The Cake I Attempted This Past Weekend Was A Total Disaster

Decorating By pag41989 Updated 25 Oct 2010 , 6:55pm by CWR41

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pag41989 Posted 25 Oct 2010 , 1:27pm
post #1 of 5

Thank goodness this wasn't a cake for someone. I decided to do a practice cake for a competition for our State Fair and it came out terrible. I have never worked with a fondant covered cake larger than 9 inches so I wanted to practice my 12 inch bottom tier. I did 3 layers of cake and each layer baked either a little smaller or a little larger than the other layers. I attempted to carve them down to the same size and I ended up with a cake with straight sides more than a cake with round sides. When I went to crumb coat the cake, I could not get the sides even and smooth. Then, when I went to roll out the fondant, it kept tearing and the piece of fondant was too large to roll over the rolling pin so when I rolled it over, the pieces hanging over the rolling pin tore. After a few tries I gave up and decided to cover the cake in the leftover buttercream and I gave it to my family to eat. Any suggestions for what I could do next time? I feel like I have a pretty good idea of what I have done wrong but I would like some tips from some more experienced decorators. Thanks!

4 replies
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DianeLM Posted 25 Oct 2010 , 2:14pm
post #2 of 5

I'm not entirely sure I understand what happened when you tried to trim the sides of the cake, but if it's what I think it is, here's a suggestion:

Cut two cardboard (cake board) rounds the exact circumfrence you want your cake to be. Sandwich your cake between the cardboards. Carve the sides using a long knife that maintains contact with BOTH cardboards at all times.

Sounds like your fondant was either starting or dry out or was rolled too thin (tearing).

I purchased an extra long rolling pin just for moving large pieces of fondant. Some people use a piece of PVC pipe. Then, there's always "the mat" technique where you roll the fondant onto a piece of vinyl so it sticks, turn the whole piece of vinyl over onto the cake, then peel away the vinyl. I, personally, don't care for that method, but others swear by it.

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CWR41 Posted 25 Oct 2010 , 2:41pm
post #3 of 5

You can roll out your fondant on a dusted cardboard cake circle that is the correct diameter that you need, then slide it off onto your cake.

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pag41989 Posted 25 Oct 2010 , 4:25pm
post #4 of 5

Thank you! Also, how tall is the average wedding cake tier? I feel like it was too tall when I stacked the layers

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CWR41 Posted 25 Oct 2010 , 6:55pm
post #5 of 5
Quote:
Originally Posted by pag41989

Thank you! Also, how tall is the average wedding cake tier? I feel like it was too tall when I stacked the layers




4" tall is standard. I don't know if you can have a wedding cake that's too tall, but it can look too towering if the tier sizes are too close to the same size. I prefer sizes to be 4" apart whenever possible, like 14 x 10 x 6.

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