First paid cake was a disaster should I give her money back? - Page 2

sliding, in my experiency, comes directly from something slippery or unstable being between the layers. for example, i have never had success, not even once!, using a 1/8 and even smaller!, layer of strawberry jam, like i'd love to. it's like trying to decorate a game of jinga!

now, i make a really stiff buttercream then add in the jam or flavor of my choice. this brings the jam and buttercream flavors together and back to a regular consistency without having the slip-n-slide effect!

a center dowel only helps to stabalize all the tiers. however, it will not keep sliding from happening overall, if you have slippery surfaces between your torted layers. also, even if you've correctly put in the right amount of support under each tier, and used the center dowel to stabalize the whole structure, if you've chosen to use a really supermoist recipe, the dowel can actually split the layers into two pieces and there goes the whole thing!!!

i personally use dowels and pvc pipe as my center stability, not sps, but i also make sure to incorporate the other safety features i've mentioned above, on every cake, regardless of whether i'm sure it needs it or not...better to be safe and have happy clients, then to save a penny but in the long run and lose 10 clients because they don't believe in the value of your final product.

I have been doing this for only about 6 months...I bake cakes for family and some friends...I do it right now as a hobby. I even baked a Wedding cake for a friend stacked the wedding cake like everyone said, it was 10,8,6...it was cream cheese icing....she designed it...it was just UGLY to me but did it as a favor to her. I delivered it 12 miles away...drove very carefully...but I didn't put the top tier on until arriving at my destination...and it had set over night.

I have a friend who owns commercial property and has offered it to me to sell my cakes...I just don't want to go through all the red tape of owning another business...we formerly owned a Boat Company on the lake...anyway...I am sorry that this happened to you.

did you say this cake was sitting in her car until 3pm?

If thats the case depending on how warm it is where you are that icing could and will melt. You take a dark color car and the sun beating on it all day and even if its like 40 outside the car can and will be much warmer.

Still, i would give a refund cause you don't really know what has caused this, then keep practicing and learning.

I have to chime in here... because something smells fishy. Let me put it this way...

If the 'tiers' are single, short 2" layers of cake with a simple buttercream between them and the tier beneath, and you put dowels in them anyway, with cake boards between them, and they STILL slid, she must've been driving like a maniac. I find it almost impossible to believe that they slid around. Unless you did something like stack and ice while they were still warm?? Maybe if you had full 4" tiers with fillings, and used sucker sticks instead of dowels, then yah, I can see it. It sounds to me like she took corners like she was on rails, or something. It just doesn't add up. Single layers stacked like that with proper support shouldn't slip with even moderately considerate driving. And honestly, I tell people that if they choose to pick up instead of have me deliver, I will not be responsible for the cake once they have put their hands on it, unless it is an obvious error on my part. (Like I somehow forgot to use dowels or cake boards or something crazy like that.) I've only been doing this since 2004-ish, but I've never had to give a refund. Not even a partial. (Knock on wood, I am not trying to tempt fate here!!) I'd happily fix it for her, but if you have all your ducks in a row, no refund. I could see a SMALL discount (10%) on a future order just because you are feeling generous and she is a friend. Now if something happened that WAS your fault, then yah, definitely fix it, refund half, or something like that. Although, it sounds like she doesn't want you to fix it since she's making it sound impossible. It's a very bad idea to haul a cake around from place to place like that though.

it does sound a little fishy. I mean this cake was only about 6 inches tall, right, maybe a little higher to account for the buttercream? If your buttercream was too soft, it's definitely going to shift but a center dowel would have probably helped keep it together better. I always center dowel my tiered cakes regardless of size or distance traveled, i even hammer them into my base board and chill them before they go into the car too. It just makes them sturdier for the car ride. I would be inclined to offer a discount...

SPS is what?

that's a lot of transporting. are you sure that she didn't do anything to make the cake shift. maybe when she was taking it out of the car at home. and if she left it in the car until the next morning then that could explain why it shifted. i agree with the others. if it was in the same condition as in the picture, when you gave it to her i would not give her a full refund.

by the way, what a beautiful cake. you did a great job.

I am with Peg181 - *the cake is sitting in her car* !!!!!!
No wonder the darling thing has slipped/slid.

I would too, sitting in a car for a few hours covered in BC.


I am so very sorry that this has happened to you - but she HAS to take responsability for leaving it IN a car.
Something tells me she took some friends out to show them the cake in the car - and then she saw what has happened - then contacted and told you.
Because from what you have said about the height and it being dowelled it should never have slipped.

Personally - if she asks for a refund - perhaps you could compensate SOME $'s but i think it unfair that after all your work and expense you should have to give a total refund -

You went to a lot of trouble making it - such a pretty cake - sadly something tells me she didn't take the same trouble after it left your care.

Again - such a pretty cake.

Bh

that's a lot of transporting. are you sure that she didn't do anything to make the cake shift. maybe when she was taking it out of the car at home. and if she left it in the car until the next morning then that could explain why it shifted. i agree with the others. if it was in the same condition as in the picture, when you gave it to her i would not give her a full refund.

by the way, what a beautiful cake. you did a great job.

First, I just want to say that I think your cake looks great! I'm fairly new myself (about a year into it) an mainly do cakes for friends and friends of friends.

While the sliding is unfortunate, it happens. Regardless of where the blame lies - I think the question to ask yourself is: If you were in HER shoes, what would it take from the person that made the cake in order for YOU to order another cake from HER?

You do have some cost involved with supplies but mainly your time. If it were me, I would definitely offer to refund her money and chalk the loss up to a learning experience.

I think I read that she is a friend and that she know you are new to cake decorating - she can't expect the Mona Lisa from you right out of the chute. Keep trying (and learning!)

Best of luck to you!

okay all, this has prompted me to be concerned about my upcoming cake. So, I ask:
1. what is sps exactly....I'm still new around here and
2. I'm making a castle cake (10 inch round and 6 inch round both 4 inches tall) I was planning on using the usual dowels to support my top tier and then putting one dowel down the center of both the 2 tiers. Is this going to be enough to support this cake on a 32 mile trip?

She left it in the car??? Did it slip before it sat in the car or after? If after then yeah... it's totally her fault. It might be cold, but the sun still makes the interior of a car get warm. You cant't leave a cake in the car period.

So sorry this happened to you.

Beautiful cake.

Another newbie thing...Make sure your customer is transporting the cake properly and knows what to do and what not-to-do.

It must be transported on a flat service (not the car seat), drive slowly and carefully (especially corners and no sudden stops), and don't leave in a warm vehicle.

I really think it has to do with her driving like the others mentioned. She was basically just transporting a 3 layer cake! You really didn't even need to dowel it b/c it is only a 3 layer cake.