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Disaster in the making............ no sleep for me
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cherylweddingplanner
Frequent Member

Joined: Jan 13, 2007
Posts: 283
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Birthday: Sep 13

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2007 2:31 am

Have made 2 fruit cakes, 1 x 14" and 1 x 10" for the 50th Anniversary for the church.

Had both of them covered, floodwork, embrodiery and extension work completed!! Hooray. Only thing left to do was to add the lace pieces. Very Happy

Was feeling pretty pleased with myself. Thumbs Up!

Then along came Mad

............................ a 2 1/2 year old DS...... not Evil or Very Mad

I had moved the cakes temporarily onto a seperate table whilst we were having dinner.

As I was dishing up dinner, I see a movement out of the corner of my eye..... and I turn around to see my DS licking the cake, pulling handfuls of fondant off the top tier. The bottom tier has all the extension work on one side smashed in. Tiny shards of royal icing like glass are laying all around it. Crying or Very sad

In my most drill sargent tone.............GET AWAY FROM THAT CAKE NOW!!!!!!!! Lips are Sealed

(I was only thinking that horrible word, it didnt actually come out of my mouth)

This cake is due on Saturday so i have had to remove all the fondant from the top tier and in the process the almond paste came away to Crying or Very sad

So now I have to cover the top tier entirely. Lips are Sealed

I dont even have the time to cry, I feel like s^&t as I have been working through all my orders whilst the 2 babies were sick and then I caught the flu on top of it. Have been working with fevers and chills when I should have been in bed, but mothers dont get sick leave at home. Thumbs Down

Due to time constraints with this do you think if I put a light and fan over the cake once I have covered it, that it would help speed up the drying time so the fondant wouldnt be so soft to work on ????

Any suggestions are more than welcome. Very Happy

please

Cheryl
p.s dont bother suggesting the scotch....... have already opened the bottle Surprised

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mpaigew
Frequent Member

Joined: May 30, 2005
Posts: 205
Location: Rock Hill, NY
Birthday: Feb 23
Gallery Supporter Member

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2007 2:58 am

I feel your pain! I would have FREAKED if my dds had done this!

However, if you have the flu, you might really want to consider refraining from finishing this cake. It is not safe to be handling food when you are sick, especially with symptoms like fever and chills.

Is there another cake decorator in your area that might be able to finish it for you while you rest and recoup?

cherylweddingplanner
Frequent Member

Joined: Jan 13, 2007
Posts: 283
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Birthday: Sep 13

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2007 3:03 am

I dont have anyone in the area that could do this sort of work at the last minute. Crying or Very sad

Have made sure I have been wearing gloves and a face mask so I am not breathing all of the damm thing.

mgdqueen
Forum SuperStar!

Joined: Jun 13, 2006
Posts: 2042
Location: TN
Birthday: Dec 18
Gallery Supporter Member

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2007 4:14 am

I am so sorry you have to deal with this on top of being sick. I would blow a fan in that direction if you have one. It certainly will help. Keeping DS out of it is another story-he might have learned though when he heard the tone in your voice!

captrick
Junior Member

Joined: Jun 01, 2007
Posts: 75
Location: Fisherville, KY
Birthday: Dec 30

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2007 4:28 am

Honestly, if your DS has been sick...and got his hands "in" the cake..I personally...would redo the whole thing....I really wouldn't take a chance on getting some elderly person at Church sick from my child or myself......sometimes, you just have to say..."I'm sorry, I cannot complete this order...I have the flu"...I know I wouldn't have my feelings hurt if someone told me that...I'd be happier to know I wasn't risking getting sick because the person went ahead and did the cake whilst being ill.

Sugar_Plum_Fairy
Forum SuperStar!

Joined: Aug 30, 2006
Posts: 2404
Location: Somerset County, NJ
Birthday: Jun 03
Gallery Supporter Member

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2007 4:42 am

I'm so sorry this has happened to you! I know what it's like when either an animal (I have three cats) or a child (I have three monsters, love their little hearts) destroys something you have created and spent so much time working on!

And being sick and doing it makes it all the more tragic and a harder blow to deal with, but that being said I believe captrick is correct and it might be better to not redo the cake especially with the illness (germs) running around the house. And children are particularly notorious when it comes to not washing hands (or not washing them properly), and passing on germs, etc.

I would explain to whomever is in charge and I'm sure (s)he'd understand. Better safe than sorry.

Hope you feel better really soon!

jeking
Frequent Member

Joined: Jul 25, 2006
Posts: 299
Location: Gainesville, Florida

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2007 4:43 am

If you are replacing the part that was handled by DS, it should be fine. The latest studies have shown that food can be on a floor for 3 minutes before picking up bacteria/virus...so no more of the 10 second rule!!

It sounds like you have taken precautions in handling the cake using gloves and a mask. I would replace the fondant and put a fan on it to speed drying. I think you should be good to go...best of luck and I hope you all get better soon!

captrick
Junior Member

Joined: Jun 01, 2007
Posts: 75
Location: Fisherville, KY
Birthday: Dec 30

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2007 4:49 am

jeking wrote:

I'm sorry, but I think you're mistaken. I've watched SEVERAL shows dispelling the "3-second rule" that showed each and every time that a dropped piece of food immediately picks up bacteria and germs.

