I'm new at this, and I'm also a bit of a perfectionist. So, I sit here looking at my first tiered cake and say "Wow, that really sucks...it looked so much better in my mind." Please take a look at the photo below.

I know each cake has some flaws, but mine has quite a few. Please tell me...how do I know what's an acceptable flaw and what's not? Is it a gut feeling? When do I call a cake a complete loss and start over? Should I do that here?

Specifically, as you can see, with this cake I have these problems:

1. First layer: the fondant job is horrific. I couldn't roll a piece big enough for the 14" square so I covered the sides and then the top with panels of fondant.

2. Middle Tier: I have a few small spots of cracked fondant and there's a bit of "cake cellulite" on one side.

3. Top Tier: I had a perfect cake to start with, done with a ruler and squared, but I didn't chill the IMBC long enough and my fondant weighed it down when the icing softened. Also, I have the four panels instead of one piece of fondant because I wanted a gift box look. Now the square looks awful.

Please give me some genuine advice and constructive criticism!! I still have time to re-do the first square layer (and possibly the top tier as well), so..... please, please don't sugar coat your suggestions.

Thanks for taking the time to read this!

I guess I should add that the first tier has a perfect finish to the fondant, very smooth, but the decorations make it look wonky. The bow looks great in person, very shiny

Well it depends on what the cake is for. Overall, it looks very cute.

If it is for friends and family, it is perfectly acceptable. They would be delighted with a very cute cake.

If you were selling this, it is definitely below standards of a professional decorator.

A couple of tips:
Meringue buttercream needs to be quite thin to prevent sagging under fondant. If you are cutting the sides and top when you can't roll it all in one piece, you need very sharp, strong edges to help the seams be straight.

Ok, brace yourself. I think your cake is very pretty. I like the colors and the use of different shapes for the cake. I think you are your own worst critic, I think all of my cakes are train wrecks, but other people seem to think they're neat... Maybe I know what I want in my head and how far off the actual cake is from that image.

But, you said you wanted honest opinions and constructive criticism, so here it goes, HONESTLY:

Tier 1: I think it would worked out better if you could have rolled the fondant large enough. You don't say why you couldn't roll it big enough, do you not have the space? Card table. Is your rolling pin not big enough? I just use a regular one and am careful towards the end not to leave giant rolling marks in the fondant. Problem with moving it? I roll it up around my rolling pin half way, then drape over half the cake and unroll the rolled up half. I have a wilton Fun with Fondant mat that is great-fondant won't stick, and it has the built in measurements printed on it so you know how big to roll.

Tier 2: Looks wonderful and beautiful to me, if you find a crack that you don't want, use RI to fill it in and cover with decorations. I don't know what cake cellulite is, but I'm assuming it's rippley fondant, smooth it a little more, and make sure the cake underneath is smooth before putting the fondant on.

Tier 3: I think the 4 panels look good, very box-y. The front right panel looks a little less than straight, did you use a ruler for the fondant? If not, then use a ruler to cut out straight strips, and to make sure the strips get on the cake straight. Duff uses what looks like blue painters tape on his stuff to make sure it's straight...

I, personally, could NEVER make a cake look as good as this one, but I aspire to someday!

KrazyKat and JoAnn,

Thank you for the replys!

Yes, this is a family cake BUT it's a PAID cake!

I rolled the fondant for the 14" into a 22" square (14 across plus two 4 inch sides)..it was simply too big to be moved without tearing, stretching, etc. I bought Satin Ice for this project. I first rolled to 1/4 " with a bit of criso, and that's when the fondant was too stretchy and tore. Second time was with a bit of powdered sugar, but it got little cracks all over.

When I cut the four side panels, and one top panel, they stretched and now it seems they are uneven. I used a ruler for cutting.

My instinct tells me to do the first tier again, so I'll start there.

Thanks for your help.

Oh, and will I get better at this? Are these just amature mistakes?

OF COURSE you'll get better! Everyone has to start somewhere, that's where I am now... some day when I grow up, I want to be able to make cakes like Colette Peters or Bronwen Weber... but I still have a crush on Duff Goldman... hehehe

Thanks Krazykat!

Anyone else...advice...suggestions....

please?

For large pieces of fondant I always use a rolling mat (clear plastic fabric) for the craft or sewing store. If you put just a bit of shortening on the mat, roll out the fondant, it will stick to the plastic. then, lift the plastic and flip it over the cake (an extra pair of hands helps). the plastic lifts off without tearing.

As for the sides, you can do the same thing using smaller pieces of mat, press the cut piece against the cake, the peel off the plastic. It will help preserve the nice cut lines.

