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Help please... my beautiful 4 tier stacked cake fell over - Page 2

post #16 of 47
6/14/09 at 9:39am
Thread Starter 
I still haven't spoken to the actual bride or mother of the bride. The lady running the reception was very understanding. I will refund all the money. The cake was delivered just 2 hours before the wedding. All I could do was run to Sam's and buy 4 half sheets and a half sheet of fancy brownies. Then I went to Kroger's and begged them to put a small cake on top of 10 in. cake and ice, so I'd have some sort of wedding cake to cut. I set it on a cloth covered box for height and decorated with my fondant daisies. It looked bad and probably tasted awful. I just didn't know what else to do. These cakes cost $100 plus I'll refund all the money they paid me.

I always have someone help me carry the cakes in on a heavy board. Is a cart better? It sounds like it may be smoother.

Sandy
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post #17 of 47
6/14/09 at 9:44am
Carlachef - check out the Carlisle folding carts - I got one, I am thinking that is what you need!

http://www.centralrestaurant.com/Folding-Cart2912Wx16D-Unfolded-c79p4531.html

When I saw a woman demo and use this cart, I had to have it!!
Knowledge is a candle that when shared, doubles the light, but the insecure person believes knowledge is a candle that is diminished when it is split between two wicks.
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Knowledge is a candle that when shared, doubles the light, but the insecure person believes knowledge is a candle that is diminished when it is split between two wicks.
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post #18 of 47
6/14/09 at 9:47am
Thread Starter 
Thanks Leah. I read through your SPS directions, but I didn't realize there were so many pages of replies. I'll have to read more.

I'm concerned about those wide posts going through cake. Of course, that would be much better than loosing a cake!!


Also, it's hard to believe that that little point keeps the cakes from shifting. I'm really considering this method, but only transporting 2 tiers stacked and assembling on sight. I will have to change my icing, so I can touch it up. Oh, I feel like I'm starting all over again.

Thank you so much,
Sandy
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post #19 of 47
6/14/09 at 9:49am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sandylee05

I always have someone help me carry the cakes in on a heavy board. Is a cart better? It sounds like it may be smoother.



Carts can be great or they can be a handicap. If you have any stairs, cobblestones or if it's an outdoor wedding, you'd probably be better to forget the cart and just carry the cake.

I had one that I was assembling on site. The reception was in a theater and I had to park 1/2 block away. They loaned me a great cart but the sidewalks were cobblestone and bricks. The cakes were vibrating off of the cart!! I had to walk SO FREAKIN' SLOW to reduce the vibration that it would have been faster to make 3 trips to the van. Plus some of the decor fell off of the sides of the cake.

When did the cake fall? During the drive? While moving it from van to venue? After it was set up? (asking because you mention having someone help you carry a large cake......)
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post #20 of 47
6/14/09 at 9:52am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sandylee05

I'm concerned about those wide posts going through cake.

They're not that wide. They're no wider than these pillars (that I cut and use in cakes frequently): http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?id=3E3127EA-475A-BAC0-5F98F056B4A6DC92&fid=BCA9E6A3-475A-BAC0-53B406C7C7B7E983

.....and they are smaller than these hidden pillars, which I also use in cakes frequently: http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?id=3E3119F0-475A-BAC0-5772682F766C019C&fid=63EB9DA7-475A-BAC0-522158B536D3E04A
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post #21 of 47
6/14/09 at 10:36am
if you had your bottom cake on at least 1/2 in. board .. wilton sells them or you can make them from foam core.. then dowel this tier.. then you next cake on a regular card board.. then dowel this tier, set the cake on it. and as far as you needed to stack and dowel.. then drvie the longer dowel with a point at the end thru all this... then your cake would not have fallen.. i do this all the time.. delivered one yesterday .. 3 tier.. didn,t fall.. reading your post.. i am getting that you didn,t put the long dowel thru.. but don,t understand why.. and again , was your each tiers on a seperate card board. tying to help ...
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post #22 of 47
6/14/09 at 11:43am
Thankyou Loucinda, Thats the one I'm looking for !!!! Also to Indydebi, you're so right too. I guess theres something to be said for pre-scouting you venue. I know, not always possible.
I love a challange
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I love a challange
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post #23 of 47
6/14/09 at 11:55am
I know the SPS doesn't look like it will hold but somehow it does! I delivered a stacked cake that was about 30 minutes from my house. I live in the Pacific NW and we have some pretty steep hills to navigate here. My cake traveled up hill, down hill and around some very sharp corners. It was also taken over a couple of gravel roads that have potholes in them and still managed to arrive at the reception in the same condition that it started in. SPS is an inexpenive form of cake insurance and after using it I will never go back to the doweling method.

