How Do You Stop Obsessing With Your "not Best" Wor

Decorating By Dizzymaiden Updated 21 Sep 2008 , 3:05pm by Cakebelle

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Dizzymaiden Posted 14 Sep 2008 , 5:00pm
post #1 of 22

I can't stop worring about a cake I did. My DH is sick of hearing about it, so I fret in silence. Although no one said it was bad - I just was not happy with the work. I need to let it go but it is hard.

21 replies
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indydebi Posted 14 Sep 2008 , 5:07pm
post #2 of 22

Let it go. You see things that cake civilians will NEVER know is an error or not-quite-right.

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TJCanadian Posted 16 Sep 2008 , 1:38am
post #3 of 22

I know what you mean but you have to remember just one thing......you make ...edible art. The key is edible... No matter what it looked like, they ate it and its already gone.

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beth2027 Posted 16 Sep 2008 , 3:02am
post #4 of 22

I can find about a million things wrong with EVERY cake I do. I just have to keep reminding myself that most of these people have never had a custom made cake before. Their idea of a "custom" cake is having someone write their name on it at Wal-Mart. So they are truly impressed with what I've done. Even if I'm not.
Plus, being critical of myself helps me to be better next time. icon_smile.gif Just don't let it eat you alive.

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jessfmaldonado Posted 16 Sep 2008 , 3:14am
post #5 of 22

I definitely know what you mean!! I obsess with everything wrong with my cakes. I am slowly learning to let things go. I see it, many many others do not. I just have to remind myself of this. It does help me to keep striving to do better the next time though. This is the worst thing for a perfectionist like me. lol..

Jessica icon_smile.gif

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Mike1394 Posted 16 Sep 2008 , 7:45am
post #6 of 22

You never let them go. Set your standards high. Always try to achieve the best your ability will allow. This way you get better.

Mike

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tracycakes Posted 16 Sep 2008 , 12:41pm
post #7 of 22

I'm getting better about letting things go on cakes for other people. What I'm really stressing about it OSSAS coming up! I've never entered before and nothing is coming out right. I've been working on my roses and I can't get them right. I'm going to have 1 rose, just 1 on this cake and I started 5 roses, hated them and starting over on 6 more. I look at them, too thick, gotta be thinner. My cutters are perfect and not cutting perfect, gotta smooth. At the rate I'm going, I will NEVER finish in 2 weeks!!!

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SweetResults Posted 16 Sep 2008 , 12:53pm
post #8 of 22

Right there with ya honey!

I did a quick cake with edible images for a priest who was leaving, not my preferred style, but all I had time for that day. I was almost embarrassed to bring it, I can't tell you how many people were amazed by it - go figure!

I have to just remind myself that:

1. It is "just" cake. Cake is not perfect.

2. For Cake Muggles my worst is still amazing.

LOL!

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loriemoms Posted 16 Sep 2008 , 12:56pm
post #9 of 22
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike1394

You never let them go. Set your standards high. Always try to achieve the best your ability will allow. This way you get better.

Mike




At last, someone is inside my brain! That is exactly how I feel. I dont lay awake at night worrying, but I make a mental note on every cake I have done, and how I could have improved on it and then do that improvement on the next cake...each cake just gets better and better. I dont let any of my mistakes or better word inperfections go and use them to strive to be the best I can!

So no, never let them go. Learn from them and get better and better!

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terrier Posted 16 Sep 2008 , 1:30pm
post #10 of 22

Sometimes I am so hard on myself too! I made a cake for my sister's friend B-Day and everything went wrong!

In the end when I felt that I did not do my best and was in tears when my husband went to drop it off.... long story short... I post it up here and it made popular cake and 33 favs, so maybe in the end it is not as bad as we think...maybe just maybe. icon_biggrin.gif

And... Amanda just LOVED IT! (the B-Day girl)

Cheers,
ally
LL

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Melvira Posted 16 Sep 2008 , 1:32pm
post #11 of 22

Another quick note, something I had to teach myself... do NOT point out the flaws to people!!! icon_rolleyes.gif I hated it when I caught myself doing that. And they'd inevitably say, "Oh, I never would've noticed that!" They were just impressed with the whole thing overall!

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Dizzymaiden Posted 16 Sep 2008 , 6:36pm
post #12 of 22

Wow! Thanks for all the replys. I am so grateful to be able to talk about my true feelings (without sounding like a crazy cake lady...as my dh says).

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annacakes Posted 16 Sep 2008 , 8:03pm
post #13 of 22

Dizzymaiden...I have come to accept the flaws as learning tools. If something I did really BUGS me then I remember it and avoid doing it next time. My cakes are looking more professional all the time. Do not lose sleep...its the cake fairies teaching you!

