Help! Truly Hideous Cake

Decorating By ccaluda Updated 21 Oct 2007 , 2:36am by cwcopeland

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ccaluda Posted 19 Oct 2007 , 4:10pm
post #1 of 29

Help! We are having a baby shower/pot luck lunch today, and one of my co-workers brought the cake (made by her daughter). The decorations are truly hideous. It has several misshapen fondant âbabiesâ that look like something out of horror movie. It is not just me, everyone who has seen it has kinda looked at it in shock.

What should I do? The cake was supposed to be the centerpiece. Should I run out and get a new cake, remove the âbabiesâ from this one, or just leave it alone? I donât want to offend the woman who brought in the cake, but I donât want the mother-to-be to start crying. She has been very emotional lately (she has had two previous miscarriages), and Iâm afraid this might push her over the edge.

28 replies
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nickymom Posted 19 Oct 2007 , 4:18pm
post #2 of 29

ummm I really don't think this would cause her to miscarry! Be kind of sad yes maybe. I wouldn't dare touch another persons cake!!!

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crisseyann Posted 19 Oct 2007 , 4:22pm
post #3 of 29

No, please leave the cake there for what it was intended. She probably worked very hard on it and it would surely hurt her feelings to have it replaced. The mom- to- be will understand, I'm sure.

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becky27 Posted 19 Oct 2007 , 4:16pm
post #4 of 29

well why don't you be-friend the person that brought in the cake...see how she feels about it...if she is the least bit embarrassed or seems like she knows the cake is bad perhaps you can "help" her fix it....but if she is proud...than you don't dare say anything or touch her cake.....hth!!!!

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becky27 Posted 19 Oct 2007 , 4:17pm
post #5 of 29

take a pic of the cake.....i want to see it.....

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Luxe42 Posted 19 Oct 2007 , 4:20pm
post #6 of 29

Take a group vote and make a command decision. I think if most people there are appalled, then that says something. I would care more about hurting mom-to-be's feelings than the daughter of the co-worker who is not even there. If all say nay, then "kidnap the babies"

Just my opinion.

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elizw Posted 19 Oct 2007 , 4:23pm
post #7 of 29

leave the cake as is. this is not the end of the world. i think it would truly hurt the baker's feelings...i know it would mine. i'm sure she worked hard and this is something that came from her personally.

cake baking/decorating takes so much energy and emotion. sometimes we just have to remember....it's just cake! it's not worth hurting feelings over.

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jibbies Posted 19 Oct 2007 , 4:31pm
post #8 of 29

Don't touch it!
I did something similar to this years ago (except it involved a decorated fellowship hall at church)
I forever offended the ladies that did the decorating, and if I could have a do-over I wouldn't do it.
Maybe after this is over like someone else mentioned befriend her and find out if she's interested in learning and help her that way. This way you will only gain an enemy.

Jibbies

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CarolAnn Posted 19 Oct 2007 , 4:36pm
post #9 of 29

I'd leave the cake as is. I would hope that the mother-to-be would realize that what was done was done with the utmost care and best wishes. I wouldn't risk hurting the feelings of the woman who brought it. It IS after all just a cake.

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aswartzw Posted 19 Oct 2007 , 4:40pm
post #10 of 29

I would also leave it as is.

Did the woman know it was going to be the centerpiece? If not, I would kindly bump it from its rightful place and just serve it as a desert.

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wgoat5 Posted 19 Oct 2007 , 4:43pm
post #11 of 29

aww don't touch it...we all have to start somewhere learning...and maybe the lady is learning...That would really hurt my feelings if someone did that to me (wondering now if someone has LOL). Not to say you would intentionally try to hurt the ladies feelings I don't even think you would but it might hurt her. AND if the MTB knows this lady she just might be happy to be getting something sweet icon_biggrin.gif To go along with her pickles icon_biggrin.gif !!! icon_smile.gif

Try to just bite your tongue (or at least that is my opinion) and next baby shower you do it icon_biggrin.gif


HTH's
Hope you have a better day

Christi

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sportsmom005 Posted 19 Oct 2007 , 4:43pm
post #12 of 29

Please post a pic! I want to see the horror movie fondant babies icon_lol.gif


Chrisy

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sweetideas Posted 19 Oct 2007 , 4:35pm
post #13 of 29

I've had a loss, and I have to say, that if it were me, I wouldn't be that upset by it. I know that's where you are coming from, but I wouldn't touch the cake. At most, maybe pre-warn the mom-to-be but I'm not even sure about that. I know each of us that's had a loss is different but I think she won't be too upset by it. It might not be the cake of her dreams, but having someone be offended and upset at her shower might be more stressing to her. That's just my opinion. Then again, I haven't seen the figures so.... how bad can they be? Mine was BBBAAAADDD but I don't think she offended anyone--even if I gave her a black eye with black paste coloring when I went to give her eyes. icon_smile.gif (see my pics!)

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lepaz Posted 19 Oct 2007 , 4:48pm
post #14 of 29

I agree with aswartzw.

