Hi Fellow cakers!!
I just need to rant for a second cause I coulda pulled my hair out this morning!! I had an extremely lovely woman ask me if I could decorate her daughters wedding cake last minute. I didn't have to bake the cake, just decorate it in a similar style to a cake I had done previously. I said sure, I wasn't busy... So, She drops off the cake and it is what she refers to as "a traditional caribean black cake"... I say ok, and take the pans from her and nearly drop it because it must weigh twice as much as a regular cake!! I'm shocked and instantly worried about supports and transport and GRRRRr... then once I unwrap the heavy beast of a cake, I get a huge whiff of rum.. The entire cake is DRENCHED in alcohol... It smelled fantastic but then I couldn't help thinking about leaking moisture and melting fondant and transporting heavy cake!! lol... ok, so ice the cakes with buttercream, cover in fondant, and dowel, and put them in thier respective boxes for transporting in the morning... Arriving at the Restaurant to deliver and set up and the hostest suggest I leave the boxes with her and that she'll take care of it.. LMAO!! I insisted several times I need to set it up and place flowers etc and she finally agrees to take me to the reserved room.. Which to my dismay turns out to be the upstairs balcony! It's been thunderstorming at 27 degrees for 2 days...lol...So I ask the manager if there is an air conditioned room where I can set up the cake and he starts husteling me towards the kitchen!! Like it would be cooler in there is he crazy?!? So he asks the chef if I can put it together in the walk in cooler!! LMAO!!! I was red with frustration at this point and told the manager and the chef that if that's where they wanted me to set it up I would but when they take the frozen wonder outside to the humid afternoon, then they can explain sweaty fondant and running colours to the bride. FINALLY, they take me to a small room not being used and say I can do it there... So, I set up, finish decorating and go to leave and the waiter comes in and asks me if I'm ready to put it in the freezer now!!! I coulda killed him.. so to make a long story even longer, transporting was fine, setting up was fine, the cake looked great and I was leaving... when I hear a big bang, and someone go "Oh no!!" in the room where I left the cake. So I go running back and the waiter had tried I guess to close the door to contain the air or whatever and the door swung in and banged into the table holding the darn cake, the table tipped and the lovely little cake slid on its drum right off the table on to the banquet seat. I could have killed someone!! Luckily it landed right side up with minimal damage. I fixed the little wrinkles as best I could and left as the wedding party arrived. They liked it anyway... lol... Grrrr..... ok, I feel better....

Wow-it sounds like you went through a lot! Good job handling that!

good grief!!!! Why are there morons in charge of directions when it comes to cake placement???

Glad you were able to salvage the cake. Would love to see a picture

Congrats on your save! What an arse of a waiter.

I've never iced those rich, moist black rum cakes before...but MAN are they deelish.

I'm glad you were able to save the cake. Who hires those morons anyway?

Welcome to the wonderful world of globalization!

I see you have never had experience with black cake before. It is one of the best fruit cakes I have ever tasted. It is dense, moist, and takes forever to make, just like the fruit cake we all know, to be "done." Yes, it is drenched in rum, and stored for as long as the baker prefers. A Jamaican woman I know bakes her black cakes in January, and lets them soak until Christmas time!

I wish I was a guest at [/u]that wedding!

Theresa

my grandma is from Cayman Brac, Cayman Islands and she made a FANTASTIC fruit cake! Yum.

Rum cakes from the Caymans are the bomb. They are sinfully delicious!

SOmeone was watching out for you!!

I started soaking my fruit mixture for this year's cake since last Christmas. I even had more rum imported straight from back home. You would not believe the fumes that come out of the fruit jar. LOL I might want to consider putting a flammable/hazard sticker on the jar pretty soon. I love black cake.

[quote="muddpuppy"] I couldn't help thinking about leaking moisture and melting fondant and transporting heavy cake!! lol... ok, so ice the cakes with buttercream, cover in fondant, and dowel, quote]


I'm glad you were able to save your cake. Post a picture when you get a chance.

I must say I can't imagine black cake and buttercream icing I've never tried it like that. Come to think of it I have only ever had it with royal icing.

Mmmmm...I would love me some rum-soaked cake...much more convenient than eating the cake, THEN chugging down the rum

How frustrating!

This "black cake" intrigues me... soaking for a year? Thanks for the new qwest =)

I cannot BELIEVE this happened!! Well, I CAN believe it with the staff at some of these places... I just delivered a cake to a restaurant where the Owner knew in advance a 1/2 sheet cake with a 3D wine bottle cake on top would be delivered....... and guess what? NO room in the fridge!! (it wasn't fondant)... and so they asked if it could go in the wine room. I thought it would be okay since it would be cool in there..... but it was more like a closet with NO shelving! Just wine racks up the walls & unsturdy boxes in the middle, stacked 3 high, and she wanted me to put the cake there! It was cool in the room... and she said she would make room in the fridge, but I do get SO annoyed with kitchens!!

I'm SO glad you were able to save the cake! Maybe it didn't fall apart since it was so dense? I'm so glad it was that waiter who knocked it. I would love to see a picture also!

We need to come-up with a FAQ Sheet for kitchens to review in advance; or some sort of agreement for them to sign. Man, they can be so difficult & act like they know better than us!! =)

You are right, this was my very first experience with black cake.. It smelled FANTASTIC!! I should have just ate the cake and said forget it.. lol... Thanks for all the kind words... appreciate it.... I know that it probably sounds wierd, black cake and bc, but I was covering with white fondany and didn't want to see the cake through it... any tips for next time? Maybe just roll the fondant thicker?