I'm posting in the hopes of getting advice/suggestions so this doesn't happen again
I made a 4-tiered cake (7,8,9 and 10" rounds) using the Chocolate WASC recipe and it was filled with a chocolate BC. It was stacked and then carved (cake was too look like a volcano) The base tier was 'anchored' down on a 14" cake drum. Each tier had a cardboard round under it and each tier (with the exception of the top tier) had wooden dowels in them for support (anywhere from 5-7 dowels depending on the tier). I also took one long wooden dowel and, once stacked, had that going through all four tiers and into the cake drum. The outside of the cake was covered in chocolate BC and decorated with fondant accents (i.e. 'lava').
I assembled the cake and all was well. (this also included having to move it around several times) Went to bed, got up in the morning to deliver the cake and it still was fine. Customer and I went to move it to the car and the top 3/4 of it shifted from the bottom tier. I removed the top part of it and re-doweled it with pvc pipes to add extra stability. I then delivered it (in the two separate sections) to the location of the b-day party and re-stacked it and began adding BC to cover up the area that had separated.
Within 20 minutes, the top part of the cake began leaning and then the entire bottom 75% of it just caved in on itself. At that point the cake was so far gone that there was nothing to do to salvage the bottom part. As I took the cake apart, I noticed that all of the wooden dowels had also caved inwards and were no longer vertical.
I was (and am) absolutely horrified and disappointed in myself. The customers (whom I had never met in person before) were incredibly kind and gracious and very understanding and insisted on paying me, at least, for the cost of the ingredients even though I refused numerous times, considering I wasnt able to deliver on what I had promised.
Any suggestions on what may have gone wrong? Should I not use the WASC recipe for a cake that is tiered that many times? Should I be using another support system instead of wooden dowels? Should I have used something other than a cake drum to hold the cake? Any and all suggestions are welcome and appreciated I really want to avoid feeling this way again I know how important the cake is to a celebration and it sickens me that they werent able to have that for this party.
I made a 4-tiered cake (7,8,9 and 10" rounds) using the Chocolate WASC recipe and it was filled with a chocolate BC. It was stacked and then carved (cake was too look like a volcano) The base tier was 'anchored' down on a 14" cake drum. Each tier had a cardboard round under it and each tier (with the exception of the top tier) had wooden dowels in them for support (anywhere from 5-7 dowels depending on the tier). I also took one long wooden dowel and, once stacked, had that going through all four tiers and into the cake drum. The outside of the cake was covered in chocolate BC and decorated with fondant accents (i.e. 'lava').
I assembled the cake and all was well. (this also included having to move it around several times) Went to bed, got up in the morning to deliver the cake and it still was fine. Customer and I went to move it to the car and the top 3/4 of it shifted from the bottom tier. I removed the top part of it and re-doweled it with pvc pipes to add extra stability. I then delivered it (in the two separate sections) to the location of the b-day party and re-stacked it and began adding BC to cover up the area that had separated.
Within 20 minutes, the top part of the cake began leaning and then the entire bottom 75% of it just caved in on itself. At that point the cake was so far gone that there was nothing to do to salvage the bottom part. As I took the cake apart, I noticed that all of the wooden dowels had also caved inwards and were no longer vertical.
I was (and am) absolutely horrified and disappointed in myself. The customers (whom I had never met in person before) were incredibly kind and gracious and very understanding and insisted on paying me, at least, for the cost of the ingredients even though I refused numerous times, considering I wasnt able to deliver on what I had promised.
Any suggestions on what may have gone wrong? Should I not use the WASC recipe for a cake that is tiered that many times? Should I be using another support system instead of wooden dowels? Should I have used something other than a cake drum to hold the cake? Any and all suggestions are welcome and appreciated I really want to avoid feeling this way again I know how important the cake is to a celebration and it sickens me that they werent able to have that for this party.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight."
Proverbs 3:5-6
Proverbs 3:5-6
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight."
Proverbs 3:5-6
Proverbs 3:5-6
It absorbs moisture and can warp. Plastic drink straws would have been a better choice but then SPS even better.
