Everytime I start to feel a bit confident....I get knocked on my backside....today everything that could go wrong with my cake did.....luckily this is a freebie for a friend (I have been wanting to try a 3D pumpkin shaped cake) it started off good...got my two bundt cakes baked...but while wrapping one in plastic wrap it just totally fell apart...to make matters worse, I am trying to get ready for a camping trip (leaving Friday) and DH is out of town on a last minute business trip the past 5 days....so all the help I thought I would have...you guessed it...gone. Back to the cake woes....so I am trying to run to the closest grocery store to get supplies and they are out of my regular butter....so i think just this once I will use generic (BAD IDEA) it tastes totally different! At this point I have to go with what I have...cause I am tired and cant really wake the baby up to go to another store...then I had trouble making the indentions in my pumpkin (another example of things not turning out like I envision)...evidently my head thinks I am one of YOU GUYS...you know with actual talent!

OK sorry for the long vent......just so frustrating...good thing this is a freebie...cause it about went in the garbage!

Oh no! I hate those days. I've had them. When I was trying to bake my first 3D cake it was the panda bear in my photos. First I didn't have the pans tight enough so batter was pouring out. Then when I got that fixed and filled the pan (not sure how much I should have used) I put it in the oven only to have it bake up and overflow making a big mess in my oven and the cake looked a mess. I got it trimmed off and out of the pan. Not to bad looking so I started to ice it when it cooled down. I got it about 1/2 done when I looked away for a minute and it fell off my tilting turntable right on the ground breaking up in a million pieces.

But I didn't give up. I mixed up another batch of batter and got it filled, baked and cooled. Then I finally got it iced up.

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is...........don't give up. You are not the only one to have an off day when baking.

thanks joannek....I think your cakes are fabulous....its just one of those things...I wanted to something nice for a friend...and I am almost too embarassed to even give it to her.....I am not finished with it or I would post a pic...forgot to buy the darn ice cream cone for the stem while in my mad rush to the store....so that will have to be tomorrow.......

I could have written this post. I can relate ALL too well. I made a cake last night because I wanted to try flavoring a white cake with brewed vanilla chai tea (so unbelievably delicious, by the way). I was going to send it into work with my hubby just so I could taste the "scraps" but then get it out of the house. First, I didn't let the cakes cool quite enough and the top layer started to crumble on me. I glued it together with buttercream the best I could but it never looked quite right. I then decided that the decorating would cover all of the mistakes and I had a piece of fabric with an awesome pattern on it that I wanted to try to replicate. It had a bunch of vines and leaves in a random pattern so I started doing that. My icing was too thick and my hand was killing me. I added way too many vines (had to cover all those rough spots!) and my leaves looked horrid. So, rather than stopping, I kept adding more, and more, and more. Then I decided to try to color the leaves with luster dust to make them look more real . . . that just highlighted how horrid they really were. After almost three hours into this mess of a cake I finally gave up and was so frustrated that the whole cake did go in the garbage - I knew that if it didn't, I'd end up drowning my sorrows in buttercream. Then I went to bed feeling like maybe cakes aren't my thing. I'm not giving up, just always feel like I'm within reach but never truly going to get there. So, all of this rambling just lets you know that you're totally not alone in your backward stepping.

bless you both for responding.....and ckkerber you have some great cakes in your photos.....maybe its just a bad MISSOURI cake week! LOL could be all this dreary weather we have been having! I will probably still give my friend this cake..its just if it only looked bad...that would be one thing...but knowing the icing isnt as good as usual just stresses me out. Oh well...I bet the kids will still eat it!

Ok girls, no more throwing the cakes out no matter how bad they look. Just break them up and make cake balls. No one will have to know you never meant to make them.

Also, with the pumpkin one you could have broke it up and make your cake balls into little pumpkins.

But I know the feeling all to well of feeling so upset over a cake not coming out. So I'm sure I will have more of those days. If I do it is cake balls for me. I've been wanting to try them anyway.

Joanne

I wish I had taken a picture of my cake last night before tossing it . . . I promise you, it would have made you feel so much better!!!

Post a picture when you get a chance . . . you're probably being harder on yourself than you should be. Your cakes in your gallery look fantastic so if this IS a step back (or a leap back like I've been known to take!) at least you know it's a freak thing because you know how to make pretty cakes. I think for me, about one out of every three or four cakes just doesn't reach my standards, of course those cakes rarely get photographed so if I only include the "good" cakes in my gallery, then no one has to know how much struggling really goes on! I bet everyone (well, almost everyone) feels this way at one point or another and hopefully, the more practice we get, the less we digress.

thanks for the nice comments.....but I thought I would post a pic of the sad little pumpkin....(i am not uploading it to my photos though)......I couldnt even keep the chocolate crumbs outta my icing...grrr...just a totally bad cake day!

Oh that wasn't bad! I think you did very well. I am dying to make one too and just hope mine looks that good. We see too many flaws in what we do. My lightbulb cake (in my photos) I noticed every flaw possible but everyone else loved it and it was a huge hit at the lighting companies Boss's Week party.

that lightbulb was too cute...I think you did a great job....I am sure your pumpkin will look much better....it was just one of those nights ya know...where nothing goes as planned!

You guys are so funny! I just came in from the kitchen all frustrated because every cake I have made this morning has stuck to my pans or broke as I was taking them out. I did nothing differant than I usually do, just am getting paid for these cakes so Murphy decided to pay me a visit. You are right though, we are our own worst critic. I know I am.

That pumpkin looks great! It's very cute! You're waaay to critical of yourself

I think the cake is GREAT!! It looks good. Don't be so hard on yourself!

Hi everybody - I'm very new to this site I am attempting to make a madhatter wedding cake for the first time this weekend!! I have been scouring this site for all the tips I can get. I think all of your cakes look great - I only hope mine turns out as well. Question - what are these cake balls I hear everyone talking about - how do you make them and what do you do with them??

I wish my cakes looked that good. If you'll notice I have not loaded any pictures. For good reason too. I think they are all UGLY!
That little pumpkin or Punkin' as some say where I'm from; is the cutest thing. Be proud of what you overcame.

mkerton, I had to let you know, (evidently my head thinks I am one of YOU GUYS...you know with actual talent! )
I just love this comment. I know exactly how you feel!! Sometimes I wonder if i will ever be as good as some of the people on here, but I love doing it so I keep plugging away. I think your cake really turned out very good. Keep trying, and hang in there. I have cookies in the freezer for halloween and have the plans of how I want them to look, but somehow they never look like they do in my head.
Jeanne