If I EVER say I'm going to do another wedding cake, somebody please talk me out of it!! I'm in the midst of doing 2 things i've never done before...a wedding cake...and a Mad Hatter cake. And it's not covered with fondant, just buttercream and it's 115 degrees outside and might as well be that inside the way the BC is acting!

This is the heaviest sucker I've ever done. I've got 10 pounds of buttercream on it and the cake is still showing through...I'm getting a bulge on the bottom tier when it's out of the fridge for a bit. I've got 2 tiers stacked and a third that, when I put it on I'll be very challenged to pick it up at all. I can't stack at the venue because the BC will be too soft by then for me to handle.

I literally am decorating the cake with the refrigerator door open because I can't lift it in and out like I normally do.

I was originally just worried about carving the Mad Hatter. Huh! That was nothing compared to everything else I'm afraid is going to happen. I've got every kind of dowel and support system known to man working in there...just hope there's enough cake in between!

At this point I am so looking forward to this all being over. I want it to be so perfect for my friend's daughter. I would hate to have her see a melted caketastrophe. Keep your fingers crossed! Delivery tomorrow at noon (when it's supposed to be 108!)

Thanks for the vent.

OH my goodness! I hope everything turns out well, best of luck to you!!

Your cakes are always among my favorites. I know it will be a beautiful success. Hope to see pictures of this fine work of art - before someone hits you in the head! Good luck!

I am so sorry things are going so poorly for you. Sending cyber hugs and hoping it works out. Your work is amazing so I know you can do it. Thanks
Colleen

Wishing you the best and hoping the weather will cool down for you!

I once watched a chocolatier show where they were carving and decorating bunches of chocolate high heels and they turned the thermostat down to like 40 degrees so they could work without the chocolate melting. I don't know if that will work though if you have lots of humidity. Good luck! I'm sure the cake will turn out beautifully.

I live in Oklahoma also and understand about this heat and humidity. I have a wedding cake and groom's cake for next Saturday. Luckily the venue is just a couple miles from my house and there is room to assemble and finish the cake on site. I feel your pain!! Good luck!

when in doubt...cover bad spots in fondant just kidding...i wish you good luck! I live in WI and the last 3 weeks have been over 70% humidity and at least 90 degrees...so i feel ya

Good luck! I sure hope you post pics of it!

go all the way with the topsy turvy theme...whatever goes wrong...bulges, melting, tilting, external support beams... just say "that's what I intended....it's the newest topsy turvy design"....we will back you 100 %...and buy you a round when this weekend is over.

Thanks for the words of encouragement! I needed them. I took a break and the sun is down and so far (knock wood) nothing has crashed or melted.

I have more fondant to cut and color gold and wrap around the base of my tiers and some clean up work to do, but all in all, things are looking a little better than they were a few hours ago for sure! At least I see the finish line.
Sometimes we just need to let it out I guess! And boy, earlier I was getting panicked.

I won't breathe deeply until I set the cake down at the venue, but at least now I'm thinking we're actually going to make it!

Thank you all! I'll post pictures when it's done!

my pleasure Carmijok. I'll toast to your good fortunes as I sip my gin and tonic on the veranda on this hot summer night

oh goodie! i'm so glad you started to work it out! i know how stressed i get until a cake comes all together and it's at the venue...can be such a relief when it makes it there in tact. I really hope they like it and can't wait to see pictures

Well, after my meltdown I calmed down and finished my cake. My camera's battery was dead but I figured I could take a picture at the venue with my daughter's phone.

Too bad we never made it.

The following is the picture of the cake I was sweating and worrying about all week...(and longer)...and panicked about on CC yesterday.

http://cakecentral.com/gallery/2118802



It was just so hot and the cake so big and heavy and the buttercream so soft, one right turn on the street and this is how it ended up.

Worst call ever! I called my friend, the Father of the Bride and was crying and so upset. But I had secured another cake from a bakery and I bought that and brought it to the reception where I used some of the roses and leaves and added it to the large sheet cake. I was even able to salvage (somewhat) the top two tiers so they at least were able to see part of it.

The photographer had some silk vines and we wrapped that around the new cake as best we could with the red roses from the caketastrophe. The FOB was very sweet and appreciated that I at least supplied a cake and when all was said and done, it looked very nice.

But I am never doing a cake that large again. I just don't have the kitchen capabilities to do it.

So...anyone who wants to know about how to NOT do a topsy-turvy/ mad hatter cake, feel free to call!

Oh and Southern Cross... I think the virtual round needs to be upgraded to the real thing!

ohhh nooo! i'm so sorry! from the looks of it it's really beautiful i love gold with roses.

you know what...i think you have the same problem i had with the topsy turvy...the thinner side of the cake, i could immediately feel like that side wasn't going to hold up, and it didn't :p

i feel sooo bad for you...i think you should have a drink and be done for the day. applause for how you salvaged what you could and got the bride some cake. I imagine this is not a paid cake? you did the best you could!

Oh Honey! If I were there I would be buying you several cocktails!!! I can't even imagine that sinking stomach feeling you must have had after the turn. It looks like it was such a lovely cake.

My husband has told me on many times that I should have named my bakery "The Bi-Polar Bakery" because one moment I'm excited & happy, the next minute I'm screaming, crying, and swearing that I will never make another cake, then back to being excited & happy.


Many, many, many cakey hugs to you!!!

I'm so sorry your cake did this to you (always blame the cake itself).

It does look like it was a beautiful cake though, and like you made the most of a terrible situation so that the bride still had a lovely cake.

It really sounds like anybody would have had the same issues with there being so much BC and humidity- so I suggest have a few drinks and know that you did everything you could

It was a beautiful, beautiful cake, So sorry that happened, BIG HUG,

Oh, what a shame! It was very pretty. I am glad you were able to at least get the cake there. I had a similar thing happen for a baby shower a few months back. It was a topsy turvy cake, too. I think my problem was my cake was not dense enough. I was able to get mine back together and reapply the fondant so it did not look too bad. If I make another one I am definitely using a pound cake recipe!

Thanks to all of you for saying such lovely things. I was always a little afraid of doing a wedding cake because it is such an important cake. I won't be doing another one for a while...unless it's a small cake...I just don't have the kitchen and refrigerator space needed to do the job right. Had this cake been really cold like I normally have them, I think we could have made it. But I could not fit the 4 tiered cake in my fridge and I had to stack it before we left so it was getting warm and it was top heavy and...well you know the rest.

I did make the best of a bad situation, but it hurts knowing the bride was so excited to have a custom cake. They didn't have a lot of money and her dad is a friend of mine so I wanted it to be special. She was the one that wanted the mad hatter design and her colors were gold and red and ivory. It would have looked lovely on the table at the venue. Sigh...

But it's nice to have a community of like-minded cake people who can share the pain and express such warm support. I really appreciate you all! Thank you.