After a cake disaster, how do you bounce back?

I have only been decorating for a short while and so far I have been so happy with my cakes. Then I think I took on too much and one thing after another went wrong.

I am *not* happy with the final cake.

It is the first cake that I have done that really made a ding in the old ego. The first one that made me wonder if I am talented enough to do this.

How do you shake it off and move on to the next cake?

i hope you aren't talking about your pink & brown grad cake in your photos.. that's a great looking cake. and you HAVE to tell us how your writing looks soooo good.

honestly, we are all our own worst critics. did the person you made the cake for like it? what was their reaction? i looked at all your cakes and you are very talented. do NOT give up. i think every once in awhile we all have a cake (or in my case, cakessss) that just make us feel like we're in the wrong business... all i can tell you is chin up... you ARE talented.

Hi NickiKR, I know the feeling!!! But like most things in life, sometimes things just don't work out the way you'd like them to. It happens. You just need to keep believing in yourself, and know that you are talented! We all have a "bad day" every now and then. So please try not to be so hard on yourself. And if it'll help you feel better (this works for me), with respect to the cake that you are not very pleased with, try to think of how you could have done it differently so that it would make you proud. This'll help boost your confidence in that you know how you'd make it right ~ and, you'll be more prepared if you do a similar cake in the future. Keep baking!

your cakes look amazing! i'm no where close to being as good as you are... as long as the recipient likes them.. .thats all that matters. we see an ugly cake, because we know all the flaws... but in reality its really gorgeous.

Your cakes are GORGEOUS! Don't be discouraged.

Your cake from your first Wiltons course blows all of my cakes away and I finished my Wiltons courses last year! So, if you start out GREAT, you're only going to continue up to FANTASTIC, INCREDIBLE, PHENOMENAL, and so on. I too am assuming you mean the grad cake, due to the description you posted. So, what did the recipient say? If only wee could learn to see them as others see them and not with our critiquing eyes!

You watch a Food Network cake challenge and feel much better that at least you weren't on television when it happened. Those guys have probably been doing this a long time and they are good at it. I tried to look at your photos, but for some reason, it is blanking out on me, but this is a tough job. It doesn't always end up the way you want it to. However, I feel fairly certain that other people don't see the little flaws that we do. Keep it up, you can do this.

You just start again on a new cake.

Last September, I had a $300 cake collapse in the car while I was delivering it. I was totally devasted. I pulled it together enought to get something there on time.

The next week was tough, I was really down and felt horrible, and didn't trust myself. But I just kept doing cakes, and each time I felt my confidence coming back.

So, just keep making cakes, and you will get your groove back.

First of all, your cakes are really, really good. And speaking of Food Network Challenges...I was recently watching ACE OF CAKES....Duff mentioned how he was in one and he was making a boat....well, his boat cake toppled over for all the world to see...well, for all the Food Network viewers to see. So even the highly trained, highly acclaimed have their off days...we all are bound to experience it. Try to figure out what went wrong this time so you can learn from it. Then move on...because you are far too talented to stop decorating cakes.

ok, i just looked at you photos. Added several to my favs. I have only been decorating for a short time as well and mine are no where as good as yours. keep it up, they are great. Everyone is right, we are our own worst critics.

Thanks for all the kind words ladies. This thread certainly helped the ego.

It all seems to have turned out okay though. I know the cake was sloppy, but my friend loved it. I dropped it off at her school and all the staff loved it too. I got 3 orders from it by the end of the day.

I certainly learned a valuable lesson in time management though. I need to leave *way* more time to fix the disasters as they happen.

You guys rock. Thanks!

All you need to do is visit your own photo gallery. The work you have done is amazing. Handling the disasters is part of the business in all trades. You may be a bit of a 'perfectionist' and therefore hard on yourself, but that's also what makes you good. Learn to laugh at yourself and enjoy what you do.