The Wedding Cake Fell Apart- Literally, The Side Fell Off...

Decorating By Carie Updated 1 Oct 2011 , 9:46pm by southerncross

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Carie Posted 18 Sep 2011 , 11:56pm
post #1 of 11

Trying to figure out if anyone else has had a problem with a cake literally falling apart.. I have made many tiered cakes but have never experienced a cake problem like this. Made the cakes like normal. Iced and put fondant on the cakes like normal. Took the cakes to the wedding reception and assembled like I normally do. Looked beautiful. Got a call after about two hours saying the cake bottom had literally had the side fall off. Don't know what happened.
It was an awfully rainy day and the cake had been right beside the door. The doors were opened for awhile.
Has anyone else had a problem with extremely high humidity doing this to a cake. My only guess is that this could be the cause. I am at a loss.
Thanks for the input.

10 replies
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CalhounsCakery Posted 19 Sep 2011 , 12:07am
post #2 of 11

Since it was only one part that came off, I'm wondering if it got wet. That would make one side melt off and the rest be just fine. Any time I've had humidity affect a cake, it affected the whole thing. Other than that, I have no clue...

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cakestyles Posted 19 Sep 2011 , 12:10am
post #3 of 11

Did they send you any photos of the damage? Without seeing it it's hard to say what may have happened.

I wonder if somebody moved the cake table and caused damage.

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southerncross Posted 19 Sep 2011 , 12:15am
post #4 of 11

Carie, the same thing happened to my two tiered cake last week. I used American buttercream on a two tiered square cake (12" and 9"). The nine inch tier was ringed in white chocolate cigarellos and the top was filled with fresh raspberries. I used the same yellow scratch cake recipe that I've used for years but this time I flavoured as pina colada (coconut cake with rum flavouring and pineapple filling). Everything was fine until I got to the venue (uneventful trip) ...the corners of the cake on one side started to look wonky and because I stayed to cut the cake, I was present to see the side of the cake literally collapse on itself. It wasn't a case of the frosting pulling away but rather the cake itself crumbled.

The weather was clear, mild and the event was inside a pleasantly airconditioned home.

The cake tasted fine but I've never had that happen before. I too eagerly await anyone's ideas of what happened (other than we somehow angered the cake gods)

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cakestyles Posted 19 Sep 2011 , 1:18am
post #5 of 11

That's weird.

One thing that comes to mind is maybe too many dowels/supports which weakened the tier.

What do you use to support your tiers?

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Carie Posted 19 Sep 2011 , 1:23am
post #6 of 11

I use straws for my supports. I stay away from dowels. My experience with them is that they went through my cake boards when I have used them. Don't know why. It was recommended to me to use straws and they have worked great.

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sunlover00 Posted 19 Sep 2011 , 1:30am
post #7 of 11

I would have to agree with the too many dowels comment. Maybe the fondant was thinner in that area, and the weakened cake was heavy against the side of thinner fondant. Just a guess. Sorry that happened. I hope they weren't too angry. What did you do? Were you able to fix it before the bride saw it?

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cakestyles Posted 19 Sep 2011 , 1:33am
post #8 of 11
Quote:
Originally Posted by Carie

I use straws for my supports. I stay away from dowels. My experience with them is that they went through my cake boards when I have used them. Don't know why. It was recommended to me to use straws and they have worked great.




I use bubble tea straws on 2 and 3 tiered cakes as well and haven't had any issues...so far...gulp. I almost hate to write that, for fear I'll jynx myself.

Did you use more than usual this time?

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sweettreat101 Posted 19 Sep 2011 , 3:28am
post #9 of 11

If your straws aren't perfectly cut and end up a little lower on one side the weight of the cake is going to shift to that area. I try to only use the SPS system or my Stress Free cake supports. I have used wooden dowels for the top tier only if it's a six inch or under cake. I had a caketastrophe several years ago where the bottom tier collapsed during delivery so I will never chance the supports again.

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chocolate_luvr Posted 1 Oct 2011 , 3:26am
post #10 of 11

That happened to me not too long ago. Its just one of those things that happened at the wrong time icon_sad.gif

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southerncross Posted 1 Oct 2011 , 9:46pm
post #11 of 11

I always use SPS and never had a problem before. I think that the problem may have been in the frosting for me. I think I just dislike American buttercream so much that I unconsciously willed the cake to discard it! I've returned to my standard mousseline . It's always so light

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