tracycakes and millermom, your cakes are wonderful.
funny how hard we are on ourselves
Thanks Nannie! That's very sweet of you.
I look back at some of the old cakes I've made, none of which are posted here, and they are just sad looking. I did several large sheet cakes and they just look plain with big, wide, open areas that have no decorations. I do know that at that time, I was making too many cakes and getting burned out and just didn't have time to put thought into them.
It's a constant battle with myself because I see the beautiful, perfectly done cakes on this website and I can't get perfection to save my life. We've done several remodelling projects on houses and we remember all of the mistakes and errors that no one else sees. Well, I consider that with my cakes, non-cake decorators won't see the flaws like I do.
Oh my! You're reminding me! Two years ago, I volunteered to make 3 bundt cakes for a fundraising party - the first 2 came out great, the third one kept sticking to the pan. So I decided to make a layer cake, but no eggs. so the morn of the party, i ran to the grocery for ingredients, mixed together a cake, while it's baking, make a filling. Let it cool a little, then filled, and refrigerated while I got dressed - I had offered to be at the location of the party at 10 am to help set up. then I poured a ganache over the cake, and I had chcolate leaves to decorate it with. But it looked horrid and smelled delish, so I didn't leave it at home. i came to the party hall and told everyone that I brought cake for all the volunteers. Of course, they thought it was gorgeous, and "we're not wasting such a cake!!" I was fighting w/ them, but it was there in the middle of the dessert buffet!! I thought i would die of embarrassment! All my friends/family that came to the party asked me what I made. i showed them all the things, except that. My MIL even pointed to that cake and said something to the effect that 'of course you didn't make that, yours are much prettier!!!" LOLOL
I think that almost all of my cakes are awful one day I hope to get the confidence that I need to make good cakes. Especially when I look at the spectacular cakes that are on this site, but of course the funny thing about it is the customers think they are great! Aarggh! spelling????
Cake..
You should not think your cakes are awful..I looked at your pics and they are wonderful! I only have one pic loaded and it was a cake from six years ago..no comments on it yet..that is telling!JK!
Customers do think the cakes are great..One of my first cakes was a huge sheet cake..very simple but with a colorflow EMT symbol and I was horrified with it. I got rave reviews and people begging me to do cakes.
Of course this is easy for me to say as I stare at a wedding cake on my counter picking out all the flaws......But it is said over and over on this site that we are our own worst critics....but from the outside looking in you do great work!
I love your cake!! You probably have to check off to allow comments, since you cannot leave comments now.
Yes I have it was for my neice. She just wanted a bathtub with water with a duck in the middle of it. I did add lotsa bubbles she got the pic of it from a walmart cake i believe. It just wasn't my type of cake but she was very happy and the mother too (because the child was i believe) so that was all that mattered. I will never do another. I guess ultimately if it makes the customer happy then we should be happy right???????? lol
I just did a cake today... the lady INSISTED on baby blue.. OK, that was not the problem. She ordered a fall cake with fall leaves and pumpkins!!! How in the world do you incorporate baby blue into that! Well, I emailed her back and said are you sure you want the baby blue.. yes.. she did. Let's just say, that was the ugliest cake I have ever made. I take photos of all my cakes but this one was taken before the baby blue disaster! haha
Oh I can definately add to all this. I made a layered cake while I was taking my first Wilton course. It was the ugliest thing I'd ever seen. On top of that, I used Wilton fondant at that time...didn't know about mmf. It would've made great target practice!
Wow! Me too. I always find something with my cakes. My sister gets mad at me and tells me not to focus on the "bad". Everytime I make a cake everyone loves them, but sometimes I think they are being nice. But it's ok, cause I am a beginner so I find comfort in that with each cake I get more practice and one day will be good enough to open my own little shop.
I so can relate! I have a couple of wedding cakes that I feel are just so plain that they border on downright ugly. One the bride insisted on and well, what can you do? The other one I got the cake to the reception and set it up and didn't think too much about it as I served it, everyone raved - then I get home and look at her inspiration picture and realized I had forgotten the long narrow, swirly stem-like things around the calla lillies and I felt so bad I ALMOST wanted to give back a refund. They haven't said a thing and it's been 4 months - do you think I'm safe from destroying their wedding???
jammjenks,
As I was reading this thread, looking at your cake, my 2 1/2 year old came running over to the computer very excited about the princesses. She said that she wanted that pretty cake.
You have a fan! (I will now clean her fingerprints off the monitor).
hi rvercher, i have had a cake that i was so embarassed of and didn't have a choice but to give it to them. it was my parents 41st anniversary cake *sniff* it was so hot at their house the border was literally sliding down the cake... 
no joke. i wanted it to be perfect cuz they have a had a rough year (my dad had a stroke while vacationing in lasvegas 
) and it was so awful. *sniff sniff* afterwards i came home and i literally cried off and on the whole afternoon and evening. i called my mom that nite and told her, she thought i was being silly, but i really felt awful that it came out so bad. out of all the cakes i have done recently theirs is the one that comes out the worst. *sniff* so thats my story. **sighs** oh and it looked worse than the pink flower cake in my photos....
You know some people will let you have free reign over the design and then you have others that are dead set on what they "think" will look good. We've all been there! At least we learn from our mistakes right? =) Some things are beyond our control like the weather..
I have had a ton of cakes that I don't want anyone to know I made them, and do not have photos...although the people I made them for seem to love them!
My first paid wedding story is similiar to many here...lack of experience showed through and I dont have a photo of that cake. I used all butter american buttercream. yeap. All butter. What did I know? It was a three tiered cake, was really pretty till about an hour sitting in a 80 degree room, and the cake started to sag and the piping melted away. I never did hear from the bride if the cake survived. (it was just too hot in that room they put it in but I think if I had used some shortening in that buttercream, it may have survived!) I hear stories all the time of people who were at weddings and the icing had slid off the cake, and wonder if that was the wedding they were talking about hahaha! I have come a long way in 5 years!
yep...here is mine! http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1192510
I still cringe when its mentioned, what was I thinking? She asked for something to symbolise an american living in NZ - what else but an american flag and a kiwifruit! Together! Bad bad idea...
I was plagued 2 weeks in a row with horrible color combos and self designed cakes from brides. They were so ugly I didn't even take photos. Did not want to even claim them.
FUNNY! I DID A CURIOUS GEORGE IN 3D! MY EYES COULD NOT SEE PAST HIM LOOKING CREEPY. I TOOK ONE PICTURE TO SHOW MY SISTER AND THAT WAS IT. I DIDN'T EVEN BOTHER TO POST IT. THE MOM AND HER DAUGHTER LOVED IT, BUT I SAID TO MYSELF I NEVER WANNA MAKE THAT CAKE AGAIN.
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