My grandbabies are NOT allowed to visit grandma when I have a cake to do....NOPE! Bad thingsd happen. Dear husband says I act like Sibil.

Ok - you guys are making me feel SOOOO much better! I thought I did this because I'm a newbie - but you guys are pros so I feel a LOT better! Every time I start a cake, I envision exactly how I want it to turn out and when I start having trouble, I start asking myself "WHY am I doing this? or WHY did I agree to this?"
I was working an a Spongebob cake Friday night and the corners were giving me fits. I started thinking "What am I doing?? I work a full time job, have 2 very small children, and instead of relaxing on a Friday night, I'm up trying to force BC to stick to the corners of this cake! I must be an idiot!! Then DH decides he needs to slam a cabinet or call me from another room every time I start to pipe something on the cake! Seriously?!??! Why do they do this?? Next time I go golfing with him, I think I'm going to slam the cooler or say "Hey!" every time he starts his backswing - just to make a point.

I feel the same as you guys, though! As soon as it's done and I step back, it's like I get this high. And when those compliments start rolling in, I completely forget about how much trouble it was.

Thanks for letting me vent!

I'm SO glad to read this thread!! So many times I think, WHY did I choose this as a profession??!?! The cake I've made perfectly 1000 times is now sinking in the middle for no reason...or rising higher than Mount Everest; the buttercream is too soft...add powdered sugar...now it's too grainy...and too sweet; my hot hands are terrible for piping buttercream; I can't get that wrinkle out of the fondant; that piece won't stay on; my flowers are cracking; I can't get the icing to match the wedding colors; I only have HOW many hours left before delivery time??? ARGH!!! And I'm the ONLY decorator in the world who has these problems!!!!!! THEY all bake/decorate perfect cakes every time!!! LOL Even when watching Duff, Buddy, and the competition shows on TV and seeing the disasters they deal with, I secretly think it's done to make for good TV and that it would never happen to them in real life...LOL.

Honestly, it can sometimes make you feel incompetent - I believe my OT (Official Taster) thinks I don't have a clue what I'm doing most of the time! - so I'm very glad to know it happens to everyone...and regularly! LOL

I am so glad to hear I'm not alone! Why oh why do I think that each cake I design will be so easy to make? I like the saying "when mom's in the kitchen, be very scared"...sounds like home!

I'm sending this thread to my DH so he knows I'm not the only one like this! I've had 3 cakes to do this week - I've never done more than one. In my mind I have the plan and it's going to be great! But after the 2nd day of doing nothing but cake for 12 hours I wonder why the heck am I doing this????? This is great thread - totally made my day so after working 8 hours I can go home and finish my cake due for tomorrow!

HAHAHAHA LMAO!!! I'm gonna love reading the rest of this post. I'm glad it's not just me. I usually start off really relaxed & feeling well prepped & then all hell breaks loose. I turn into a foul mouth banshee & then into a nervous almost crying fool. Don't get me wrong I really love doing cakes but there is something about nearing completion that brings on all kinds of stress for me. Good lordie don't let me have to deliver it, by the time I get to the event I almost want to tell the customer to come pick the cake up at the curb. (Seriously)! What is that about. My kids as well know to pretty much do their chores & get the hell outta dodge when I have a big cake to do. They want no parts of me or the cake.

And THIS is why we charge what we charge! Half of my fee goes to pay for the stress medications! LOL

Well this post made my day!!! LOL

What a great topic! I want to print this out and show my family so they know I really haven't lost my sanity permanently....only when decorating! LOL

Woo-Hoo!!! I am not alone!!! I don't cuss through it all, but I do question why in the world I am doing this. Case in point---Just this past weekend, I did my first full fondant cake with MMF (had only done little accent pieces out of Satin Ice before). I made my 3 different batches for the 3 tiered cake, let it rest over night and the next morning was ready to tackle a new project with enthusiasm. Well seeing as I have never covered a complete cake with fondant, let alone from scratch, I wasn't sure how much to knead it and what to expect. By the time I finally got the first cake covered, I was in tears and swore this was my first and last fondant cake. > But I kept at it and by the time the last cake was done, I was saying, "That wasn't so bad. I can't wait to do it again." Then whe she saw it and was so excited about it, it made the whole experience worth it all.

