scared, sad, what to do now??? - Page 2

The cake was stacked (4 tiers) and riding in the back...I didn't put it together in the back. LOL

I had one collapse on me recently...luckily it was for family. Same situation, I had about 8 dowels in the bottom and a center dowel and it collapsed on my counter before I even finished frosting. I think it was just that my bottom cake was too moist and not sturdy enough for stacking. It's hard to believe anything could collapse with that much support, but it happens. So sorry this happened to you on an important cake!!
For your sister's cake, maybe try a sturdier recipe. I've found the WASC is great for carving and stacking and you adapt it to any flavor you like.

I'm so sorry this happened to you! Is is possible that the top layers actually slid? If they got jolted to one side it would certainly make a cake collapse!




Stephy, I just wanted to pipe in and say you can use fluffy scratch cakes to carve! I usually use a very light yellow cake that works fine!

Happy caking all!
-Michelle

I'm not a professional by any means - i'm just starting out, but I wanted to answer one of your questions..My cake "teacher" uses Duncan Hines cake mixes and she said to add pudding to make the cake more moist. I have yet to try this as well so I'm not sure if that's really what they use it for, it's just what she said!

I've read on here before about decorators warning customers who pick their cakes up, that once the cake leaves the decorators possession, it's no longer their responsibility. I would have to agree with the person that posted about the customers driving especially on these Louisiana roads; driving a cake is difficult but on the roads down here it's even more difficult. In the future I would suggest that you deliver the cakes or give the customer the disclaimer that once the cake leaves you, it's no longer your responsibility.

I use the pudding and usually 2 whole eggs and 2 egg whites (just depends on the recipe) along with the other ingredients added to DH cake mix because it does make the cake a little more dense. I would say a medium density.

I'm like ljberry-I don't let anyone touch my cakes either!

I'm a Louisiana girl too and I'll agree that the roads here make for a nightmarish adventure with any cake in the car, much less a tiered cake. I also have the policy that once it leaves me, it's outta my hands. You cannot control someone else's driving, especially on bad roads. I'm am forever getting POed people honking at me and gesturing obscenities. But, I spend far to much time to let a bad car ride destroy what I've created. I have people who just don't want to pay that extra $$ to get a cake there safe. So I tell them, "You have NO accelerator or brake pedal. Leave way too much distance between you and the car in front of you. And anticipate red lights and those idiots who pull out in front of you."

This is a tough situation. A wedding cake is sensitive because it's probably the most special cake you can do for someone. It looks good for you to be willing to refund, though I'm not sure I'd do the same. I'll agree with the person who said they dowel the h*** outta cakes. I feel like I'd have a couple extra than too few. So sorry this happened to you. But DON'T GIVE UP!!! Hugs to you and hope today is better for you!

I also wanted to add that when I had a major disaster I felt exactly the same way. It shook my confidence something terrible. But you just have to look at what errors you may have had control of and go from there. Atleast that's what I did and felt better about it!

d

I would have to say that if the damage happened in their possession, it's their problem. If you weren't even there and all it's definitely their own problem.

I've done A LOT of wedding cakes when I had my catering business. I never ever took them stacked. I allowed myself time on site to stack and finish any touch up borders, etc. I've used DH with great sucess, but I do add the extra pudding, and a 4th egg.

I've never waved a tiered cake good-bye in the back of a customer's van. If I ever do they'll be signing a release that they rec'd it in good condition and from that moment on it is their responsiblity. I agree, who is to say they didn't brake hard, swerve or take a corner too sharp. Goodness!! Way too many variables to even begin to list. The back of a van can also be a really hot spot with the sun coming through all that glass, and some vans don't have good AC coverage that far back.

I also used a big sheet of egg crate foam on the floor of my delivery van to stabilize and absorb shock. If she placed that directly on the floor of the van, that bottom layer was the shock absorber for the whole cake and is probably why it broke.

Take this as a hard lesson learned.

My first thoughts.. if your dowels were not sitting right at the top of the icing.. they were too short and this put undue downward stress on your cake. Also you need to make sure that all your dowels are the same height.. rather than making them different heights to accomodate uneven icing (if you have that).

I am a scratch baker and never have I had a "fluffy scratch cake".. usually it's the opposite.. they are usually pretty dense. I have had mix cakes (back in the day) fall apart on me. Doctoring your mix will give you a denser cake that will be more structurally sound for stacking. I am also investing in the single plate system to support my stacked cakes.. seems like a great thing and much more fool proof than cutting dowels.

So sorry this happened to you.. keep your head high.. and make sure you make up a release form so that your customers sign off on a cake and know once it leaves your hands it's up to them. I also deliver all my stacked cakes.. better luck next time!! Don't take it too hard.

I wanted to add that refrigeration has GREATLY improved my odds of transporting cakes! It makes the cake and icing very firm and so there is less chance of the vibration of the car weakening the cake over transport.

I kept one stacked cake at room temp a few mos ago because I was concerned that the burgandy fondant accents would bleed on the white fondant...turns out I should have just refrigerated it because sure enough the bottom tier started cracking during transport, because the constant vibration of the car jiggled the soft cake until the outer fondant started to crack some. I'm sure that had I refrigerated it, it would have stayed firm through transport.

Just an idea.

I second Kitagrl's suggestion regarding refrigeration. I've had 2 well-doweled cakes collapse on me during transport and both had the same variables - very freshly baked (I normally freeze and thaw to alter the texture) and not refrigerated prior to transport. Very hard lessons learned...never again!

I was just about to sell all my cake supplies on eBay after the first collapse. The best advice I can give is learn from it and move on. Hugs to you!!

Were your pillars completely even? This is really really important. I used to have alot of problems in the past with my cakes slideing until I took one apart and saw that the some of the pillars were pushed side ways. When I took out the pillars I saw that two were slighlty higher. If the pillars are not even there isn't even support. If there isn't even support one side will have more pressure make it weak. Now with that said, normal people who don;t decorate cakes don't understand how easily a cake can fall. They think they can treat it like a sheet cake. I deliver and set up all wedding cakes reguardless how far. I don;t give them an opition. I do charge a deliverey fee for delivery outside of my surronding area.

Here are some tricks to try.

Use a larger dowl rod, in width, like twice the size as the wooden dowles from Wilton.. i buy them from the Lowes and wash them in really hot water
Larger surface area is always better. I use larger dowle for cakes larger then three tier.

Use sharp gardening sheers to cut dowel. You want to use a pair which will let you cut the dowl in one easy motion. This will help keep the cut even.

Insert the dowel into the cake and cut it to the correct size, I like to put it just slighlty below the surface. Use that first dowle to measure the rest the same hieght, even if your cake is a little uneven. If you use different dowels to measure unless you cake is perfectly even your dowels will be uneven.

Try that and see how it goes.
Sincerely,
Rachel M Pizano

I just delivered my first wedding cake yesterday, also a 3 tiered (assembled). I do not think I would have been comfortable having someone else deliver it. When i did arrive the layers had shifted a bit, even with the center dowel, but I was able to move them back into place without a problem. So I could see that shifting could happen even with a dowelled cake.

So sorry this happened to you!