My Little Pony Hates Me!! Extremely Long (Sorry)
Decorating By Tallulah Updated 3 Aug 2006 , 2:19pm by vicky
I baked a My Little Pony cake this weekend. Everything that could have gone wrong, did. First, I decide to make a rainbow out of MMF. The rainbow didn't dry too well and the first two colors cracked. That should have told me to stop right there!! I mixed some Tylose with MMF and added the colors back. It eventually dried. 
Cut to bake day. I bake the first layer of the cake, and it's underbaked!! Severly underbaked!! So back to the drawing board. I rebaked the layer, ice and cover the cake. I stack the cake and I notice it's slightly uneven! It was sturdy, but slightly uneven. My husband thought I was halucinating and gave me something to eat. Fine, it was really late and I figured I could fix it, so I start on my clouds. My fault for using buttercream. It started to melt in some places! 
I make an emergency batch of royal icing and that worked fine. I put the rainbow on the cake and while I'm cleaning up, the rainbow starts to tilt backwards! I tried to fix it, but pieces of the rainbow broke inside the cake. The rainbow kept either tilting forward knocking down my ponies, or backwards! It was way too heavy. Again, my fault for not thinking that one through. It's 1am, the cake is finally assembled so I go to bed. Next day, customer picks the cake up. It was fine when it left my house. I don't have pics of the "after" because it was way too painful. The cake was transported on someones lap for over two miles. Needless to say, the cake did not make it on site in good condition. The top layer tilted back and the weight of it wrinkled (can't think of another way to describe it) the fondant on the bottom tier. The clouds cracked! It was a disaster! I rushed to the site and fixed it as best I could, but everytime I looked at it, my eyes watered. To top it off, the customer wanted her money back! I am so upset! Even today I can't get over it. I've had a couple of minor setbacks before, but this, pardon the pun, takes the cake. I tell you, My Little Pony HATES ME!
This is what the cake looked like minutes before it was transported.
Oh dear! Sounds like a very painful experience 
. I think we're all bound to have a cake like that at least once (or more). I had one that I filled with too much filling, and it looked great til the next day at the party when one side slumped and the fondant stripes bowed out. I was the only one who noticed, like I'm sure you noticed things others didn't, but I still did not charge the lady anything!! I stand behind my cakes, and if they don't work out, I'll take it in the pocket book. It's a learning experience, that's the only way I can look at it without getting too frustrated. I'm sorry your cake was so frustrating. The before pictures is Sooooo cute! So I can see why it was even harder to see it fall apart!! Keep it up though. You do lovely cakes.
Hi guys!! I put eight dowels on the cake. I have put less in the past and the cakes held up fine. I didn't assemble it onsite because the client wanted it assembled and ready for pickup. I told them to be careful, but I never expected someone to carry a two tier cake on their lap!Nonetheless, I blame myself. I refunded the money and I chalked it up to experience. If a customer is not happy, there is no way I can charge them. I'm really new at this and word of mouth, especially bad word of mouth spreads fast. I worked really hard on that cake and it didn't work out. That's what hurts the most. Thanks for your support guys!
Aw, it was really pretty. You're a much better person than I am...I probably would have told the customer that they were an idiot and to kiss my a--
Tallulah,
I feel your pain. I was working on the wedding cake for my co-worker when the air conditioning unit stopped working. Despite the summer temperatures the 3 tiered lemon filled cake looked fine when I finished it at 4:00 am the day of the wedding but when I got ready to transport it I noticed the base tier had started to crack. I was able to fix the crack before heading to the reception hall. I packed it in the car and headed to the site which was a short distance away only to find that once I arrived the cake had cracked again! Not just a crack but a huge one plus my co-worker had asked for fresh flowers to be used on the cake. The florist left the flowers in a bucket uncut. I was in tears at the reception site trying to fix the huge crack, as well as cut the flowers, wrap them with florist tape and place strategically on the cake to hide the imperfections. By the time finished setting up, a small group of the wedding guest had arrived I was sweaty, hysterical and ready to throw in my cake decorating towel. I was mortified! I waited on pins and needles for almost a week in order for my co-worker to come back from her honeymoon to hear how horrible she thought the cake was and that she wanted her money back. But as it turned out, she loved it and all of her guests thought it was not only beautiful but one of the best tasting cakes they've ever tasted. Thank the Lord!
I completely understand refunding her money as I would have done the same.. but what did they think would happen when they sat it on a lap??
I always INSIST on transporting the cake!!! I will take a loss by NOT charging gas if I had to!!! This way I KNOW it made it there. People have NO clue what time and energy goes into making a cake!!!
3 weeks ago I delivered a cake 40miles away AFTER working my 8hr shift!!! The customer threw in an extra 10dollars for gas, but I would've done it for free knowing it got there safetly!!!!
