Well,

I have a cake to do for Friday. I quoted a 10" 3" deep would
feed 38. I thought at the time it sounded like a lot. Well, I
was looking things over and realized I had looked at the
Wilton Wedding serving chart. I know that there will be 15
little girls and probably family.

So now, I have decided to do the cake in a 12". Problem is
I don't have the pan or boards or box in my town. I will have
to drive 45 minutes to get it.

I feel so stupid!

Vicki

Instead of driving 45 minutes each way to get new pans, why not just make another 10' or some cupcakes. I bet they would be happy with that as long as the original cake stuck to the design you agreed upon. This way they still get the cake they wanted, plus an extra one or some cupcakes.

Hmm.....that does sound like a good idea. I'm thinking of making a second 10". Should I decorate it exactly like the original?

Do you think it would take away from the special birthday cake?

Vicki

I think I would do the cupcakes idea.

I also vote for cupcakes. Same color and just tell your client that you wanted to make sure there was more than enough for this special day!

I would call the customer. Let them know about your serving calculation error, and ask if it is OK to supplement with cupcakes. I think that would look a LOT better than two cakes...

Call first-You don't want your customer getting upset if they get cupcakes too, if they only wanted a cake...some people are very particular, but others will be like, whatever, do what you need to.
Also, how many servings are you short?

I agree, add in some cupcakes and tell them you made a mistake and didn't want to short them in servings. They will probably thank you for being honest and refer you to others! Besides, who doesn't like cupcakes!!

I would call first also. I think if you are honest and up front with the customer about the error that they will be much happier. I would personally offer to supplement for the extra servings with a plain sheet cake. It's much easier to cut than a round and alot less work than cupcakes in my opinion. That way you would not take away from the "official" birthday cake and you save yourself time and money. BTW..our local Wal-Mart just started carrying a ton of cake pans and everything you could ever want (all Wilton). Maybe you could check them out if they are closer than 45 minutes and they don't like any options that you offer.

My husband just gave me another idea for you. Since he is the master of cakes (our nickname for him) I will pass it along. He says that he would bake another 10" round and cut out a 2" circle. He would then "paste it" (using icing) to the outside to give you that extra 2" you need. You would have to piece it together but it would solve your problem. This would only work if you don't mind cutting and pasting (as we call it) Good luck!

Thank you everyone for your suggestions.

I called the customer and told her about my "miscalculations". She really said she had a lot of people coming and wanted to have more cake than not enough. I do have a 14" cake pan I have never used. We decided on that.

Oh, by the way, we do have a super Wal-Mart but not one of the biggest. The biggest pan they had was a 10" lol.

I do have a question, though, I have never used a round pan that big, should I use a flower nail, and if so, I am assuming it goes in first, spike upward?

Also, she wants a marble cake, white with chocolate. I was thinking of using the WASC for the white, is there a variation for chocolate of that,? I thought I had read that there are variations.

. . . . sub choc. cake mix for white . . . instead of egg whites do 6 whole eggs . . . sub 2/3 of the flour for cocoa powder and sub all of the water for coffee . . . (coffee will enhance the chocolate flavor - you won't taste "coffee") . . .

flower nail, or two, or three . . . wouldn't hurt . . .

Personally I use the flower nail on anything 10 in and bigger. Also, I know that I've seen it posted before that Recipezaar has the different variations for the WASC recipe. It's an invaluable resource. Good luck...