This past weekend I only had one cake, which was for a friend. I offered to make it and she brought me the supplies. I said not one swear word AT ALL. Well my daughter helped me as I decorated (she washed dishes and cleaned up). When I was almost done she says "mom this was a really easy cake". It really wasn't that easy but sinced I hadn't gone crazy all morning so she thought it was. LOL! Glad to know I am not alone!

My boyfriend calls this my "cake meltdown".
Better get out of the kitchen!

This is definately me! I don't cuss, but dishes have been know to land in the sink extra hard, fondant thrown with all my might in the garbage, etc. I get so excited to do a cake and in the middle I never want to do another one in my life, then after I look for a reason to make one. They should develop a medication just for cake decorators (downers for when we are asked to make a cake and then uppers when we're in the middle of the mess). Sooo many times I have wanted to thrown the whole works in the garbage and say NEVER AGAIN! What really gets me, is if my dh or someone else asks if I am alright or if they can help! Just leave me alone when I am in my moment...what are they going to do since they know NOTHING about cake decorating.

This is hysterical! I thought I was the only one who got all uptight doing something I love! My poor family, the things they endure, gotta love em!

I thought about trying to get on Food Network's Ultimate Recipe Challenge. Ha!!! Could you imagine yourself on TV doing a cake. I don't think they could censor me fast enough. That would be the end of the Food Network. I would never allow anyone outside of my kids watch me do a cake.[/quote]

I can't get over how they make those cakes in the time allowed! I think and think and design and design and still find myself running out to the store for powdered sugar!

CC needs a thread "handling stress and organizational skills"

Great to read this thread and see SO MANY kindred spirits! I work with guys all day...and have developed quite a mouth over my many years. Usually it's confined to the kitchen, but dropped a bridal shower cake off for a friend at a little restaurant.

Staff was setting up the tables/place settings and I had my back to them as I was working. As I put on the top tier, a fondant ribbon dropped off the front and into the buttercream. I was nervous to start with but this broke me and I let loose with a doozy.

I sheepishly turned around to look at the staff. One lady kindly said "that's OK dear - it's lovely - you can fix it". We all smiled and went back to work.

Too bad we can't get video clips of us all in "our glory". Would that not be hilarious?!?!?!
Amy

BTW>>> I finished 1 cake last night, started another, and when it was time to make the icing, I had everything layed out ready to go, and my huband hears, "Man, I hate making F***ing icing!" I still haven't even frosted the cake or sculpted, 6 hours later...

Sailors and military men are notorious for their potty-mouths, but anyone who works in a kitchen can give them a solid run for their money.

you all are too funny. I can't count the times I have cried and quit and actually threw away supplies. My other half always says "they make medication for those fits you throw" or "does your mother know you talk like that?" one of these days he'll probably get slapped!!!

Too funny! Glad to see this happens to many of us!

I live and work alone, so nobody gets to hear or see my outbursts, but when family or friends call when I'm caking, I just pick up the phone, shout "In the middle of a cake" and hang up. They are used to that by now and will wait patiently until I call them back at the next opportunity

I try not to cuss but when the household hears mommy go "ARRRGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! STUPID CAKE!!!!!!!!!!" they know to be real quiet and not talk to her. haha.

Glad to know I am not alone.....

For me it's not exclusive to actually doing the cake, it's anything cake related. For example all afternoon I've been looking for my heart gumpaste cutters (the $25 set I couldn't live without) and now probably will have to freaking replace because for whatever reason they aren't in their freaking drawer! (In real life, the word freaking is substituted with a suitably foul word beginning with the same letter!)

I do this too. Thank goodness I only do this for "fun?" You wouldn't think so sometimes.. But I think I cured myself

LOVE THIS THREAD!!!MY DH THINKS IM CRAZY WHEN IM IN THE MIDDLE OF DECORATING A CAKE!! WHEN THINGS START FLYING AROUND THE KITCHEN(AND I DONT JUST MEAN UTENSILS) EVERYONE KNOWS TO GO THE OTHER WAY !! I HAVE TO SHOW THIS TO MY HUBBY SO I CAN PROVE IM NOT THE ONLY CRAZY ONE OUT THERE IN BAKING LAND!!!