My Very First Cake Disaster. I'm Mortified!
Decorating By cakesncrumbs Updated 5 Jul 2009 , 9:39pm by summernoelle
I had my very first cake disaster this Saturday and I'm completely mortified. I got an order for a 4 tier topsy turvy cake for a baby shower and I was so excited about the design and couldn't wait to make it.
So, here I am, driving along to the delivery location and my car starts to stutter. I hadn't been having any car trouble so I'm saying to myself "OMG! please, don't die, please don't die" and all the while I'm completely freaking out. I printed out the email that had the directions in it and the directions were completely wrong. Meanwhile, my car is still stuttering and my air conditioning went from cold to hot so I had to turn the air off to keep from blowing hot air on the cake. I live on the Gulf Coast and it was 102 Saturday-that's not an exaggeration. I had to drive around for 30 extra minutes trying to find the house and when I finally figured out where I needed to go (the person who ordered the cake wasn't answering her phone) my car broke down literally 3 houses down from where I needed to be. 
The person who ordered the cake finally called as soon as I coasted to a stop and she had someone from the party come get me since she wasn't there yet. When the person go there, I tried to start my car, and it started so I drove it down the road and parked it in their driveway. I get out, open the hatch of my suv and, I'm not even kidding you when I say that the entire cake melted. The sides weren't bulging, but the top three tiers were leaning to the right, the big pink fondant bow on the front fell off, the fondant had ripped along the edge of the top of each tier and was sliding down the cake. It looked like it was about to tip over any minute. I was absolutely mortified. Everyone was very understanding and said that the cake was beautiful and looked just fine considering the situation. I had to wait almost an hour with complete strangers for a tow truck to come tow my truck. The entire time I was trying not to cry. Trust me, I wanted to crawl under my car and die. The worst part of the entire situation wasn't that the cake died but that I just got a new job, worked all day Friday and had to decorate the cake all night Saturday. I'm not kidding when I say "all night" either. I literally worked from 8 p.m. until 11 a.m. when I loaded up and left. I had to do everything, tort, fill, frost, cover, decorate, everything. I was exhausted!
I got a call from the person who ordered the cake that night and she said that everyone loved the cake and it tasted phenominal (Thank goodness it at least tasted good!!!). The camera on my phone stopped working-it wasn't my day-so I didn't get a picture of the disaster but here's a picture of it pre-death:
I'm so sorry this happened to you. The cake was amazing!
So sorry to hear your story, I'm sure everyone understood. Things do happen that's out of our control and it didn't help that you were totally exhausted. I have a friend who had 2 wedding cakes due one after the other, the first was a 50 mile drive which included a trip across a 4 mile bridge. The engine blew in her new car halfway over the bridge which caused a major traffic backup. Her car was towed to the other side of the bridge and she placed a call to her husband to come and pick her and the cake up and go the the reception site. Upon arrival she started to unbox the cake and realized she had the wrong wedding cake! She placed another call to another friend who went to her home to pick up the right cake. My friend's elderly mother, who did not know this other lady would not let her in the house until she showed her identification and convinced her she needed to get the other cake. Well, to make a long story short (I think it's too late) both cakes finally got delivered to the right venues. Oh, and my friend's car was a total loss, seems she had just gotten the oil changed the day before and the mechanic didn't put the plug back in so all the oil leaked out of her car!
So sorry for you - but after seeing the great job you did on the "before" photo , you are guarantee to get requests to make more. Very, very pretty cake - good tasting, too - wow!
I'm so sorry to hear your story. I had my first cake "semi" disaster this weekend, too, and I was ready to die. Your cake was absolutely darling before its death!! It sounds like the recipient was very understanding, which helps so much.
As for me, I had a nice beer, a little cry, a good night's sleep, and now I feel better. I hope you do, too!! Hugs!
So sorry you had such a bad time. Congrats on the new job! I love your cake and your cakes in the gallery. Sounds like your customer was understanding.
I was wondering what you use for cake drums. Is that styrofoam? I really like the thickness of it. Thanks again for sharing and (((((hugs)))))!
WOW! Poor thing, I can imagine how horrifying that was for you. Thank God the people were understanding.. At least it tasted great, and your before pic of the cake is beautiful!!!!!
I think we as cake decorators put more pressure on ourselves than our customers do...... 
Thanks for the kind words guys.
I made the base out of a pre-cut wooden barstool seat from Lowes that I got for about $6. The feet are screw in feet that were $3 each. I made a few of these in different colors and I love to use them for bases for larger, more whimsical cakes. They are incredibly sturdy, you just have to make sure that you screw the feet in level, but they are very heavy. The round part is 16" so if you're making a 14" cake that's going to be pretty tall, they're great for stability.
Thanks for the kind words guys.
I made the base out of a pre-cut wooden barstool seat from Lowes that I got for about $6. The feet are screw in feet that were $3 each. I made a few of these in different colors and I love to use them for bases for larger, more whimsical cakes. They are incredibly sturdy, you just have to make sure that you screw the feet in level, but they are very heavy. The round part is 16" so if you're making a 14" cake that's going to be pretty tall, they're great for stability.
Thanks for the kind words guys.
I made the base out of a pre-cut wooden barstool seat from Lowes that I got for about $6. The feet are screw in feet that were $3 each. I made a few of these in different colors and I love to use them for bases for larger, more whimsical cakes. They are incredibly sturdy, you just have to make sure that you screw the feet in level, but they are very heavy. The round part is 16" so if you're making a 14" cake that's going to be pretty tall, they're great for stability.
Thanks for the info on the cake board. That is gorgeous. Thats a neat idea with the bar stools.
Thanks for the info on the cake board. That is gorgeous. Thats a neat idea with the bar stools.
Oh so sorry to hear what happened.....i hate delivering cakes because i'm so scared of situations where the cake can be ruined....i'm so glad you remained calm...and the people you made the cake for was understanding. that helps a great deal. and btw....your cake was gorgeous!
Oh so sorry to hear what happened.....i hate delivering cakes because i'm so scared of situations where the cake can be ruined....i'm so glad you remained calm...and the people you made the cake for was understanding. that helps a great deal. and btw....your cake was gorgeous!
Oh so sorry to hear what happened.....i hate delivering cakes because i'm so scared of situations where the cake can be ruined....i'm so glad you remained calm...and the people you made the cake for was understanding. that helps a great deal. and btw....your cake was gorgeous!
Oh so sorry to hear what happened.....i hate delivering cakes because i'm so scared of situations where the cake can be ruined....i'm so glad you remained calm...and the people you made the cake for was understanding. that helps a great deal. and btw....your cake was gorgeous!
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%