake fatality. I'm sure you would do it differently a second time around if you could.

For my 2 cents.... the bakery I work in uses only 1/2", 3/4", and 1" wood dowel rods. I know when started working there I thought that was a bit 'over-kill', but the owner swears in 22 years, she's never had a cake collapse or fall (and I believe here!).

Of course, to support the top cake, the dowel rods need to be supporting the cake board underneath the cake (not the cake itself). So yes, a board under the top layer and then a dowel going thru both cakes (and board) would have completed the stability issue.

I would also like to add that your work is gorgeous! LOVE you cookies too! I would love to hear more about your cookie work (recipes for cookies, icing, ect.) and how you apply (bag or bottle?).

Good luck in the future and save those cookie sticks for the cookies and invest in some wood dowels.

sherry

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Gingoodies Posted 25 Jul 2006 , 12:55am
post #15 of 25

Cheekysweets we are all dying to know!!!! What did you do????

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rhondie Posted 25 Jul 2006 , 1:07am
post #16 of 25

Total bummer!! Please let us know how it goes...(what you did).

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alicegop Posted 25 Jul 2006 , 1:15am
post #17 of 25

WOW! This is why I ALWAYS deliver the cake. You definately should have used regular dowels and a central dowel, so for that I would offer a refund. But it makes me to nervous to let someone else take the cake, I want to make sure it is safely there and i see for myself!

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debsuewoo Posted 25 Jul 2006 , 1:16am
post #18 of 25

You guys are all assuming that it is the construction that caused the demise of this cake..... she said that she was in the car with the cake for an hour....Unless she was in transit with the cake, like driving to a remote location, the cake should have gone straight home. I will lay odds that the lady was running a few 'last minute' errands and left the cake in the heat. Sounds to me like her story is for the birds! (Pun intended!)

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kakedecorator Posted 25 Jul 2006 , 1:20am
post #19 of 25

Sorry to hear about your cake it was beautiful. I agree with what others have said. Once the cake is picked up or delivered it is not longer my responsibility. The one time this happened I did offer to repair the cake.

Cookie sticks (if you mean the same as lollipop sticks) are made of paper and the will absorb moisture from the cake and that will weaken them.

Colette Peters (sp?) shared a story where she once used a generic (wooden) dowels and the cake fell because the dowels absorbed moisture from the cake and became weak. The lesson learned, check you dowels in water before you use them. Something I never would have thought of before I heard her story. I am always trying to cut costs but sometimes it isn't worth it.

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cheekysweets Posted 25 Jul 2006 , 1:35am
post #20 of 25

Well I had not responded because I was in making another base cake and icing. The top mound and fondant figures are all fine so I will give her the new base tomorrow and she wants to put the top back on. She is enjoying the previos base cake she said it's delish!! I always use wooden dowels I just ran out. I have learned my lesson no subbing for materials!!!!!!!! I just feel so aweful!

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JulieB Posted 26 Jul 2006 , 5:12am
post #21 of 25

So there! All's well that ends well.

My concern is that, like debsuewoo said, she was in the car an hour. That's a long time to have a cake in a car. I agree with the "errand" theory, and that's not good for a cake.

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Stefy Posted 26 Jul 2006 , 11:30am
post #22 of 25

Although I agree that once it's out of your hands it's up to the customer but it appears that faulty construction was a major contributing factor. Always, always dowel all the way thru both layers. This is also another reason I deliver 99% of my cakes personally

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cupcake Posted 27 Jul 2006 , 8:31am
post #23 of 25

Just my 2 cents, I agree with all about proper support, but the other thing I caught was, you said you iced the cakes frozen. When the cakes start to thaw they create excessive moisture, that moisture may have added to the problem.

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vicky Posted 3 Aug 2006 , 2:59pm
post #24 of 25

Did she put a carpet pad or foam in the back of the vehicle to stop the jarring and to support the cake? If not, it is not your fault. I don't let customers pick up their own cakes; I deliver them. Delivering a cake, especially a tiered cake takes a lot of care and precautions. If they insist, I would make them sign a waiver or refuse to do the cake. After all that work it is a disaster waiting to happen. If this was on someone's lap, body heat probably helped make it soft. I'm sure she did not take any precautions except to drive slow. What about the bumps in the road and people stopping quickly in front of her? Sorry this happened to you.
Vicky

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thecakemaker Posted 3 Aug 2006 , 3:12pm
post #25 of 25

I had this happen to me too - so the customer said. It was the daughter of a co-worker. She picked up the cake and was going to have her friend hold it. I talked her into placing it in the back of her Jeep Cherokee where it was flat - I even put a non-slip mat under it to keep it still. She called 10 minutes later to tell me that the top slid off on her way home. If she made it home in 10 minutes she had to be doing 70 miles an hour down windey, hilly back roads. She wanted to know if I had an extra cake - duh! You can't be responsible for customers driving or bad luck after they leave when you've properly prepared the cake for them.

Good Luck
Debbie

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