Friday Night Cake Club

Decorating By catlharper Updated 14 Jul 2013 , 8:34pm by catlharper

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catlharper Posted 13 Jul 2013 , 3:19am
post #1 of 18

Hi there! Opening up another session of the FNCC! Who's UP? This place is for anyone who wants to talk about their week, share photos of their work, ask for help or provide help when they can. Everyone is welcome!

 

Cat

17 replies
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catlharper Posted 13 Jul 2013 , 3:21am
post #2 of 18

Hi Everyone! I'm working on a retirement cake this week which has been SO hard. The fondant pieces are drying REALLY slowly and then gluing them together is taking forever to dry too. I'm at the point where I'm going to use a glue gun and tell the client they are non-edible! LOL!

Add to that, I'm working this event as well, and the client had said that if the weather report was over 85 for the party that we would move it inside. Well, the weather report is saying it will be 90 at the time of the party and guess what? The client wants to keep it outside! UGH!

 

Hope everyone else is having a great week for me!!

 

Cat

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auntginn Posted 13 Jul 2013 , 3:40am
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Hi Cat, so sorry your having such a hard time tonight.  I feel for you and the weather, we've been having bad here down south as well.  So muggy.

 

Went to deliver my Eiffel tower cake for today.  The cake overall came out fine, but I'm disappointed with the pics.  #1 The room was not set up - Called my customer, she was still at home with traffic would be more than an hour for her to get there.  WHAT icon_surprised.gif.. NO tablecloth for the table.  NO cake base which she was supposed to provide.  The walls were yellow, almost gold. The cake tiers themselves blended in.  And then she says leave it there and we'll put it together.  ARE YOU CRAZY?? She has no clue.  Well I set it up, took some pics and sighed.  The only other person there was the dj,  yeah right..  we can really trust a dj.  rofl.

 

 

Oh well, onto bigger and better things.  My castle cake is due tomorrow am, Minnie Mouse cake on Sunday and ta da.... a Chinese Dragon cake on Monday.  For a young lady leaving for china on a study/work program.

 

I'm loving it..  All the way to the bank.  icon_biggrin.gif

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Chellescakes Posted 13 Jul 2013 , 3:51am
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Cat , I glue stuff  together with what I call gumph, I mix a bit of tylose through a small ball of fondant , add a couple of drops of water and microwave in bursts of 8 seconds giving it a stir in between , it sets rock hard very quickly. Kind of like edible hot glue. 

 

Ginn , you made me tired just reading that . Love to see all the pics when you are done. 

 

I only had one cake this week a 3D Garfield cake , it was so stress free and fun to do , I had it finished at 5 pm last night and it was picked up this morning before 9 . I had even cleaned up and had everything put away before I cooked dinner last night. 

 

Happy Caking everyone. 

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Norasmom Posted 13 Jul 2013 , 3:52am
post #5 of 18

Cat, so sorry about that outdoor event!  Here in Boston, I would never consider having an outdoor wedding in the summer, because it gets too hot sometimes, and it's unpredictable.  The guests at the event won't be comfortable!  I hope they decide to have it inside after all!

Hope your decorations dry nicely!

It's too hot right now for me to bake!  Since I don't do weddings, I'm not super busy  My demographic is wealthy and many of them go away for the summer to Cape Cod.  I'm not complaining, I enjoy the break!

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auntginn Posted 13 Jul 2013 , 4:25am
post #6 of 18

Chelles, your Garfield cake is adorable.  I'm taking a coffee break but believe me I'm really happy, I usually have no work in the summer so this year has been great.

 

Uh.. Cat I think we lost somebody,  Gold Star Mom went to last weeks forum post.  Hope she show up here tonight.

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catlharper Posted 13 Jul 2013 , 4:37am
post #7 of 18

Hi everyone...I've been spending the past hour putting personalized water bottle labels onto the water bottles for tomorrows event. I hate this job and my daughter/partner usually does this VERY well but this time it didn't work out for her to be here to help so I'm doing them. She still designed them and they are just perfect for the event. I'll post photos of the event up on our Party blog Monday. The cake will get posted Sunday on my Cake blog. So I'm done with what I can do for tonight.

 

Ginn, hope at least one photo turned out well enough for your portfolio. SIGH. I've been there, done that. I have a wedding at the end of the month and I'm terrified I will find that situation too. This is why I take a photo before delivery and then another at the site if I can. Can't wait to see all of the cake photos tho. Please do post them here when you get done? Also, thank you for posting to Gold Star Mom...hope she finds her way here too. I'll try to help her too.

 

Chelle! Your Garfield is simply perfection! I use a mix similar to what you do and it still isn't setting up right. SIGH. We are not usually humid here and it's off the charts this week. 

 

Norasmom...there are times, as a party planner, that the best you can do is advise...this is one of those times. I will give them one last chance when we arrive for set up and once I start the set up I won't move it again. We'll see where it goes! I'm not a heat lizard and we are SOOOO hot out here in California this year. I'm living in A/C for the most part but it doesn't stop the humidity. I think they are nuts but the client said to me today "as long as it's under 100 I think we'll be ok"...UGH. I'll go, set up and take my photos and then leave to go back into the A/C. Right now I'm more concerned with my cake which is primarily covered in buttercream with fondant accents. I think it's going to melt. Once again...I'll warn the client, take my photos and leave. SIGH.

