It had to happen. Today I had my first complete, and utter, disaster. My first wonky cake was obviously too wonky, and when I went to transport it, it collapsed into a terrible heap.

Previously I've had problems, but nothing that couldn't be adapted, or saved. But this? There was nothing but a gooey mess to work with.

On the upside, the cake was for *my* daughter. And though we were sharing the party with another, the other mom was very understanding (and probably amused!) and admitted she would weep if in that position. I didn't, but I am feeling bruised, and my dreams of doing this for a living have taken a serious blow.

I've got another cake order for Thursday - which I'm taking as a good thing, as I guess it's like getting straight back on the horse, and hopefully it shall restore me some faith in my abilities.

Guess you've got to laugh at the end of the day, it's what memories are made of.



My disaster, before the collapse:
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-gallery_display_956253.html

I think if you adjust your construction closer to the method in the articles section, it would be more stable. Normally, you don't set full stacked layers directly on a lower crooked tier.



http://www.cakecentral.com/article1-Instructions-For-Building-A-Whimsical-Tilted-Cake.html

Sorry to hear about your collapse . Glad you're taking it in stride, and don't let it dent your dreams - you can't expect to get perfect results 100% of the time. Even the best decorators have mishaps, and there is a learning curve for everyone.

Good luck with your next one!

So sorry this happened to you! It looked so pretty! Ditto to JoannB - you have to have a flat surface for the next tier to sit on. The article here on CC gives great instructions on how to do that, you kind of cut a hole in the lower tier, for the next one to sit in. It makes it much more sturdy.

I think it was a beautiful cake! The colors blended perfectly, and you could tell it was for a little girl!
I wish I was brave enough to even try one that difficult! Don't give up - you obviouly have the talent! I can't wait to see another cake on here from you - soon!

Sorry about your disaster, but I guess we must all take our part of disasters. That is how we learn.

You could take a look at this tutorial, where Louise uses a dowel trough the whole cake. http://www.cakejournal.com/2007/07/how-to-make-two-tired-whimsical-cake.html

Thank you all for you kind words of encouragement - since Saturday I've swung from being very matter-of-fact about the 'disaster', to cringing and never wanting to do another cake! But I can' let people down, and I really must start of the next one, so...

As far as the topsy turvy cakes go - I did read both of the articles linked before attempting mine, and I did use a center dowel - but I've decided I don't like the dowels I use (plastic with rounded tips) and am going to look for both the straw kind for the layer support, and the wooden type that can be sharpened (as the plastic ones have a heck of a job going through the cake bases, which does nothing for the cake stability ) And I'm going to master the topsy-turvy kind (even if it kills me - which it might, lol!)

But thank you all again, and this forum's really helped me to see these things just happen sometimes