I did another wedding cake that was placed in an outdoor gazebo that moved when you walked in certain areas. They had placed bowls of candy and cookies around the cake table and in the back of the gazebo so during the reception the thing was flooded with kids seeking candy. The cake didn't budge even with all the people bumping the table and shaking the gazebo. I about had a nervous breakdown but the cake was perfect! icon_smile.gif

Leahs doesn't know me from jack but I consider her one of my very best friends! lol icon_biggrin.gif
Fran
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Fran
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post #24 of 47
6/14/09 at 2:48pm
First, the posts arent that wide, second, cake all over the back of the car, or wide posts in the cake. I think Id take the posts.
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post #25 of 47
6/14/09 at 3:18pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Carlachef

My biggest problem is the weight of tiered cakes over 2 tiers. especially fondant. Does anyone know of a cart that is tall enough and colapsable that can take a cake from my counter top to the rear gate of my suv and to the cake table at the venue?



Here is a link for a collapsible table on wheels. Ihad another link for a two-shelved collapsible cart but I can't find that one. Hop this helps.

http://www.globalindustrial.com/gcs/prod/30047519/i/1/productInfo.web?a=30047519&c=912110
In pursuit of excellence
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post #26 of 47
6/14/09 at 3:53pm
Thread Starter 
>>>if you had your bottom cake on at least 1/2 in. board .. wilton sells them or you can make them from foam core.. then dowel this tier.. then you next cake on a regular card board.. then dowel this tier, set the cake on it. and as far as you needed to stack and dowel.. then drvie the longer dowel with a point at the end thru all this... then your cake would not have fallen.. i do this all the time.. delivered one yesterday .. 3 tier.. didn,t fall.. reading your post.. i am getting that you didn,t put the long dowel thru.. but don,t understand why.. and again , was your each tiers on a seperate card board. tying to help ...<<<

Yeah, that was the problem. I didn't drive the dowel through all 4 tiers. Some one convinced me that if I use several skewers (ha ha) they go through two cakes and card boards that would work fine. Besides, I had used a hardboard on the bottom so the dowel couldn't have gone through it. Is the "foam core" strong enough base? Where do I get this? How thick is it?

Thank you so much,
Sandy
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post #27 of 47
6/14/09 at 4:04pm
yes, foam core is at michaels, hobby lobby.. ac moore, 1/2" thick.. then cut that according .. then wrap in food safe paper.. some people use plywood 1/2" thick and cover that.. then as usual dowel each tier.. then put the long dowel .. not skewers. all the way from top to bottom . if it is the foam core.. than drive the dowel thru that ..you will hear it when it gets there and also feel it. hth of course , you cannot drive the dowel thru the plywood.ha! but down to it.. some people use masonite boards under all their tiers.. and then use the dowel all the way thru. haven,t done that before..
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post #28 of 47
6/14/09 at 4:28pm
Indydebi, I'd sure love it if you'd post a picture of that! Not the jello arms...I know all about those.... icon_cry.gif I mean the cart. Hee! Hee!
I've tried to come up with different ideas to help me deliver large cakes by myself without having to bother DH to help.
thanks!
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post #29 of 47
6/14/09 at 4:44pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sandylee05

Thanks Leah. I read through your SPS directions, but I didn't realize there were so many pages of replies. I'll have to read more.

I'm concerned about those wide posts going through cake. Of course, that would be much better than loosing a cake!!


Also, it's hard to believe that that little point keeps the cakes from shifting. I'm really considering this method,

Thank you so much,
Sandy



Believe it...SPS is an incredible way to transport...it will REALLY take the anxiety out of cake delivery. I can't say enough about this system icon_biggrin.gif ! Before I started using it I probably pm'd leah 10 times; AFTER I ordered them one of my questions was, "You mean to tell me that that TINY little nib on that plastic plate will keep my cakes from slipping?!?" she said yep, it will. I even had a customer pick-up a cake, transport it 100 miles propped up crooked, and the top layer slid off the cardboard circle, but the the cardboard circle stayed on the SPS separator plate sturdy and secure.
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post #30 of 47
6/14/09 at 4:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sweetcakes23

Indydebi, I'd sure love it if you'd post a picture of that! Not the jello arms...I know all about those.... icon_cry.gif I mean the cart. Hee! Hee!
I've tried to come up with different ideas to help me deliver large cakes by myself without having to bother DH to help.
thanks!



HEre's what mine looks like: http://www.engineersupply.com/safco-tuff-truck-convertible-hand-truck-4070.aspx

I just have a sheet of thin plywood to lay on it when I convert it to a flatbed. Greatest tool I ever bought! I found mine at a U-Haul store. It was a scratch-n-dent item and I got it for $50. As a caterer, you can imagine how handy this sucker is to me!
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