So this week, I worked on a vow-renewal cake. The woman ordering it sent me some wonderful pictures of 3-4 tiered cakes, with ribbons, buttercream, and stargazer lilies. I was prepared.
I spent every night making cakes, cutting them, stacking them, etc so that all I would have to do on Friday would be to ice them, stack them, and add the decorations. No problem!
But life, it seems, doesn't like to be easy. Friday, I woke up and started icing each one. After icing the bottom tier, I left it alone for a few minutes to "crust" (which is where it dries a little and if you touch it, it doesn't come off on your finger). I came back to check on it and part of the cake had fallen apart!
Discouraged, I rebaked the bottom tier. Everything was on hold because this was the bottom tier! I had to have it finished before I could start on the two on top! 2-3 hours later, I started the icing again. Anyway, long story short, this is how it (eventually) turned out.
Not too shabby! Anyway, I called Cathleen (vow-renewal "bride's" sister-in-law) to come pick it up, and together we loaded the whole thing into her packed SUV for the hour-long drive to the event.
I was nervous. No, nervous doesn't describe the feeling. I was petrified. I watched them drive away and said a little prayer for the cake.
A few hours later, I got news from Cathleen that the cake had slid off the stand at the end of my street, that they had tried to piece it back together (but it's buttercream--I'm sure that was difficult) but that it at least tasted good.
Wanna know how I felt then? Mortified. Stunned. Embarassed. I think you get the picture. So I did some research to see what I could have done differently, and I got a solution: non-slip pads. From Walmart. Put them between stand and cake, and under stand for transportation. Duhh.
Sigh.... Learn something new every cake.
UPDATE: Here is a picture of the cake with a text from Cathleen:
"I showed everyone the before [picture]. We fixed it pretty good...Don't worry about it we are all laughing."
Follow up text from Cathleen: "Please laugh."
Okay, Cathleen. It is kind of funny. Better luck next time!
I'm out. No more cakes for awhile. I need a break!
Omg!! What a disaster!! You must have been devastated to hear the misfortune of you long laborous work!! I'm so sorry but you hve the right mindset, another lesson learned!! I love you and I'm proud of you!!
ReplyDeleteI think I rewrote the post about the time a cake fell apart during transport- I wrote it originally on a Myspace (!) blog post. It was AWFUL! I was in tears and covered in teal icing, HOLDING the top two tiers that I managed to save.
ReplyDeleteLuckily, the bride was OK with it and just happy to be married. I couldn't even charge them I felt so bad. I still remember it, just like you will remember this one. If you can, assemble the cake on site. If you can't, just cross your fingers!
Glad they could laugh about it!
You are such a trooper! The cake was incredibly beautiful and I'm so proud of you for all your hard work and especially your attitude. These little hiccups are blessings in disguise. We learn so much from failure -- from success, not so much.
ReplyDeleteYou're improving so quickly!
ReplyDeleteBummer about what happened, but it looks gorgeous, anyway!
Hi Katie, stumbled here by accident - I know how you feel, TODAY! I had my first cake disaster, and I've felt awful the whole day!! But the recipients were so gracious - I managed to save two tiers out of a three-tier topsy turvy, but I seriously wanted to cry my eyes out! Like you and the other cake, I couldn't bear to take any money for it :) and yes, we learn from our failures ;) all the best in your future cakes! :)
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