Also...if her son was "licking" his hands and putting them in the cake...I wouldn't want to eat it....sick or not.

Katrinagarrett1980
Junior Member

Joined: Jun 22, 2007
Posts: 37

Birthday: Feb 10

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2007 4:55 am

I feel for you! I have two hobbies....cakes and scrapbooking.

My sons 2nd birthday I made an Elmo cake....with him and a 5 month old at home! That night was scrapbooking at my church. I carefully moved the cake to the top of the oven so no little hands would destroy it. While I was away my husband cooked a pizza....and melted the eyes off my elmo!! Fixable!!!

My sons 3rd birthday I made a very detailed and Elaborate Diego cake. I had piped all the animals out of chocolote. made every single palm leave by hand and attached them to pretzels... It was a labor of love and awesome! It took me 2 days to do all the work!!! Well scrapbooking came again the night before. After two days of hard work I wanted to go scrapbook for a relaxing night. Knowing what happend the year before...I put the gates up and put it on the table. Well that was not good enough for my hubby. He moved it to the top of the fridge....no little hands could reach. But, he forgot that the nights were still cold and the heater vent blew right on top the fridge!!! I woke up 6 hours before the party and my beautiful cake was melted across the fridge.... Walmart had me covered Sad

Someone suggested I was cursed and that I not make the kids cakes anymore....I suggested I not go scrapbooking with a cake at home the night before a party!!! My next cake/scrapbook night weekend....I made the cake and decorated after scrapbooking- after the kids AND husband were asleep- at 1:00 in the morning!!! Turned out great!!!

weirkd
Forum Fanatic

Joined: Jan 07, 2007
Posts: 1669
Location: Hurlock, MD

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2007 5:10 am

Well I think you should atleast do the fondant covering over that he licked. Since your wearing a mask and gloves you should be fine on not passing it to someone but since your kids werent, then its probably safe to say that they would.
I know when your sick the last thing you want to do is work on stuff over again but if you cant find someone to do the work for you, then I suggest either redoing it yourself or cancelling the order. Maybe go to a local bakery and have it made or grocery store so they alteast have something.
But you dont want to be Tyfoid Mary!!

jeking
Frequent Member

Joined: Jul 25, 2006
Posts: 299
Location: Gainesville, Florida

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2007 10:52 am

captrick wrote:

jeking wrote:

I was quite interested in this study since I'm a Registered Nurse. It aired on FoxNews about 2 months ago. Dr. Manny also had the results of the study on his website on foxnews.com....don't know if it's still there.

I understood her to say that he was licking his fingers and then pulling off the fondant...not sticking them in the cake. In any case, a person is much more likely to get sick from shaking hands with a sick person or using a phone after. It's very unlikely to get a virus...other than hepatitis...from food.

cherylweddingplanner
Frequent Member

Joined: Jan 13, 2007
Posts: 283
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Birthday: Sep 13

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2007 12:01 pm

Thank you everyone for your words of wisdom.

No the darling little monster didnt get to the actual cake.
In Australia we cover fruit cake with a layer of almond paste first and then the fondant. He only got to the fondant didnt even make a dent in the almond paste.

But for safety sake I decided to pull off all the icing and start it from scratch.

Have got the almond paste on the cake with a light shining directly on it and a fan working overtime. The kitchen is freezing!!! Rolling Eyes

Have just mixed a fresh batch of royal icing to do more extension work.

It can be pretty hard to find anyone who does floating extension work, in fact I havnt even heard of anyone doing this in years. And unfortunately the cake was already marked out for it, so it had to be completed. (am a shocking virgo, we always finish what we start and hate letting people down Embarassed

)

Will let you all know how I go. am on coffee break at the moment.

Cheryl

captrick
Junior Member

Joined: Jun 01, 2007
Posts: 75
Location: Fisherville, KY
Birthday: Dec 30

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2007 12:20 pm

jeking wrote:

Well....I'll have to check that out...very interesting....thanks for the info..but I still wouldn't want to eat off a floor...LOL Laughing

nicolevoorhout
Frequent Member

Joined: Nov 14, 2006
Posts: 375
Location: Sydney, Australia
Birthday: Sep 30
Gallery Supporter Member

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2007 3:19 pm

Hey Cheryl,

I think you'll be fine, you seem to be doing all the right things, I'm sure that the fondant will be fine, the weather here in Sydney is still cool, so I'm sure it's even cooler in Melbourne. I reckon all you need is a couple of hours for each layer of icing but I'm sure the fan won't hurt. Let us know how it all goes!

Cheers
Nicole

cherylweddingplanner
Frequent Member

Joined: Jan 13, 2007
Posts: 283
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Birthday: Sep 13

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2007 7:46 pm

An update for you all:

Got the almond paste on the cake last night, place lamp and fan on it and it has hardened sufficiently for me to apply the fondant now. Thumbs Up!

After I got the almond paste on the top tier, ok will fix the extension work on the base cake that DS damaged.

Oh boy was I wrong on that account!! No matter what I did I just could not get the icing right, it just kept breaking. Tried adding more icing sugar, acedic acid and even mixed a new batch.

But it just was not meant to be......................

So I made a creative executive decision......................... I will do what I want for this cake. So i have taken off all the extension work and piped embrodiery around it.

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