I spent the last three days baking and decorating a wedding cake and it just collapsed on me. I was for a friend and it F@#&^*%ing sucks. I am so embarrassed. I just stopped crying I have decided I'm not going to do any more wedding cakes. I hate CAKE.

Now how to respond? Please don't give up! You don't hate cake, you just hate this particular one and this is a learning experience, right, your friend still loves you and what a great story to tell someday, many years from now, after several drinks.........

So sorry that happened to you. Were you able to save any of it?

Only the top two layers. Here is the kicker: 7 years ago I made a cake for Grandparents 50th. I have felt guilty ever since. I was kind of using this as my redemption and it has only made my guilt worse.

I take it the cake was/is for today?
I'm so sorry that you had some difficulty. Perhaps a class on tiered cakes could help you with technique? Sometimes, it helps to watch a practiced hand, and get some feedback on what you are doing.
Don't give up. I still cringe when I see my first wedding cake that I made for my sister. (With Tuk-N-Ruffle, no less!)
Hang in there, skill is something to master, not something we are born with.

I had a bad cake day too and totally feel your pain. Just take a break from cakes for a while if you feel you need to. You'll get back in the saddle again. I think the class suggestion was a great one, and can really help build confidence. Good luck and hang in there.

It might be helpful if you would post a pic for us to see. Maybe from seeing it we can help you figure out what happened.
Most of us have had a similar thing happen. I had been decorating 20 yrs when I had my 1st attempt at a topsey, turvey cake collaspe

Duff was my life saver. On one of his shows he had a disaster. Very calmly he he worked around it. He said this happens to the best of us. I have never gotten upset over a cake since then. When I have a disaster and I have I stop look it over and think I can fix this just give me a min to think.

I totally feel your pain on your cake but....

if this is the worst day of your life then you are either very lucky or still young. ; )

Not to sound harsh, just want to put it in perspective for you. At the end of the day it's just cake.

Hugs though. : )

Here's a hug for you!! I know you feel terrible, like what was sad B4. Walk away and come back a while later. Sometimes by walking away we come up with a different plan of action. Hang in there and don't give up. I havent' been doing this very long and I'm giving up everytime I frost a fricken cake because it's not smooth or even enough. Here I am still taking classes and occassionaly making cakes. You'll have a different perspective tomorrow. HANG IN THERE!!!!!


Kat

Welp....I feel your pain. IN April and May, I did a cake a week for the two months. Before then, I only made cakes for people I know and LOVE....and ONLY when I offered to do so.
Doing cakes for people and events that I'm not personally invested in.....it's just not worth it.
After those two months....I took a break from cakes (and also CC for a while). I just started checking out the forums again....and man....I missed this place.
But....I've learned my lesson about doing cakes. I only want to do them when it's enjoyable for me!

I'm so sorry you had a rotten experience. How are you feeling now? How did you handle the situation? I hope you're feeling better.

I've had it happen too. It's such an ego blow! So sorry for ya. (((hugs)))

I hope that you are feeling better I know that it seems like you never want to look at a cake again but it will get better. Unfortunately mistakes help us learn! I sure hope things worked out okay and you are feeling better. Hang in there!

I'm so sorry! The hardest part of cake decorating in my opinion is the engineering and transport of tiered cakes! Sometimes we get so excited about the fun stuff (decorating) that we don't put enough thought into this part. I had a 3-tiered collapse because I mistakenly thought I didn't need support beyond straws because of the size of the tiers and the short distance I had to go. I learned my lesson! Ugh!

After taking a break; just try to see this in the light of "What can I learn from this?" (Better support system probably!)

Hugs!

That's got to be hard. I'm sure you wanted to do something special for your friend and the horror of watching your work collapse must be devastating. I have to agree....in the end, you have to remember-it's just cake.

In an emergency, buy some undecorated round cakes from a local bakery and arrange them or stack them at the site.

I'm so sorry this happened to you. It's a big deal doing a wedding cake, and we all have bad cake days. Don't give up. Take a break if you have to, but don't give up.

How are you stacking your cake? How many layers are there? Maybe we can help you figure out what's going on to avoid this from happening again.

Angie

I totally understand..I think a lot of us has been there....done that! I had made my very first fondant cake....light blue....diamond pattern and simple trim......I fretted over it for so long.......did the cake and what a disaster....the pattern was crooked......the flower for the accent never arrived at the wedding site (another lesson learned) and totally embarrassed for my work...

But you know after all was said and done.....they accually referred me to a few other couples......

Keep you chin up and keep on decorating.......you won't regret it.....

I totally feel your pain I made a 4 tiered cake that took me over 30 hours from start to finish for an elegant eighteen birthday. The customer picked it up and on the way to the reception hall they said the cake collapsed and could not be salvaged. I was so upset that I didn't want to make anymore cakes. I did take a little break, but as adviced by others on CC, I got back on my horse. I have learned from this experience. Even though I believe my construction was stable I now take even more care in doweling my cakes. Don't quit. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger .