If the cake collapsed then why is there cake and frosting smeared all over the outside of the fondant and cake board???? And why is the top layer completely turned around?? The baby was facing the front of the cake and now it's facing the back. ????
Oh man, the cake detectives are all OVER this! And once again, I'm certain they are right!! I thought you delivered it, there is no way for you to be responsible for it once it leaves your possession, especially with them driving it by themselves!! Sorry for their loss, but it is exactly that... THEIR loss! Someone is not being honest here. Whether someone else did it, or your friend, I don't mean to insinuate that your friend would intentionally lie to you, but things have happened to this cake. BAD things.
I KNOW!!! I am amazed at the deductions that one can make from the pictures.
On a personal note, and before we assume completely something shady went on, I had a cake collapse and look much the same as the one in the picture, so I'm not going to automatically judge the friend of the woman who made the cake, nor would I judge the cake-maker herself. I have been doing this for quite some time and this past October, we had a heat wave while I was working on the Harry Potter cake as seen in my pics. I know how to support a cake and, believe me, I had plenty of it in there. As I worked on it, I watched the top slide backwards (even though the center support was already in) and topple off onto the table taking much of the bottom half with it as it wanted to simply tear away from that center dowel. I had to start the whole thing over and was relieved to have had a second chance on that one!
It could be a multitude of reasons that it happened including it sliding in the car that transported it (and since the OP didn't transport it we will never know) but I hate to automatically assume the state of the cake was "shady." After all, the OP states she didn't even know about it until it was seen on Facebook and she had to ask her firend what happened...
edited for typo
someone had tagged her in the pic. There haven't been any comments on the cake yet... I just hate it's posted on there looking like that.
I've had only one cake collapse and it looked an awful lot like the picture. It happened right in front of me so those splits on the bottom are possible without dropping the cake.
It looks like that's the back of the cake to me, but I might be wrong.
As far as the smears on the board, I know if it collapsed in my fridge I'd probably touch it. I'd probably have to poke at it to see what happened.
I'm not saying that there isn't anything shady going on, but after seeing the collapse of my cake first hand, it is possible that it collapsed on it's own.
Not all customers are liars and cheats. This needs to be looked at by every angle.
Oh suuuure... try to convince us to be understanding and nice about it!! J/K! It's true that it could all be completely above board, and seeing as how she didn't contact OP for a refund, I am more tempted to think it's legitimately an unfortunate accident. If she were aggressively seeking a big old refund I would lean more toward "Yah, right!". I don't know why???
I am curious how the top layer got turned around..I may have to ask her.. I didn't notice that in the pic until you guys pointed it out... I was so taken back by how the bottom layer looked.
Ok. I'm also looking at them side by side and the things that caused me to do so:
A- Missing name- the earthquake that would have caused this "collapse" must have been extremely powerful to make the name shift to the other side and the dots on the other side to spin around to this side.
B- The ball border between tiers is all askew. If it had simply fallen, the balls from that section would have ended up on the floor since the cake board is extending beyond the surface it is sitting on. Instead, they are piled up on the cake.
C. Yes, the face on the top. It does seem the baby has learned to roll over.
D. The smears on the cake board.... Simply falling would not cause smears. 
Sandy
When I look at the pic's up close..with my face as close to the screen as i can get it..I think the baby is in the same position because if you look closely at both pic's you can still see the baby's smile in the smashed cake.
To me it also looks like the letters were taken off.
Have you heard from her yet?
i dropped a 2 tiered cake very similar to the one pictured and when I dropped it (I used SPS) the top tier popped up and off the plate and was hanging off the edge and I was able to pick it up and place it back in the center, but the curious thing is that the pearls on the cake jumbled up precisely the way those pearls are jumbled up on the side............I REALLY think this cake was dropped!
the top layer is definitely turned around bc the cirlces on the bottom layer were not around the name only the back part. plus there is another pic I didn't post that shows the name on the front and the baby backwards
Ok so looking at it again, I see what you mean. It does look as if it were dropped and they put the top tier back on the wrong way.
Yah, like someone mentioned you can see the tiny edge of a frog leg, and you can see the edge of what is most likely the fondant name too. You just have to look for it. I didn't see it at first, wasn't using my 'critical' eyes. 