VERY CUTE CAKE!

love the colors!

myself, i like to do the wedding cakes with as much precision as i possibly can.

i'm alot easier on myself for stacked birthday cakes.

do you watch ace of cakes?....he gets $$$$$...and alot of the cakes that come out of there have flaws...(unless geoff does them ha ha)

there was a german shepard cake with a huge crack in the back that went out of there...that i would have grieved over for days if it left my shop like that.

Okay...whew...I redid them! Third times the charm, I say. They look soooooooo much better! (see below)

I did just what you said JoAnn: I used the plastic mat, rolled it, and flipped it onto the cake. I also took Krazykat's suggestion and did it on a card table because my counter was cramping my style, ya know?

Here are the 2 same two cakes covered in new fondant. I'll post the final pic when I finish decorating them. The middle tier was actually good when I took a second look, so I left it alone.

Littlecake: When I'm as famous as Duff I won't worry about flaws becuase they'll just be considered part of my "quirky charm!" Until then, I'll keep trying until I get my cakes to be flawless as humanly possible.

New bottom tier, new decorations

Here's the new top tier. I didn't like the swirl roller look, so I just went with the "gift box with bow" look. Although the photo isn't the best quality, the one piece of fondant over the 8" square is very smooth.

Thanks everyone for your help!

I'll post a photo of the whole cake tomorrow when I assemble it at the party.

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Woww! Well done -- you did a great re-do on this cake. It looked neat to begin with, but now it's getting that more "polished" look to it! Wonderful job!

S.

I had to laugh when you said that it did not look like what you had in you mind.

Shoot, in my mind Duff is an amatuer!!!!!! lol. When I talk to my friends I always say---in my fantasy mind then I explain the cake. When I am done--you can see my reality mind in my photos.

You just keep trying. I like your second cake. Looks so much cleaner.

Lu.

Those look so good. Please post the assembled cake so we can see, when you are done of course. You did a great job on the first try and a fabulous job on the last one. Congrats!

I think it looks so much better. It didn't look horrible to begin with but overall it was a great improvement. I do want to ask though how do you make your bows because they look so real?? Mine always end up so rounded inside. What do you put inside to hold it's shape??

Looks much better now. The more you use fondant the better you will get, it just takes time and lots of practice. You did a fantastic job!!

Good for you for asking these questions...I've always wanted to know what was acceptable.

Your recovered cakes look fantastic...can't wait to see them all together again!

Beautifully redone and may I say your colors are gorgeous!!! Please post the finished cake!!! PWEEETYYYY PWEEASE

Ah, they're BEAUTIFUL!!! See, I told you that you'd get better!!! And it didn't take years of practice, just one do-over and you're amazing! Just think how cool you'll be this time next year! See, Duff don't have squat on you! ...but he's still got the prettiest brown eyes... *sigh*

Great Job! I knew you could do it!!!{{hugs!}}

Wow, nice work on fixing the cake. I agreed with you, the middle tier was fine but I also thought you needed to redo the top and bottom. You did a wonderful job redoing them.
Good Work! I can't wait to see it assembled.

DITTO! Great job on the Re-Do!

If its for family, they will be happy, but when I do a cake and it is for a paying client, then I always make sure you cant see any flaws. You have to ask yourself.... would you be happy if someone brought you a cake w/ lots of mistakes? Would you pay that much and be happy with it? Your second cake looks great! I'm glad you re-did it.

I am duly impressed!!

You recognized that your first effort had issues..asked questions and corrected your "flaws"

Nicely done!!!

I really cannot thank you all enough for the wonderful words of encouragement! Wow, I'm truly touched by your kindness.

Well...okay, about the cake. Here it is.

It was delivered this morning and they were very happy. The Bat Mitzvah girl said "That's my cake!!" She designed it in her favoite pink/yellow colors and shapes.

Unfortunately, as you can see from the dent in top tier, I pushed in one side (oops ) while trying to adjust it, line it up, make it look...ironically... perfect. Okay, now I know: don't touch anything after you get it as perfect as it will ever be!

Your redo came out gorgeous! See, all you need is a few little tricks and some confidence! Great job!
Very professional looking!

Cyndi,

I made the bow in the usual way: take a long piece of fondant and fold in the two ends toward the middle, pinch it together, and dry. I used plastic wrap inside the loops to prop them up some, but not too much. Feel free to PM me if you need step by step directions

Just beautiful! Great job!!!

crazy4sugar, did you use fondant and gumpaste for the bow or just one? Its beautiful and so is the whole cake, but I really have a prob with bows! Never have got one right!
Linda