Hi everyone,

So I made a huge coach purse cake-6 layers, covered it in fondant, put all the accent pieces on, took a picture (luckily) and then moved it across the kitchen to the other counter. As I'm cleaning up the kitchen, I notice my cake start to tilt and all of my cute little fondant C's start to pop off the side. I quickly stuck some heavy books up against it, and then it started tilting to the adjacent side. So I added more books, and am currently praying that I don't wake up to a cake that has completely slipped in two. Any idea what on Earth I can do to fix this problem? I'm pretty certain that at this rate, it's not making it for the twenty minute drive to the party it is for. ( I've been working on this thing all week!! Please help!!

Can you post some pictures? Did you put some kind of support system in the middle of the cake?

Straighten it up, then drive 2 or 3 sharpened dowels through the cake into the base board. If your base board is cardboard or foamcore, glue another 1/2-inch or more of board underneath to make your base board thicker. This will give the sharpened dowels something to hold them.

Use flowers or 'plugs' of fondant to cover the holes.

Keep your books in place and get that cake into the refrigerator.

I haven't taken any pictures since it started slipping, but I can.

I have dowels and cake boards in between the layers supporting it, but nothing going all the way through the cake..that's probably my problem.

Can I refrigerate it if it has fondant on it? Won't that ruin it even more??

If you used filling, it could have too much between the layers.

i say definatey stick it in the fridge. it will stiffen everything up and hopefully make it a little more stable. nothing will happen to the fondant. i always put my fondant cakes in the fridge. have one in there right now actually. it will sweat a little when you take it out but that will go away. good luck!
heidi

I think the possible side effects of refrigeration are worth the risk. Otherwise, the cake may not make it out of the driveway.

No chance you have time to take it apart and start again? If there's a problem with the support, thts the easiest way to definatly fix it.

No, I have to move it out pretty soon. So the consensus is stick it in the fridge until I have to move it? It would be in the fridge for about an hour. but it's about 85 here today, so I'm nervous about what that will do when I stick it in the car.

Thanks for all your help, everyone!

Here's a pic I took last night before it started slipping. At least I got a picture in. And my sister just stopped by so she could at least see it before anything too disasterous happened. She was over the moon. That's what counts, I guess. I just hope I can get it to her party!

Make sure you pre-cool the car before you put the cake in. If you can park it in the shade or garage, that would be ideal. Open up all the vents and crack the A/C as high as it will go. If your car has it, turn on the internal circulation (no outside air blown in). Let it cool off for at least 10 minutes. If it's in the sun, probably a little longer. And just keep it cranked for the whole ride. Bring a sweater.

Thanks. So refrigerate it, stick it in a cold car, and pray? I think I'm going to try to place it in a box lined with the books that are supporting it right now for the ride, too. Unless you all have some excellent tried and true tips for transportation!

I would use something lighter than books for support during transportation. One quick stop and your purse will transform into a book bag!

If you have some large plastic bags, you can blow them up, tie them shut and use to help support the cake.

I also think 3 sharpened dowels all the way through would make a big difference. However, if you don't really remember where your support dowels are, don't chance it. Could make things worse.

Can you lift that pink fondant stripe that is going down the center and put the support through there? I really think that might help out. Make sure that you leave extra early so you can drive about 20 mph the whole way! I swear every time I deliver a cake I can feel every bump in the road more than usual.

The cake made it! Thanks for your help everyone...wouldn't have gotten through it without your help. Longest car ride ever! But cake made it in one piece and was a huge hit. And as my sister said, it's a purse so it's okay if it is a little less than perfect...just makes it look more realistic. )

Phew. That was a really cute cake. I made a bag that was filled with yarn balls (fondant). It looked pretty good before I left my house. When I arrived to deliver it, the fondant had started to sag and it looked like part of the cake was falling off. I was devastated. I offered the client a refund because I thought that it looked horrible. She didn't want a refund because she thought that it made it look more realistic. Since then she has ordered another cake and her mom has too, so I guess we are really our own worst critics.

Yay!! So glad to hear it!!