Please leave it as is. This person may be just starting out and we all know when we started out things did not always (and sometimes still don't) come out they way we wanted. Who knows, it may be something the mom-to-be will laugh at and remember down the road (hopefully).

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woodthi32 Posted 19 Oct 2007 , 4:41pm
post #15 of 29

please don't touch that woman's hard work! you are worrying too much.

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cariage Posted 19 Oct 2007 , 4:42pm
post #16 of 29

I am putting myself in the other persons shoes here. If I had made the cake and other people came in to "fix" my mistakes I would be very hurt. I think becky27 had the right idea. If the baker tells you that she is embarassed or thinks the babies are ugly maybe you could offer to help her fix them. Otherwise i would leave it alone, it's soo much easier just to ignore an ugly cake than it is to mend hurt feelings.

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tcakes65 Posted 19 Oct 2007 , 4:59pm
post #17 of 29

I agree and wouldn't do anything to the cake. Your co-worker obviously didn't think her daughter's cake looked that bad, or she wouldn't have brought it. With it being a donated cake, I wouldn't expect perfection. We all had to start out somewhere, and this may be the girl's first opportunity to practice the fondant babies. I haven't done babies yet so mine would probably look hideous also. icon_lol.gif I'm sure the mom-to-be will be fine with the cake and appreciate the gesture. The cake is going to be cut and eaten anyway so I wouldn't worry about it.

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woodthi32 Posted 19 Oct 2007 , 5:01pm
post #18 of 29

personally, I feel a lot more weird about edible babies that actually LOOK like babies!

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dueter Posted 19 Oct 2007 , 6:33pm
post #19 of 29

Cann't be any worse than the cake I turned in for our local fair. By the time it got to the judges the head fell off of my rooster (looked like he had been butchered and ready for cooking)

Leave it be... if the lady who brought the cake says anything about the "horror" babies then everyone can have fun with it. Just don't let anyone be nasty about it. It happens to all of us.

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LittleLinda Posted 19 Oct 2007 , 9:25pm
post #20 of 29
Quote:
Originally Posted by aswartzw

I would also leave it as is.

Did the woman know it was going to be the centerpiece? If not, I would kindly bump it from its rightful place and just serve it as a desert.




I agree with this, if they don't expect it to be the centerpiece, then don't make it one. Please give credit to the coworker's daughter for making the cake by telling everybody who made it. (that will at least let the people who know you do cakes realize it's not one of yours.)

I'm curious to see a pic too.

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ccaluda Posted 19 Oct 2007 , 9:43pm
post #21 of 29

Party update:

The co-worker (whoâs daughter made the cake), took matters into her own hands. She removed the babies from the top tier and covered the holes in the icing with a mound of ribbon and pastel candy melts. It looked great and no one mentioned the missing fondant babies.

The cake tasted great too. I made a pig of myself and had two pieces.

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nickymom Posted 19 Oct 2007 , 10:08pm
post #22 of 29

Ohhh I'm so glad you didn't take matters into your own hands! Good for the cake decorator for fixing her mistake.

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aswartzw Posted 20 Oct 2007 , 2:59am
post #23 of 29

It sounds like everything turned out for the best! It's amazing the mom ended up taking them off. They must have looked pretty bad. icon_eek.gif

If only we had a picture....sigh thumbs_up.gif

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woodthi32 Posted 20 Oct 2007 , 3:13am
post #24 of 29

awesome!

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pastryjen Posted 20 Oct 2007 , 3:15am
post #25 of 29
Quote:
Originally Posted by dueter

Cann't be any worse than the cake I turned in for our local fair. By the time it got to the judges the head fell off of my rooster (looked like he had been butchered and ready for cooking).





dueter - I'm sorry but I'm laughing so hard I'm crying icon_cry.gif

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cwcopeland Posted 20 Oct 2007 , 3:20am
post #26 of 29
Quote:
Originally Posted by becky27

take a pic of the cake.....i want to see it.....




icon_lol.gif Me too!!!!

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apclassicwed Posted 21 Oct 2007 , 1:44am
post #27 of 29

Glad the baker's mom took matters into her own hands and that the cake looked better & tasted great!

Not to hijack the thread but I have to tell cwcopeland--your avatar made me LOL!!! the dog looks as if he has something to say (he's smiling) I LOVE LOVE this picture!!

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dueter Posted 21 Oct 2007 , 1:52am
post #28 of 29

I know!! Needless to say I did not win. I don't know what the heck happened.

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cwcopeland Posted 21 Oct 2007 , 2:36am
post #29 of 29
Quote:
Originally Posted by apclassicwed

Glad the baker's mom took matters into her own hands and that the cake looked better & tasted great!

Not to hijack the thread but I have to tell cwcopeland--your avatar made me LOL!!! the dog looks as if he has something to say (he's smiling) I LOVE LOVE this picture!!




She makes me laugh every day. Her name is Gracie Lou. I took that pic one day while I was doing laundry. When I get the laundry out of the dryer, she will run and jump on it even when she's not cold. That day she over heated so she was panting.

Here's a thread about a disaster she caused..... But I still love the little rascal.

http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-520473-dang.html

Don't mean to hijack the thread. icon_redface.gif

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