HI! I am new here! I am taking Wilton classes and am doing my Course 3 final cake today. LATE last night (early this morning) I was working on a basketweave on my 2-tier cake. I used the mat that came with my course kit to mark my cakes - used the lines lines marked with a 16 to indicate where I would put my verticals/upsplints. On my 10-inch cake this ended up being way too far apart but didn't really notice it until I was just too far done to do it (I was busy "doing" and not really looking/watching - oops!). I decided not to scrape it all off and start over as it was really late. Is there anyway to fix this now? Can I add something inbetween the upsplints in order to fill that space? Any suggestions? I will be MUCH more mindful to make my upsplints closer on all future cakes. (NOTE: I will "finish" the cake in class later today by adding a ruffle, shell or other border at the top of the weave, as well as adding my many fondant roses to the top and sides.)

I know you don't want to hear this, but I'd scrape it off and do it over. I don't think you can patch it. Good luck.

For future knowledge....use your smallest flower former to mark the upright posts on your crumb coated cake. Yes, you want them that close together. It make the basketweave much nicer.
Make sure the flower former is standing upright straight; press it against the icing; move it so one edge fits over one of the marks and go all the way around. You must have an *even* # of uprights to weave properly.... count them

I ran out of time to do any fixes to the basketweave before class, so I took the cakes "as is." Below is a pic of what I ended up with as a final cake. While it is not a great cake, I can tell you that I learned a lot of what to do and what not to do in cake decorating. Things such as:
* if you must decorate a cake when very tired, use higher standards and pay closer attention to your work.
* don't overwhip your icing - air bubbles are NOT your friend!
* keep basketweave upsplints closer together

Thanks!!

Blessings,
Amy

Nice recovery! Your cake looks great and you certainly learned something. Great job.

Nice save I was going to suggest that you run something decorative halfway between each "splint".

I think, given the circumstances, you did a great job. If you can muster good creativity in tough situations, you're more than halfway there! The best decorators are those who think on their feet, bend the rules when they have to, and can make it look good (even when underneath, they know what's wrong with it).

Happy Decorating!
Rae

Wow - all that stress and worry and look what you ended up creating -
WELL DONE -

Such a pretty cake.

Bh.

Manystraits - Congratulations and great recovery!!!
It looks lovely and the colours are so pretty.
Well done!!!

I agree it's a good save. I like the color choices too. I am curious though why you chose to the basket weave from course 2 on your final course 3 cake. It's a nice look, i've just never had a student do it before.

Manystraits, you mentioned that you used the cake-dividing mat from your Course 3 kit to divide your cake for basket weave. That mat is used for dividing your cake for equally spaced garlands and string work -which is why the divisions are so far apart. For basket weave, just mark your cake every half-inch.

BTW...good save! Your cake turned out nice.