Having A Bad Day

Decorating By FromScratchSF Updated 23 Jul 2011 , 2:29am by SarahL4683

FromScratchSF Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
FromScratchSF Posted 22 Jul 2011 , 8:14pm
post #1 of 4

Ever had one of those cakes that things just start bad and keep getting worse? I am making a wedding cake right now, a 12x10x8 tuxedo, square offset, with SMBC. I've made this cake design before. Exactly. This bride didn't want me to change a thing from my portfolio pictures. So it SHOULD have been easy, right?

My list of disasters with this puppy:

* It's tuxedo, so alternating layers of chocolate and vanilla cake. Which means I needed to only make 1/2 of the batter I normally would for each size pan since I only needed to bake one pan of chocolate, one of vanilla of the same size. I wasn't thinking when it came time to bake the vanilla and made a full batch. Poured it all into my 9" pan. It exploded all over the oven and filled the kitchen with smoke. Had to not only redo it, but had to clean the oven before I could use it again. I can honestly say I've never done that before. Never.

* Did anyone catch that I made a 9"? Yeah, I baked the wrong sized cake, and didn't catch it until I pulled out my SPS to mark my holes. So, when I should have been torting, filling and crumb-coating, I was re-mixing and re-baking a 10" chocolate and vanilla. Anyone need an extra 6" square tuxedo cake? Cuz apparently I don't.

* I cut the 9" I did make into an 8" and while the 10" was baking I started torting and crumbing the 12. Well I kept getting interrupted and was tending to the 10" baking so I wasn't paying attention to how tall my 12" tier got... and didn't realize it until I went to stack. 4 1/2" tall. SPS is 4", and I didn't have any extenders or longer pillars. I tried to take the layers of cake off to remove some of the filling but they started breaking. So I just put a sheet pan and 30 lbs of sugar over the top hoping it would compress down a bit and push out some of the filling. That saved me about 1/4" but that's it. So, I had to carve into the cake so SPS would sit flush. I was WAY too tired to think of anything else. Yes I could have used straws and ditched SPS, but this puppy needs to be delivered at the top of a steep San Francisco street, carried up 3 flights of stairs by me then carried down 2 flights by catering staff. I can't take the chance. Anyway, I'm hoping the ugly slices of cake under the tiers will be blamed on the wait staff and/or nobody will notice.

That was last night... I threw in the towel after being in the kitchen 4 hours later then anticipated. So this morning:

* Needed to make a new batch of buttercream to make repairs since I jacked up my bottom and middle tier carving out the groove so it'll sit flush. I have made 100's of batches of SMBC, yet today? Today it looks gritty once I put it on the cake. All the sugar dissolved, my eggs came to temperature, and it mixed up just like it always does. It's a mystery on why it looks this way. Anyway, of course there is no room in the communal freezer since I wasn't supposed to need it today so instead of being able to scrape it in 15 minutes, it's in the fridge firming at the speed of paint drying.

Assuming I can get it smooth sometime this century, I still have to double fondant ribbon the tiers, cover it in Swiss dots, and deliver by 6:15.

icon_cry.gif

3 replies
CarolinaCakeMom Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
CarolinaCakeMom Posted 22 Jul 2011 , 8:38pm
post #2 of 4

I don't normally say this when it comes to making cake, but I will say a prayer for you.

FromScratchSF Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
FromScratchSF Posted 23 Jul 2011 , 2:23am
post #3 of 4

I survived and made a miracle happen. Buttercream was not as smooth as I would have liked but it's probably one of those only I noticed.

Cake delivered, got to make a grand entrance in front of everyone and they loved it. So go me!

SarahL4683 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
SarahL4683 Posted 23 Jul 2011 , 2:29am
post #4 of 4
Quote:
Originally Posted by FromScratchSF

I survived and made a miracle happen. Buttercream was not as smooth as I would have liked but it's probably one of those only I noticed.

Cake delivered, got to make a grand entrance in front of everyone and they loved it. So go me!




Good for you! Glad you were able to turn your day around! We are our own worst critics so I'm sure the cake was lovely!! Congrats!!

Quote by @%username% on %date%

%body%