Do you ever do a cake and then think, that is the ugliest thing I have ever done? Are you embarassed to say that you did that cake? I did a cake for a friends daughter. It was Hannah Montana, and I was so embarrassed, I did not want to claim that cake. Have any of you ever felt that way. I didnt even post it on here, I was so embarrassed! LOL, I am a dork! I have very low confidence, everyone loved the cake, but my eye sees so much more than what they saw!!!
When I got to OSSAS, I didn't want to take my elephant out of the box (it's in my photos). I see all of the these gorgeous and I have a 30" tall ELEPHANT! What was I thinking?!
Edited to add: Many years ago when I first started making cakes, a co-worker asked me to make a cake for her dad with dynamite on it (he was an explosives expert). We didn't work with fondant or gumpaste then and I couldn't think of what to do so I drew this sad looking firecracker that was popping on the front. I could do soooo much better now. Even though that was probably 17 years ago, I would love to make her a new cake now and it would be soooo much better.
Yes of course. I've always consoled myself with the fact that all the evidence gets eaten..until
With all this internet stuff I had some folks say, "Hey when you gonna put it on the web site."
"Aghhh, web site???" I said, sucking all the air out of the room.
Busted!
Yes. My niece-to-be's wedding shower. It was a simple sheet cake and I forgot to put the decorative foil on the cake board (how the heck do you forget that!!! ) So you can see a big grease stain going all the way around the cake!
Yes! and those are always the people that really really want to see their cake on your website!
The bad thing is, the more well known you are- the harder it becomes. People expect "WOW" cakes from you, then when you do one lousy cake- or even just an OK cake that was exactly what the customer ordered, and they are sooo dissappointed. It's horrifying!
That reminds me- I need to go take some old cakes off my site- they really embarass me!
This happened to me once as the result of my first (and so far only--knock on wood) cake disaster. I was up working late on a wedding cake for a friend of a friend... short version is I dropped all four tiers at about 2:30am the morning of the wedding. I had to re-bake and decorate the entire cake at 3am... as we all know baking and decorating (4 tiers, no less) in one day (in a few hours, to boot) is never a formula for success. I didn't even take a picture it was so bad. The bride loved it, she just sent me a pic of it and has referred a ton of people my way... I will NEVER show anyone that picture. It's horrendous.
Hahaha I did a Barney cake a couple of months ago from a bear pan (the customer had brought in an exactly desired picture) and tho I trimmed some... he just looked very strange. I had insisted on fondant but later realized the old wilton star method probably would have been better. I made my barista hand it to the customer... and the child with the customer laughed and said "Barney looks retarded!" lol well... you can't win em all. Wish I would have taken a pic for cakewrecks!
I have several photos that have been removed from my site or portfolio. Its so funny because when I made them, I was so proud I'm sure after another 10-15 years of doing this I'll look back on my cakes from this year and cringe.
... short version is I dropped all four tiers at about 2:30am the morning of the wedding.
Oh. My. Gawd. You poor thing! I can't imagine ... I just can't imagine not shooting myself if that happened!
I just did one this week, and I was pretty much in tears. I wanted a big sign that told everyone the story of all the troubles I had with it so they would understand why it looked that way.
Long story short, now it is the most viewed and most "favorites" cake in my gallery! Go figure!
Yeah I have a few cakes that I would rather have not claimed as my own. I have to admit that the farther along in my pregnancy I get, the worse my cakes are starting to look! Only family stuff till after he arrives.
The last cake I did, I hated, was EMBARRASSED! They loved it. My DH says I am way to hard on myself. But I still want a do over!!!!
I am so with you all! I look back at some cakes I did a few years ago and cringe.
Sometimes after Im done with a cake, I look at it like "what on earth is that". Other people think they look nice but all I see are flaws, flaws, flaws!
I think thats pretty normal though.
You are your own biggest critic.
We should have a gallery specially dedicated to our embarrassing secrets. I could contribute a few...
I did one that I hated while I was doing it. My wishy-washy client didn't know what she wanted, so at my last resort I said "what does your napkins and plates look like maybe we can replicate". She went to the dollar store and found the ugliest...tackiest napkins she could find for her sons 1st birthday party. So by then, she wanted to do the napkin idea.
Basically it was a napkin with a number 1 in all these funky colors and patterns from top to bottom, and I had to replicate this in a 2-d #1 cake.
I was so horrified and wanted to change the design when I was decorating but kept saying to myself "this is what the client wants". I did 24 cupcakes for free with a yellow/green swirl to make the whole display look better.
I hate..HATED that cake and got rid of ALL the evidence.
I've not only felt embarrassed, but ashamed. I did my first wedding cake for someone other than family not too long ago. It was supposed to be 150 cupcakes and a small three tier cake to cut, but the family decided it wouldn't be enough....they called the night before and I agreed to make a much larger cake plus the cupcakes. For Real CHeap, too....
But....the worst part was not the last minute change or anything...it was just not great, the way I decorated the cake. If I didn't have the time, I shouldn't have changed the order. I've wanted to ask them for forgiveness, but I'm too ashamed. I've consoled myself with the fact that they got about 250 servings for very little money....but still...I should have done better since I agreed to do it.
tracycakes and millermom, your cakes are wonderful.
funny how hard we are on ourselves
haha... i hate to see what i'm going to say about my cakes 5 years from now...