 

Cat

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ellavanilla Posted 13 Jul 2013 , 5:10am
post #8 of 18
Quote:
Originally Posted by catlharper 

 

 

Norasmom...there are times, as a party planner, that the best you can do is advise...this is one of those times. I will give them one last chance when we arrive for set up and once I start the set up I won't move it again. We'll see where it goes! I'm not a heat lizard and we are SOOOO hot out here in California this jusyear. I'm living in A/C for the most part but it doesn't stop the humidity. I think they are nuts but the client said to me today "as long as it's under 100 I think we'll be ok"...UGH. I'll go, set up and take my photos and then leave to go back into the A/C. Right now I'm more concerned with my cake which is primarily covered in buttercream with fondant accents. I think it's going to melt. Once again...I'll warn the client, take my photos and leave. SIGH.

 

Cat

 

I know! the heat has been low here in socal, but the humidity is unheard of. we actually had sprinkles several times this week (enough to make my car look crappy). 

 

such pretty fondant work!! I gave up just trying to cover a board this week!!

 

I had my friday night on wednesday night. it was the worst night of caking i've had in a while. so hot. so uncomfortable, so many many mistakes. the cake is lopsided and just a poor example of what should have been a pretty happy cake.  now i'm sitting here twiddling my thumbs LOL. i never have a free friday!

 

 

the only direction was carved in a 1-0-0 and  "over the top, celebratory"

 

on second look, i feel embarrassed to show this cake, but they say acceptance is the first step...

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catlharper Posted 13 Jul 2013 , 5:20am
post #9 of 18

Ella, please do not feel embarrassed to share such a happy cake! This is such sucky weather to be working in and yes, for fondant especially. We are just not use to this humidity since we rarely get it. I simply can't imagine how those in much more naturally humid climes manage to ever do caking in the summer!  But I do believe I will be in your boat tomorrow as I'm making this "island" cake of mine. All I can say is that Fall is around the corner! LOL! Sadly I have many many more cakes between now and then.

 

Cat

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Brettley Posted 13 Jul 2013 , 5:28am
post #10 of 18

Good evening everyone!

 

This week has been fairly busy. We are going on a family vacay soon, leaving next Tuesday. Going to Minneapolis! We have contractors in our house currently which has been SUPER STRESSFUL!! Ugh. I am installing a home licensed kitchen in our basement. My current kitchen is 25 min away and... I practically live there this time of year. Anyway I am grateful to have it being done, it's just it was supposed to be done by now. They were delayed 5 weeks so that throws me right off too. And I am staying at home our daughter this summer too! Oye... talk about stress, good thing there is wine:)

 

On to work, I have 3 weddings this weekend.. 250 cupcakes along with a 3 tier vintageyh cake. 10" round vintage style cake and just a simple rustic looking one. Sunday I have baby shower and a Rainbow/rosette cake and Monday is a small Vegas themed cake. Then we leave Tuesday at 6am. Yay!

 

Cat! Where I live, we don't really have to deal with the heat/humidity like I hear some of you guys deal with. I don't know what I would do... make them sign a waiver is what I would do. That way they don't turn around and try to get a refund.

 

Chelle: Garfield is SOO adorable. Omgosh! Great job!

 

Auntginn: How frustrating. We can't control everything I guess:) hope you post the minnie mouse cakes! I must say, they are a favorite for me for sure!

 

Norasmom: Having a break during the summer would be awesome! Where I live though it gets to like -50 degrees Celcius in January/February so we have decided that we will be winter vacationers. I would rather sacrifice a bit of the summer to miss the Deepfreeze in the winter.  Disneyworld/Florida for 3 weeks in January!!! Already on a countdown!

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IAmPamCakes Posted 13 Jul 2013 , 5:32am
post #11 of 18

AHello! Today, I worked on a small wedding cake for tomorrow. They ordered Monday! Really laid back young couple, bride wants the topper her fiancé picked out & the cake plate that her aunt had in her own wedding. Ok, right? No. The plate is a skinny tall pedestal 8" plate. The topper is too big for a 6" cake. So, silly me, I decide to make 8" cake, with 8" ribbon covered board that has to sit on this awkward plate. The topper weighs a ton. And, with the heat and humidity in northern California right now, the cake is supposed to be white with black scrollwork! It has to be delivered 30 miles away too. Nit sure how this one's gonna go...

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catlharper Posted 13 Jul 2013 , 5:42am
post #12 of 18

Brettley, your weekend makes me tired to read it! LOL! Hope all goes very well for you! As for the heat, yup, I make them sign a waiver that says if they store the cake in an environment over 85 degrees and it melts then they can't blame me!

 

Pam: I feel your pain! As we are completely not use to this heat/humidity combo it's making our well made plans seem a bit nuts! If you can, brace that topper like you could another tier. I had to do that last year with a wedding cake that was heavy crystal. UGH.

 

I'm off to bed but I'll catch up to everyone in the morning!

