I made a cake this weekend for a lady my mom works with. I dropped it off, she loved it, and then I get an email from my mom today, saying the child it was for had a hard time eating the "hard fondant" on the smash cake. I made the cake that morning, so it would almost impossible for the fondant to dry hard within a few hours.

Unless she tried to eat the bow on top??? Or one of the figures? Oh my, it never occured to me that someone would try eating a figure.
Hmmm....maybe I will have to make sure to tell people that although the decorations are edible....the will be very hard and aren't really for eating?!?!

I think the cake is adorable. (I am assuming it was for the little girl with the flu).

As a parent I would tell my kids not to eat the things if they were hard. I would find out from your mom what they tried to eat. I am sure you cake was wonderful.

But reading this I think I would definitly warn as well since some people may try to eat them anyway.

meghanb,

I don't think that I would be too concerned about this complaint.

If the child was young enough for a smash cake, s/he wouldn't know how to eat fondant, as opposed to a b/c frosted cake.

However, the Mom could have removed the fondant if the child was trying to eat it in one big piece or swallow it whole - whatever.

You made the birthday girl/boy a great tasting, custom cake; it's up to the caregiver to supervise the smashing, etc.

So - have a great day!!!!!

Sounds life one of those life experiences you'd rather not have. The mother should have known, by the feel, that the figures and bow would be rather hard to eat. And, I guess you could have told her...next time. She was delighted with the way the cake looked, she'll probably be back for another one.

Yes, sorry, I should have said it was the 1st birthday cake.

Thank you for the kind words. I was not really upset but kind of confused by it, wondering if somehow the MMF could have gotten hard in a few hours sitting on an iced cake, but I can't see how.

I will have to remember to tell my customers not to eat the bows. I think we sometimes assume that people know better, that they know how to store a cake etc. I started putting instructions on the boxes or I make sure I tell them.

By the way, I checked out your cakes. They are very beautiful and your work is very neat.

Thank you tyty!

I wouldn't get too excited about this... I would just ask if the child was trying to eat the fiqurine or the bow. I personally don't think I would let a child eat something that hard... but maybe she didn't know that. I would explain to her that you can eat them but its not recommended... Also make sure you ask how the actual cake tasted.

Meghanb:

Maybe your was talking to her friend and she just mentioned as the only thing that was wrong with the cake, maybe the girl love these fondant parts that were too hard for her. Dont take it as a complaint take as an experience for the future. For the next request you get just mention to the client thta these figures sometimes are too hard for little kid to eat them. Good luck.

Marcia

Meghanb, would it be possible to contact the customer directly? Just a friendly follow up to see how everything was. It'd be a great way to talk about the "hard fondant" issue instead of hearing it second-hand from your mom. Some people will automatically assume everything on the cake is edible. It'd be a shame if she spread word-of-mouth news that you serve hard fondant not knowing there were non-edible decorations.

I am not sure I would put inedibles on a cake for a 1 year old. I'd make the cake age appropriate like toys and be sure there are no choking hazards or stuff that is too hard for an infant or toddler to chew.

The cake and smash cake are beautiful. As a mom - I would make sure that the other mother knew the texture of the fondant or anything placed on the smash cake. Kids will try to eat anything. However, if that is what she requested she should have known.

I think the cake looks awsome and I know with having a one year old I wouldnt be giving my kid the bow and all... That is amazing that they wanted fondant on a smash cake. Oh well next time you know to tell them that they might want to watch there kid and make sure that they arent eating the bow and figures.

Oh your cakes were beautiful! If it were me though I probably wouldnt do fondant for a 1 year old smash cake (unless they specifically wanted it). While it probably wasnt "hard", it was probably difficult for a 1 year old to "dig in" like they do. I am sure they still loved it.

Did the mom refrigerate the cake?? If so, that could have made it hard....at any rate....don't worry too much....I have two little ones (a 2 year old and a 1 year old) and kids will try to eat almost anything if allowed...so bows and figurines on cakes included!

Believe it or not...my older one has found fun in opening the couch cushions and pulling out the stuffing which of course they both decided to try and see what it tastes like Kids....they keep you on your toes...

Some people are just dense........that is why they have the Warning: "Remove cellophane wrapper before lighting candle."

Or here is another........

MR. BUBBLES Warning: "Not intended for human consumption."

Maybe we should develop a sticker for our cake boxes and put it on the bottom of our cake boxes.
Warning: Do not turn upside down.

Oh I could go on forever.........

Thanks alot everyone. I can see now that some of this must have been my fault. I was told to make "whatever" and so I did what I thought would be cute. I have no children myself (unless you count my DH) so it never occured to me not to include anything made with fondant on the smash cake. Just something that really never crossed my mind.
Lesson learned.

First, let me say you do beautiful work! I must also say that when I do a smash cake for a little one I make it very simple and only use BC. Recently, I made a birthday cake with dots of MMF. I made the dots on the smash cake using BC. I have a great fear of a little one choking on something I put on the cake so I am ALWAYS sure to tell the Mother that the fondant pieces could be a choking hazard and especially if I put toothpicks anywhere in the cake. It is so much better to be safe than to find yourself being sued or even worse hurting a child. Sometimes the Mothers are so wraped up in the party they don't think about something on the little one's cake being too hard so you have to be proactive instead of reactive.