I made a 9 in and 6 in tier and met the customer for delivery, when the customer got home she told me the top tier had shifted and was droopy. Help!!! I told her I would come down to fix it. Any quick tips? The top tier is on cardboard, was that a mistake? I have dowels under the top tier but not through the whole cake. HELP!!!!

Sounds like a humidity or heat issue.Top tiers will slide if the icing or filling gets warm and causes the tier to move/shift through movement.It will also move if a customer drives irratic and not safe so my next question is "How do you know she didn't drive like a maniac home??" I guess all you can do is try and fix it but there really isn't much except try and push the tier back over and re-pipe the borders and clean it up.

next time: if a customer wants to pick it up, it is their responsibility once it leaves your shop.

Thank you for your help and quick response. Do you think I should leave off the cardboard under the top tier next time and dowel all the way through? The cake was only 2 tier, I wanted to keep it straight. I'm new to all this so any tips are greatly appreciated!!! I tried to add a picture but for some reason I can't. Thanks

I agree! This is my first mess up and I'm taking it harder than I should I guess.

You can dowel all the way through, including the cake board. I always make a hole in the cakeboard prior to placing the cake on it. That way the dowel will go all the way through the 2 tiers without any problems. I agree that it may have been the customer driving erratically.

Don't forgo cardboard. If you want to put a dowel all the way through you can sharp a dowel rod (I used a pencil sharpener) and push it through the cardboard pretty easily. Then mark it, pull it out, cut it, replace it, and repair the spot with a bit of frosting. Just make sure the customer knows its there for when they cut the cake.

Leave each of your tiers on a separate cardboard, but YES, if it is going to be tiered during travel, you should definitely dowel it all the way through. Use a pencil sharpener to sharpen the end of a 1/4" dowel to a point, then hammer it all the way through the center of the cake.

another thing that I would want to know about her travel home, even if not driving irradically, was the cake on a level surface? I have a couple cakes coming up with a 6 in on top of an 8 in...I bought SPS to use with both because of all that I've heard about it. You might want to check into that? I know you're upset, it will be ok. For each thing that happens to me that I am devastated by at the moment, I find that I learn a lot because of it! The cake in my avtar was an 8 on top of a 10, no dowels, just straws underneath, and it travelled fine...i was the one that drove it thoguh. Good luck!

Thank you guys so much for the encouragement and tips. I love this site!

Thank you guys so much for the encouragement and tips. I love this site!

Any regular seat in any car, van or truck is not level,, even the bench seats are sloped at the back for a comfy fit to a behind -Not A Cake!

Shoot I took two 2 tiered cakes less then a mile away to my daughter and her friends party and I had to fill my seats with wedges and then place a hard surface over that all nice and level and then placed a thick terry towel for grip. And then I drove like granny all the way.
Those are the rules if you want your can to arrive just as it is.

I agree with everyone else here that once it leaves your hands you are no longer responsible. try adding a clause into your contracts and a reasonable delivery fee based on mileage. Make them sign a waiver if they opt to pick up then they are responsible.


Cake ain't concrete!

Because I do a lot of 3D cakes, I always insist on me delivering the cakes. I have yet to hear a complaint. I include delivery in my prices when I quote them. And also drive like a nanny, and always try to have DH go with me to hold the cake level. I agree that you should have a clause in your contract, that once it leaves your hands you are no longer responsible. I have one to that effect for wedding cakes..after delivery and setup, I cannot be held responsible for anything that happens to the cake, due to weather,wind, leaves, heat,etc.

Did your bottom cake have fondant on it? I just learned the hard way that when my bottom cake has fondant (stripes in my case) on it, the top cake has nothing to "stick" to like it would if it had been all buttercream.
(Unfortunately, I was 50 miles away from the customer, leaving town for 2 weeks when mine happened - and it was a first birthday cake for the little girl I do daycare for!)

I totally agree with you guys! I drove the cake 7-8 miles (like a granny) and nothing happened to it. Oh well, I ended up going to her apt. and patching it up the best I could. It ended with alot of lessons learned. Thanks you guys!

I totally agree with you guys! I drove the cake 7-8 miles (like a granny) and nothing happened to it. Oh well, I ended up going to her apt. and patching it up the best I could. It ended with alot of lessons learned. Thanks you guys!