Oh gosh, it wont' even be about your BAD cakes! Have you seen the threads where we folks who made fountains and stairs cakes years and years ago are getting jabs? Styles and tastes change so don't stress it .... they'll make fun of our GOOD cakes years from now!
OMG Yes! Yes! Yes!
This happened last weekend. Fall themed baby shower cake - 4 blocks to spell BABY and leaves.
I HATED how this cake came out. I didn't even take a picture. I was so embarrased to bring it and so so so almost told dh's aunt (who ordered it) that it was a freebie.
With all the voice of many of you CCr's in my head, I did not tell her it was free. She LOVED the cake. Even gave me a tip. I felt so guilty. I so wanted to hand her check back to her. But then I kept thinking about how I have yet to buy snowboots and winter pajamas for my 3 kids, so I just said thank you and deposited the check the next day!
I think that almost all of my cakes are awful one day I hope to get the confidence that I need to make good cakes. Especially when I look at the spectacular cakes that are on this site, but of course the funny thing about it is the customers think they are great! Aarggh! spelling????
Last Saturday I was going to start a birthday cake that was due for Sunday. I already had one cake order (a haunted house) to do that day, and I'm preggo with my 4th (read- super tired), so I figured I'd start after dinner. Well, 5 o'clock comes, and there is a knock on my door... Is the cake ready? WHAT! It's not due till tomorrow- no it's not ready!
Oh, what's that?? You say the party starts in an hour?
So, needless to say I made a sad looking 2 tier Little Mermaid cake in an hour and a half. The cake was late, and it had an icing bulge, and wasn't smooth, but they absolutely loved it. Thank God it was for a neighbor!
I think we know what great cakes look like because we see them here, but the average person thinks our cakes are great even when we don't...
I think we know what great cakes look like because we see them here, but the average person thinks our cakes are great even when we don't...
Exactly! And that's why I've stopped pointing out the flaws in what I do. To me they're glaring, hideous errors, but other people just don't see them. I have trained myself to say "I'm so glad you like it", even when I honestly think it's dreadful and would never pay real money for it!!
Yes. My niece-to-be's wedding shower. It was a simple sheet cake and I forgot to put the decorative foil on the cake board (how the heck do you forget that!!! ) So you can see a big grease stain going all the way around the cake!
Foil???? There's foil to prevent that??? Of course I know this now but a few years ago most of my cakes had a ring around the collar!!
You know if a few years, I might change my mind but I put all of my ugly cakes on here because I want to look back at all my cakes and see how far I actually came. Some of the cakes on my photos are the ones that my husband did, The bad, the ugly, the pretty good, they all go on here. I guess I am just having a blast making cakes and seeing my progress and not so progress. As a newbie, I am proud of all of them. Each one of my cakes on here has some memory or meaning to me. The ugliest is my husband's easter cake he decorated all by himself with the exceptions of my cake class royal icing flowers on top. But I look at that ugly thing and remember him looking so intent on decorating and the laughs we had in sharing a moment of togetherness and I just have to laugh and smile at the memory. Now he likes to help me on most of my cakes if he can because it is our time together. Sometimes I really don't need his help but I enjoy the time we spend together.
That reminds me- I need to go take some old cakes off my site- they really embarass me!
Your sculpted fairy-girl cakes on your web look like paintings or works of art like a painted china. Wow! Just amazing!
rvercher23- I just read this after I attached my new topic (with horrible picture). I just got a kitchen to rent to start my business....I don't know if I can handle the stress!
I am by no means a spectacular decorator but I think I am getting better and it's definitely nice to see some progress. I did, however, agree to do 2 cakes for a party 3 days after I gave birth to my son in September. It was for a good friend's little girls and I just didn't want to back out. I should have. The cakes were HIDEOUS! Luckily the girls are still too young to hold it against me but I definitely owe them. I told my friend to burn the pictures she took of the cakes.
haha... i hate to see what i'm going to say about my cakes 5 years from now...
Oh gosh, it wont' even be about your BAD cakes! Have you seen the threads where we folks who made fountains and stairs cakes years and years ago are getting jabs? Styles and tastes change so don't stress it .... they'll make fun of our GOOD cakes years from now!
Oh yeah... ain't that the truth! ALL of those albums are waaaay in the back of the pile...
I think that almost all of my cakes are awful one day I hope to get the confidence that I need to make good cakes. Especially when I look at the spectacular cakes that are on this site, but of course the funny thing about it is the customers think they are great! Aarggh! spelling????
Cake..
You should not think your cakes are awful..I looked at your pics and they are wonderful! I only have one pic loaded and it was a cake from six years ago..no comments on it yet..that is telling!JK!
Customers do think the cakes are great..One of my first cakes was a huge sheet cake..very simple but with a colorflow EMT symbol and I was horrified with it. I got rave reviews and people begging me to do cakes.
Of course this is easy for me to say as I stare at a wedding cake on my counter picking out all the flaws......But it is said over and over on this site that we are our own worst critics....but from the outside looking in you do great work!
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%