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Dizzymaiden Posted 16 Sep 2008 , 8:20pm
post #14 of 22
Quote:
Originally Posted by annacakes

Dizzymaiden...I have come to accept the flaws as learning tools. If something I did really BUGS me then I remember it and avoid doing it next time. My cakes are looking more professional all the time. Do not lose sleep...its the cake fairies teaching you!




Annacakes - I am going to do just that. Can you believe after all my fretting the women I made the cake for said it was good and thanked me.

Thanks again!

Cake fairies ..sounds like a name for a bakery shop icon_wink.gif

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Sugarflowers Posted 17 Sep 2008 , 4:11pm
post #15 of 22

Many times mistakes can become a new technique or covering it can add some nice touches. When I judge competitions I love to see how a decorator covered a boo-boo. Some really great ideas come from covering boo-boos.

Think of it this way, after you accidentally run a stop sign then you pay more attention at all intersections. This is especially true if you got a ticket. icon_smile.gif

Michele

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tomsmom245 Posted 21 Sep 2008 , 4:39am
post #16 of 22

I am right there with you. I make myself(and my hubby) CRAZY with all the obsessing about how awful every cake I do is. I have yet to do a cake that I love. Funny thing is, I just keep doing it and hoping that the next one will be better. AND everyone is always happy with the cake that I deliver. icon_smile.gif

I always sum it up to DH like this: No matter how crappy it looks, at least I ALWAYS KNOW it tastes phenomenal!

Ashlee

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smitakasargod Posted 21 Sep 2008 , 4:58am
post #17 of 22

I know what you mean. I only notice the flaws in every cake that I've made. I just keep things in perspective and improve on the stuff I don't like when I make the next one.

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knel Posted 21 Sep 2008 , 5:08am
post #18 of 22

I have come to realize that I am a little "OCD" when it comes to my cake decorating. I would spend HOURS just trying to get that perfectly smooth icing before doing another thing.... (Thanks again, Melvira, for a trick to take care of that...). In watching Ace of Cakes one night, I heard Duff say, "Hey, it's just cake!" So, I've TRIED to take on that same attitude, and it really has helped me to relax a little. Actually not being so worked up about it has helped me turn out better cakes. Occasionally I still have a lulu of a cake, but... I TRY to let it roll off my back. I know I am my own worst critic, too!

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Melvira Posted 21 Sep 2008 , 2:16pm
post #19 of 22

Knel - I'm glad I've helped you out in some respect! Maybe saved you a little time so you can move on to the decorating part!! That's more fun than smoothing the icing!!

But it's funny that you mention Ace of Cakes... I've often watched the show and thought, (usually when they are putting on fondant) "Oh, that one is a little wrinkled on the side there... does he/she see that? I hope they don't miss that... they'll be mad when they're done!" (Now I'm not really picking on them because they do it better than I do... I'm just giving constructive crticism... to the TV. Hahaha!) But my point is... there might be a tiny wrinkle, but that gets covered by the decorations, etc. and in the end, that wrinkle doesn't matter. So, I've taught myself to 1. Never critique my (or other people's) cakes until they are completely finished because they always look better done than in the various stages. And 2. Kind of squint just a little when you look at it and see if it's still a 'disappointment' because that's how other people are going to see it. They are (most likely) not going to be using a hyper critical eye and searching for every tiny flaw. They see it more like you do when you squint. They are just impressed by the beauty. (Ok, that doesn't apply if the cake is a bonefied train wreck, but you know what I'm saying!) thumbs_up.gif

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angelas2babies Posted 21 Sep 2008 , 2:42pm
post #20 of 22

I agree in that I always learn from each cake I do. I don't think there will ever be a day where I proclaim, "That was my perfect cake!" The only way you progress as a decorator is to think about design and construction and how you can change it. It makes you a better artist.

Besides, you will always be your worst critic. My cakes may not be perfection, but I am getting better about enjoying the cake, and not picking it apart.

angie

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mommy_of_3_DDs Posted 21 Sep 2008 , 2:53pm
post #21 of 22
Quote:
Quote:

And 2. Kind of squint just a little when you look at it and see if it's still a 'disappointment' because that's how other people are going to see it. They are (most likely) not going to be using a hyper critical eye and searching for every tiny flaw. They see it more like you do when you squint. They are just impressed by the beauty. (Ok, that doesn't apply if the cake is a bonefied train wreck, but you know what I'm saying!)



Melvira! This is some really good advise! Thank you! I will now look at my cakes squinty when they are done!

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Cakebelle Posted 21 Sep 2008 , 3:05pm
post #22 of 22

Fret not dear friend, we all tend to do that to ourselves- worst critics and all..........................

Quote:
Quote:

2. For Cake Muggles my worst is still amazing.




That term pretty much says it all icon_lol.gificon_lol.gificon_lol.gif
I have stopped obsessing about the flaws on my cakes, because only I can see them! icon_wink.gif So stop worrying and move on to the next one!

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