ETA: WAIT! *screeeching halt* Nevermind, I'm an idiot, that's a polka dot I'm seeing. *snork* What a dork I am! 
I think you should just ask her and get it out of the way. If she didn't come looking for a refund I'm sure it was probably a crazy accident that she would own up to.
this is front view of cake. Plus there was a dowel going through the middle of the entire cake I am wondering how the top layer didn't split but bottom did
I did send an email asking yesterday but she hasn't replied yet.
Ditto..The cake was dropped ..No question!!..
The baby has learned to roll over? Hahahaha! That made me laugh out loud! 
Oh goodness, that 2nd picture you posted is from your friend? It's soo obvious the top tier is on backwards in that one!
Do you think she is "white lying" by saying the cake collapsed before the shower because she KNEW pics would be taken of it and she didn't want to hurt your feelings about ruining your cake as well as potentially "ruining" the party with a dropped cake? Maybe dropped/crushed=collapsed in her head? 
Is she a good enough friend that you can just call her out and ask "why is the top tier on backwards now?" Do you think she would justify the smeared icing in other places as the top tier slid off when the bottom tier collapsed and she tried to "fix it" by putting the top tier back on there?
Or is she showing you the picture in the fridge as if it happened in there, all by itself? Hmmmmm.
Be prepared for awkwardness if you ask her directly! I called a co-worker out on a lie yesterday and she has avoided me completely for 2 days now....and she was the one in the wrong, not me! I just hope your friend would own up to her mistake and not pretend like you were the cause (since that would be easier for her. 
)
For those who are curious as to a side-by-side comparison of the two cakes, front view.
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i257/emrldsky/cake_spin.jpg
Here you can clearly see the baby is not merely turned over, but spun around. The top tier is clearly rotated.
As to what the OP should/shouldn't do with regards to her friend...it's your friend, hon. You do what feels right. But I hate when people tell me one thing and I know they're wrong.
That cake didn't collapse on its own...someone or something helped it.
Good luck!
I think I would post under the cake photo in facebook "Oh my beautiful cake...looks like it took a tumble and was put back together backwards! How sad! Hope it still tasted yummy!" That lets the friend know you were not fooled and that you had nothing to do with the "tumble".
SIGH...why do people always try to get over? I mean, making the OP feel badly instead of just saying "Ooops dropped the cake but it was still wonderful!"
Cat
I think I would post under the cake photo in facebook "Oh my beautiful cake...looks like it took a tumble and was put back together backwards! How sad! Hope it still tasted yummy!" That lets the friend know you were not fooled and that you had nothing to do with the "tumble".
Cat
That is a GREAT idea!!!! do it.. do it... do it.. do it... 
Sandy
She finally emailed back and said her husband put the top layer on backwards that he didn't know how it went and she wasn't home when it happened. She said she wanted to turn it back around but was afraid it would make it worse. So I am not sure what really happened. I guess I will leave the matter alone as she doesn't seem too upset over it and I don't want to cause tension between us...whether it truely collapsed on its own or had some help...I am just not sure. Thanks for all the feedback I was just interested if anyone had ever had a similar situation bc I had never had this happen to a cake before.
thanks for the side by side picture comparison I am new to this site and still trying to figure out how it all works 
designsbydawn, I agree that it is probably better to just drop it... um, no pun intended... since it's not like she was calling you and threatening, or even ASKING for anything. Better to let sleeping dogs lie, eh? And it was a really, really cute cake, so, my condolences!
Wow, I love that you actually post a picture, so we can exactly see what you are talking about. I know that there are tons of CC bakers that have had many experiences and can be quite sure of what a cake looks like when it collapses on its own, or when something has happen to it.
I truly believe that; it was an unintentional accident. But needless to say the cake was very cute and you did a very nice job with it.
OK - I was going to say you are all jumping to conclusions, but that's what I'm about to do.
If you look at the side-by-side, you can see the grease stains of the frog and the edge of the cake from the original spot they were in. That whole cake has moved about 1" back from where it was. Also there is some exposed "stuck cake" from where the cake was originally placed on the board.
It is possible that it collapsed and this all happened from trying to fix it. However, it is seeming more suspicious.
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