I seem to be having a string of disasters lately. It is 1:45 am here, and I am in the midst of the latest disaster. My fiance asked me to make a cake for a going away party for a co-worker of his. He wanted to help, so the two of us decided to make the cake tonight, and we will decorate it tomorrow. I am making a 7x11 chocolate cake - the same exact cake I just made 2 weeks ago for my father's birthday cake (the wicked playbill cake in my pictures). Normally, the BAKING of the cake is the easy part for me. But lately, things just seem to be going awry. The bassinet cake in my pictures had to be redone several times because the icing kept sliding down the cake and ultimately it collapsed. The chocolate in the wicked playbill decided to seize up, and we had a chocolate chip cake instead of a chocolate cake. And for some reason tonight, the batter in this cake, seems to be the ever-expanding chocolate cake - the same batter that made 2 perfectly sized cakes the last time apparently would have been enough to fill 50 cake pans tonight . . . it overflowed, caused a minor fire in my oven, filled my house with smoke, and then took forever to bake. I'm sure the cake takes like burnt, smokey chocolate. And the top was a bit burnt by the time it was no longer gooey. I'm going to see if I can salvage it tomorrow (and taste it then) before I decide if I should re-bake it. I just can't figure out why everything seems to be going wrong. I don't do this professionally, but I've been baking for years and years, and I've NEVER had these kinds of disasters, and all I seem to have lately is baking disasters. And I'm only mentioning the highlights - I'm sure I could fill an entire board with the disasters I've had in the past month.

Sorry to sound so grumpy . . . I just can't figure out what awful karma I must have sent out there to get all of this coming back at me. My mother thinks I'm just overwhelmed, overloaded, and having a bad run, but has anyone else ever felt like they suddenly just couldn't get it right anymore? Is it possible to suddenly lose your "green thumb" of baking?

Sorry to hear you've been having some bad luck lately. That happens to me from time to time, too ... bad luck seems to come in spurts, and I don't know why. Don't get too discouraged ... things will get better. I think everyone on CC has had their share of cake disasters! Your cakes are very nice. I especially love the Wicked Playbill cake ... what a great idea!! Keep your chin up ... sunnier days are coming soon.

Thanks for your quick response! I hope you are right - I love to bake and decorate, but these disasters just suck all the joy out of the baking and decorating. Hopefully this cake will work out without needing to re-bake it. . . and without any additional disasters!

Hopefully I'll be able to get some sleep tonight, if my eyes can stop burning from all the smoke and if i can air the house out from the fire. Even my dog has her head covered by a blanket to block out the smoke.

Sorry to hear about your string of bad luck. Dont worry I'm sure its not you. More than likely its something simple like the weather. Im here in Texas and lately my cakes have been off too. The weather has been unusually hot or humid. It makes it hard to get a consistent product. Just rest assured its not you and it will clear up for you. Sorry I cant help with your cake. If it helps you can come to my house and bake?

Oh Tkeys I know exactly how you feel!

I always wonder does your mood affect your cake or does the cake outcome affect your mood

Good luck!

Tkeys,

I am sorry you are having so many problems. I have not caught my oven on fire (yet), but it seems when I have something important to do, I always screw something up along the way. Have you checked your oven temp with a thermometer? Maybe it is out of sync. Good luck today with finishing your cake.

Cindy

No, I haven't checked the temperature - and I definitely can't turn it on again until I scrub all the cake out of it unless I want another fire! My entire house still smells like smoke - I'm not sure I'll ever get rid of the pungent odor! Fantasy_art - thanks for the offer, but you should be careful - you DEFINITELY don't want your house smelling like mine!

I don't think the problem is the temperature, but I will check - it was like the incredible expanding cake batter. I might have laughed if the smoke hadn't started pouring out of the oven and filling my house. I've decided that I just bought new baking powder and baking soda since the last time I baked in these pans (my other containers were a bit old, so I threw them away and replaced them - I thought maybe the other cake collapsed because the cake didn't rise ENOUGH), so maybe the batter just rose more than it did the last time I baked, and that is why it overflowed? Either that, or I can blame my fiance - I let him help, and he put in several of the ingredients. But he often bakes/cooks, and he swears he put the right amount of baking powder and baking soda in, and I tend to believe him. I don't know . . . I'm out of ideas. There must have been too much batter in the pans . . . I'll just be more careful next time. The good news is, the cakes are quite thick - I can slice off the top half and get rid of the burnt part, and just use the rest.

Katharry - Perhaps it is just my mood lately - I'm getting married in November, and I've got an incredibly heavy work schedule while I'm trying to plan this wedding, so I'm over-stressed, over-tired, and incredibly scattered. I've been trying to do these cakes to "relax," but then sometimes I volunteer to make them FOR people, and it ends up being another commitment instead of fun. I guess I'm just making stupid mistakes and not even aware of what I'm doing.

Why don't you give yourseld a break from your usual recipes and try out something new? It will refresh you, and ensure you follow the instructions really well (I know I get a bit slapdash when I've made a cake a gazillion times) and restore your confidence in baking. I'm sorry you've been having a rotten time - it DOES happen to everyone here I'm sure, it certainly happens to me at times!

So, here is the cake - I'm taking it to the meeting in a little while, and I'm so embarassed. The icing wouldn't smooth (the cake was so lumpy and uneven from all of the problems), and I was so tired and impatient, and I had trouble with the frozen buttercream transfer, and I didn't plan well in the borders to hide the mound of the transfer . . . it is pretty hideous. My fiance was supposed to help me because it was for his meeting, and he was called out on an emergency - i waited until midnight for him to get back, and found out he was going to be gone all night, so I didn't even start decorating this until after midnight (perhaps that wasn't such a good idea). So, basically, this is an ugly, lumpy cake that is going to taste like burnt, smokey chocolate. Any takers?

with all the problems you had I think it came out wonderful. We all had had times like this. I sending you lots of

(((((((((((((((((((((((((((good vibes)))))))))))))))))))

to help get you out of this slump. Congrats on your upcoming wedding. Don't forget to take to stop, breathe, and take a bubble bath. Calgon does wonders to take you away.

I'm sorry. The cake looks good and rest assured, we have ALL had our share of disasterous kitchen days. Look forward to happier baking!

Donna

Thanks, all. Surprisingly, they all ate the cake at the meeting, and kept telling me it looked great. I just wanted to crawl under the nearest rock and hide.

I've been helping a friend out with cookies this week, and I'm going to try my hand at a doll cake for my niece who is coming into town next weekend - hopefully those two projects will go better. I think the key to the doll project is going to be cleaning the burnt cake out of the bottom of the oven BEFORE baking the next cake - no more fires in the oven, please! I've been too tired to face scrubbing the oven since the disaster . . . .