You did a beautiful job on that cake it's really cute!!
maybe be more firm next time about delivery how-to's with your customers. :0)
BakeQueen, I'm so happy your story had a happy ending! I guess it depends on the person you are baking for. I made a three tier wedding cake for someone a while back. I covered it with white chocolate fondant. It was the first time I worked with it, and it was really hot in the house and it started getting really soft. I thought it was going to melt, and it could have. I left the A/C on all night since this cake was going to be transported and assembled onsite. The next day was very hot and humid so the fondant was still really soft. I transported the cake, assembly went without a hitch but then the flowers on one side of the cake fell taking a small chunk of the cake with it. I fixed it with my fingers crossed hoping no one would notice,and no one did.The couple was thrilled with the cake. So were their guests. I on the other hand, almost had a coronary.
bodaisy - I don't know what they were thinking.
I usually deliver my cakes as well, but they insisted on picking it up. Next time I will stand my ground and deliver it myself, or at least tell them to never, ever place a cake that size on their lap. I just didn't think anyone would do that!
Thanks to all for the nice comments!
My thought on the cake delima is that she took it on here self to have some one carry on her lap to the party and it is her fault that it is messed up even though you had problems. So if you wnet to costco or another cakestore and walked out and it got messed up on the way would the store refuned your money???
Maybe you could tell her you are sorry but once it leaves the house or store with her it hers. but if It makes you fell bettter maybe give her a discount on another cake. Just my though on stuff.
I'm glad you refunded the money...that's what I would have done.
I think we forget that other people don't know about cakes like we do. Before I started I wouldn't have thought anything of holding a cake on my lap...in fact...I still do it sometimes.
It sounds like it was just one of those things when nothing goes right with the cake & maybe it was just too heavy or unstable to transport. It happens to the best of us.
Great job on the cake & I'm glad you got a picture of the before
Tallulah,
I must say this, one of my biggest fears is a cake not making it to its destination the way it left me. I usually transport my tiered cakes to avoid incidents such as this but if a customer insists on picking up they do so at their own risk and that should be stated at the time of the order and at pickup. You may even want to have them sign a waiver or initial a receipt stating such. And if you are asked to give a refund, do so minus the cost of the materials used because the purchase was complete at the time of pickup and once it leaves you're not resposible. Plus it was still edible. It was a beautiful cake! 
I think we forget that other people don't know about cakes like we do. Before I started I wouldn't have thought anything of holding a cake on my lap...in fact...I still do it sometimes.
Good point. It might be worth explaining to customers who prefer to pick-up, the proper way to transport. I believe in my naive-cake days (which was last week I think) I may have held a cake on my lap. I guess the thought was to cushion the bumps. doh! 
kos
So sorry this happened. Glad to hear you took care of the situation to your liking.
Check out this other topic. There were a few suggesitons for when customers pick up cakes.
Edited to add the right link: http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-17649-customer.html+pick
Leily
Before I read the article, Leily, I just want to say...I have refunded money, too, Talullah, even when I knew it was not my fault the cake "fell apart". She handed you money, you handed her the product. It was in perfect condition when she left. If she bought a crystal vase, and held it in her lap, and it broke in the car, would a person expect a refund? (Well, probably, but you know what I mean?)
Sometimes we have to refund $$ just to appease the squeaky, misguided, clueless wheels who could ruin our reputation.
Sorry, I had a very bad customer a couple months ago, and any refund story still gets me upset.
I am really sorry that this happened to you! The cake looked so cute, I would never had know that you had any problems with it. It's really nice of you to refund the money...I am not sure that I would have been so nice.
My Inlaws and my coworkers always ask me when I'm going to start my business and for awhile I was pretty serious about doing it and then I realized that situations like these ruin the joy that I get from making these cakes.
I really respect all of you who do it for a living because my answer would have been, "Did you eat? Yes? Then #$@#% you."
Remember how stores say "you break it you buy it"? Well if you bought it and then you broke it, guess what? You still bought it.
Again, maybe that's part of the reason I don't do it for a living. Stupid people make me angry.
Your cake is soo cute!! I'm so sorry you had to deal with that. I do like the idea of having them sign a waiver. I charge for delivery of my cakes and I do let them know the best way of transporting it but I may add a waiver to my receipt for them to sign if they choose to pick up.
Jacqui
Tallulah,
Sorry this happened to you, we all have disasters. However, I would never allow a customer to pick up a tiered cake and transport it on her lap. How do you know she didn't drop it or stop the car quickly and it slid forward. I would explain that it is delivered in a specific manner and it is my policy to deliver large or tiered cakes. If she insisted, she would have to sign a release that you are not responsible for the cake if you don't deliver it. If she would not sign it, I would tell her I couldn't do the cake for her. I bet she still served this cake to her guests. Good luck next time.
Vicky
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