What's your least favorite thing to do in the cake-making process?

For me, it's hands down cutting the foamcore cake boards. I hate that more than washing pans, more than kneading fondant, more than cutting dowels...more than everything!

What's yours?

I think I would agree with you there! You know, there's a company that sells them precut now. Logic Pic or sumthin like that. (google it)

My only prob, I don't necessary want them a predetermined size for every cake. I use the edges as my icing guides if it will have a border, or a slightly larger one as the icing guide and pop the cake and it's original board off of that for a borderless smooth finish.

I hate the baking, fondanting, icing and all those preparations. I just want to go to the decorating part.

Coloring the icing.....especially for an order with a ton of different colors. UGH!

.... cleaning up!

Cleaning up is what I hate most

I hate cleaning...especially trying to get Crisco off of things.

But I could cut foamcore all day That's one of my favorite parts. You just have to have the right cutter for it. I have a box cutter that has a handle like a pocket knife.

having to eat all those humps. Hahahaha I can never throw cake out it seams like a sin. so my butt gets it instead.

Dragging the groceries into the house after the cake supply shopping expeditions. And then putting them away.

I have to say cleaning up all the mess you have after decorating and not to mention washing the dishes.

another one for cleaning here! but it's not terrible, because i'm big for cleaning as i go.

coloring icing, too.

ummm... stacking (which for me, right now, is just stacking the four torted/filled layers of cake... i'm not too much into tiers as of yet).

i'm like rylan, i just want to decorate already!

yup i'm there with clean up.. and normally i'd enjoy the kneading of the fondant etc but my arthritis doesn't like it. that last cake i made for the fair really hit my hands bad (but i had missed a shot so thats one reason why)

i also don't mind but wish i wasn't so set on making my own cake boards.. it saves me a lot of $ to do it so.. i do.. but it sure is a time waster for me lol.. i'm starting to lean towards the foam boards now.. especially since those are one item that i Can get local (i have to get my cake stuff an hour away)

The fact that my dh doesn't like to eat sweets, so that means I HAVE to eat the scraps/test/practice cakes and leftover icing! Because throwing it away would be wasteful.....and that's bad, right? Oh, and people that email me asking for prices without telling you what kind of cake they want, how many servings they need, how elaborate they want it.....just how much are your cakes? and then get annoyed when they have to email me back all the info. Really?!

Hands down, no contest here at all, not even close....Delivering the cakes! UGH! I't's SOOOOO stressful! If I ever get "big" enough to be able to pay someone to either deliver them for me or to at least go with me so I can hold the cake while they drive. I'd rather wash dishes or clean up piping bags or any of the other little scut work that go into making cakes than have to go thru the stress of delivering another one! (I say that only a few moments away from having to deliver another one! LOL!)

Cat

I hate mixing up colored icing. Too many bags to deal with

I hate making frosting and fondant. I hate modeling gumpaste human figures - which is why i don't offer those anymore.

THE CLEANING!!!!!!

I hate looking at my mess when i am finished, it just really sucks to know I have to clean it all up and i usually make a big mess lol

I would clean as i go but it is still as annoying and i am so into my work that I forget to clean as i go anyway, beside cleaning out piping bags to put other colours in and little other things to clear the table a bit.

I'm also not really a fan of the baking either

my fav part is the designing

trimming and leveling the cakes. I want to just be able to pick them up and start icing them. Hate the trimming, the crumbs, the time it takes.

I guess the answer would be "bake level" cakes, but I'm just not there yet!

A couple of months ago, I would have said "torting/leveling/filling" in a heartbeat ... but now that I have an Agbay (WOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO!!!) ... I think it's just the fact that I have to stay up till 3AM to make the stinking things, since I don't get the chance to work on them during the day, for the most part. My husband usually help with clean-up, so that's not an issue, but I have long work hours, so when I'm home, I'm usually actively spending time with my kiddos, and don't bake and decorate till they're asleep.

I HATE leveling as well!

Cleaning - I don't have a dishwasher, so I totally hate washing crisco and butter based products. Royal icing is totally easy - just hot water melts it. But, I do love the clean countertops after washing them down with clorox - makes me feel like i've finally gotten my kitchen back!

Cleaning up

sifting dry ingredients and straining anything thru fine mesh.
in the old days, we had a device for sifting and it gives me carpal tunnel to think about it.

cleaning up and back and forth to the store...

I hate the entire process to get to the decorating I agree with Rylan and then those that said CLEAN UP!!!!! I wish I could just decorate!!!!!