 

Cat

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The Cake Shoppe Posted 13 Jul 2013 , 6:20am
post #13 of 18

Hi all!  I don't usually get to post in the FNCC because my birthday cakes and such go out on Fridays.  But this week I have a wedding cake and 5 doz. cuppys so I am working into the wee hours.  It's not a very big cake but it sounds like yours' IAmPam.  White with black piping.  We usually have much higher humidity than what we have currently, although its been hot.  :-(  The venue is outdoors/in a barn with some fans.  I talked to the client about fondant because of the inevitable heat/humidity and that was the plan.  Then after speaking to her on the phone this week, she told me they had refrigeration.  Talk about a HUGE sigh of relief, right?  So we switch it to the buttercream finish she really wanted.  Then I talked to her today (after the cake has been stacked) about moving up delivery time, only to find out refrigeration was only for "back-up"!!???  So yep, it's a deliver, take pictures and hope for the best situation now. dunce.gif

I know, 'just say NO to outdoor summer venues'.  I thought I had priced myself out of it--

Good news though,  I got to use my first SPS on this cake and I can't wait to see how it performs on the delivery tomorrow.  Yay!

Brettley, I think my head would pop off if I had that much going on.  You are a working machine!  Hope the remodeling is super speedy!!

Love the Garfield Chelles!

Ella, I don't see any unevenness...It's cute!

Cat, you make me feel like I should take some vitamins or something.  I am definitely under-performing!  Best of luck in the heat! 

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DeliciousDesserts Posted 13 Jul 2013 , 11:38am
post #14 of 18

ASeriously, do these people not care about the guests? Forget about the cake (don't really), the guests will be sweating!!

Garfield is spot on!

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sixinarow Posted 13 Jul 2013 , 12:50pm
post #15 of 18

Ella, I think your cake turned out really cute!! I know it was a pain in the neck, but you pulled it off and I bet no one could tell the struggle it was!

Chellescakes, your Garfield is adorable! 

I feel your pain with heat/humidity, Cat, normal summer temps here are in the mid 90's with really high humidity..bleh. Hope you at least get a cool breeze!

Iampam, fingers crossed for your delivery!!

No cakes for me this week, I've had a nice little break 2 week break before 2 busy weeks coming up. I have 3 (2 tiered) cakes next Sat..starting to panic on the inside a little..wondering which one is going to be the bugger and keep me up late! But then I read Brettley's post and thought about what a wuss I'm being!! Wow, I don't know how you do it Brettley!!

 

 

Can't wait to see pictures of your Eiffle Tower cake, aunt ginn!!

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auntginn Posted 13 Jul 2013 , 7:34pm
post #16 of 18

Ella, I don't see anything wrong with your cake, its a fun, happy cake.

 

Here is pic #1.  My castle cale, waiting for customer to pic it up.  Good thing she is a neighbor or I'd be calling her like every 5 minutes.  Today is hot but at least the humidity has calmed down.

 

 

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IAmPamCakes Posted 13 Jul 2013 , 10:31pm
post #17 of 18

Ella, I like your cake! It says 'celebrate!'

Chelle, Garfield is super cute.

Cat, hopefully your event is going well today.

So, I delivered the cake. Grrrr. I was concentrating so hard on how to get the cake to where it needed to be, I forgot to brace it in the box! The cake is on super thick cardboard so I could move it without damaging the cake itself, then wrap any dents with ribbon. It had to ride separate from the pedestal because it's so tall, and would be too top heavy. The topper got dowelled, no question. So, the issue was, I turned a corner (carefully) and the cake slid on it's bigger board, right into the side of the box. Black scrollwork got smeared into the box wall. It happened to be the front of the cake too.

I got to delivery spot (another person is taking the cake the rest of the way to the reception), and had to pry the topper off of the cake to turn it around and hide the damage.

Let me tell you, that topper was NOT going to move when I placed it. So that was a fun mess. Of course, this is that one time that I didn't have any extra icing to do repairs. I had my boyfriend run downtown with some nonskid material I *usually* use, now hopefully the cake makes it to the church on time... and in one piece.

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catlharper Posted 14 Jul 2013 , 8:34pm
post #18 of 18

Hi everyone!

 

Well, the event was wonderful...you can see the cake on my cake blog http://catscakesblog.blogspot.com. No, we didn't get a breeze, yes, it was 95 degrees, yes, the guest of honor complained how hot it was while mopping sweat off her forehead ( I got just a little satisfaction from that since the client was standing right next to me when the guest of honor complained) and yes, I have the most amazing hubby who brought the cake over when it was time to present it so it wouldn't melt in the heat!!!  I had asked the client if we should move it indoors, once again, before set up of the area but, no, she's a "heat lizard" and thought it was actually "quite comfortable" in the shade. Mind you, in the shade it was still 93 degrees with no breeze. But the cake was a hit and by the end of the event it was totally gone! People went back for seconds! The really wonderful thing was that the guest of honor actually cried when she saw the cake. She was SO touched! No paycheck is worth more than that moment when you can see how much your hard work is appreciated!

 

Just a birthday cake for me this week..oh, and some brownies for our family dinner tonight!

 

Cat

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