Cake muggles get a lot of flack for expecting a fancy cake on a cheap budget -- but sometimes their ignorance works in our favor!

My husband called on Tuesday to see if I could do a wedding cake for his coworker on Saturday. I was thrilled to have the chance...until I started working on it. I had nothing but problems! My cakes stuck to the cooling racks, which tore out big chunks. I had trouble with my fillings and my frosting (SMBC). It took me an hour and half to cover two tiers because my fondant kept tearing and cracking. I started painting the tiers and I guess the black color separated -- so I had black, purple, and blue streaks, which looked okay, and BROWN streaks, which looked like poo. The cake looked a little better by the time I was done, but the fondant was still bumpy and full of little tears and cracks, the piping was uneven and too thick...I could go on and on. It was awful. I was embarrassed to even deliver it, but I didn't want them to be without a cake. Anyone who knows anything about cakes could easily find 100 flaws in that cake -- but when I arrived at the wedding, they were THRILLED and even tipped me $20!

Here it is, in case you want to see it (and the photo hides a lot of the flaws -- believe me, it was even worse than it looks).

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-photo_1505777.html

Sorry to hear it was so much trouble, but I freaking LOVE this cake! I can totally understand how the bride and groom felt
Still waiting for my first wedding cake.
I don't see any of the cracks and such in the photo .. just a really cool cake.

We are always our own worst critics and we see every lump and bump and flaw. But cake muggles see only the whole cake, and I can see why they loved it. Your cake looks perfect for the occasion! I love the way the color fades upward. Great job!

The brown does not look at all like poo. Don't be too hard on yourself I know what you mean by thank goodness for cake muggles, though. I'm pretty glad my family has NO idea about caking otherwise they'd see all the mistakes I make

Wait.....they asked on Tuesday for a wedding cake on Saturday? Wow...nothing like waiting til the last minute, I applaud you for even taking this on with such short notice.

Nice job!

Are you kidding, The cake looks great! I really like it, You did a great job.

All that matters is the customer was happy

The cake is awesome! Any flaws in this one could be explained that it is supposed to be like that, hehe! You did a great job, don't worry about it-

This cake is really cute for the ocaasion. The color I think is perfect with the black spiders and the webb.

Looks great! Choc mint cake??? Please share!

Yeah...the side with the worst of the poo streaks became the back of the cake! And I managed to cover some of the worst cracks with decorations, so the final product came out okay. But again, it's good that they looked at the overall cake, not at all the details!

The chocolate mint cake is just my standard chocolate cake (doctored mix) with crushed grasshopper cookies and chopped Andes mints mixed in. I combined ideas I got from a few recipes here on CC, and it's been a big hit!

Thank goodness it's a Halloween style cake...your "flaws" totally WORK with the theme! I do know what you mean...I have delivered cakes that I was just praying they wouldn't see what I see and they didn't! I think we really are just too hard on ourselves...but then if we weren't then we probably wouldn't turn out such good work!

Cat

saffronica:

Standard chocolate cake.....does that mean scratch or box? How much of each (cookies and mints) do you put in one cake? This sounds soooooo darn good. What brand are the grasshopper cookies?

And I do love your cake - the so called errors that you are talking about just fit the whole theme of the cake and it is great!

The poo streaks look like they belong there, and they certainly fit in with the theme of the cake.

I don't think the colors separated, I think they were either not mixed enough, or they are starting to dry out and thicken. Were you using paste colors? If so, next time you combine all those colors, add 2 to 3 drops of glycerine to the mix. It will thin out the colors just enough to make them combine better, without changing the consistency of the final color.

Theresa

I agree with everyone...your cake looks FANTASTIC!

Allison

I think it looks great! I tell my hubby, frosting and flowers can hide a multitude of flaws Hate that it was so much trouble, but it turned out great. Glad they loved it!

I love your cake --especially the tapered effect and the way your colors fade from dark to light. I totally know what you mean by the statement "thank goodness for cake muggles." The Harry Potter cake I posted this morning was my nemesis this past weekend! I see the flaws, but the family for whom I made it LOVED it and didn't want to cut into it. Go figure.

Well, you must have had a magic camera, because I don't see any flaws. Great cake.

I think it looks fantastic!! I even see bumps and bubbles on the most high end decorators cakes. I think yours looks great, love the colors!!

Wow, you all know how to make a person feel better! I knew it wasn't a total wreck (or it would have been in the disasters forum!), but it was a surprise to have someone get so excited about something I had so much trouble with! And I guess you're right -- cracked fondant works for Halloween, but I'm glad it wasn't a traditional wedding.

Here is the recipe for the chocolate mint cake:

1 chocolate cake mix (I used BC's Triple Chocolate Fudge)
1 chocolate pudding mix
15 (or so) Keebler Grasshopper cookies, crushed
1 c. sour cream
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1 c. water
3 eggs
5 oz. chopped Andes mints (1/2 pkg. of the pre-chopped kind by the chocolate chips)

Thanks Saffronica for sharing your recipe. It sounds delicious and I have been thinking about making this kind of cake for a Christmas cake that I have to make. I am going to go with your recipe. Mmmmm

Win - thanks for the tip about being careful how much Andes Mints to use.

Saffronica - The chocolate mint cake sounds delicious. I'm making a chocolate cake to take to my Sunday School Christmas party and I think I will try this.

Thanks for posting.