Cake Fell Apart...

Decorating By gr8cakemaker Updated 1 Sep 2014 , 5:07am by winniemog

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gr8cakemaker Posted 27 Aug 2014 , 11:40am
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A[IMG]http://www.cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/3280079/width/200/height/400[/IMG]Hi all, I am having trouble wrapping my head around this. In 7 years I have never had this problem. I made a 3 tiered cake that had to travel 4 hrs. I knew this so I put several supports in each tier as well as TWO dowels down the center of the whole cake. I delivered the cake the day before because they needed to travel and arrive the next evening. The next evening I got an email and pictures saying that the cake fell apart. They stated that the cake traveled while on the floor board of the car. Does this look like an error on my part or neglect on their part? To me it looks like they came to a fast stop in order for the top two tiered to completely slide off. The dowels were hammered into the cake board. [IMG][IMG]http://www.cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/3280077/width/200/height/400[/IMG][/IMG]

27 replies
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CakeRae80 Posted 27 Aug 2014 , 12:55pm
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I'm not an expert and you have been doing cakes longer than I have, but to me, if the cake was fine when you delivered it, it sounds and looks to me that it was something they did.  It stinks it happened regardless, and it was a nice looking cake.

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gr8cakemaker Posted 27 Aug 2014 , 1:40pm
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AThanks Cakerae80, my gut is telling me this was due to a hard stop. It didn't fall apart until 24 hours after I delivered it when they were traveling with it. A very huge part of me says this was due to a hard stop which unless I deliver the cake to the event, I have no control over.

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kakeladi Posted 27 Aug 2014 , 1:45pm
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It sounds to me like a combination - most of it on their part.   You have no way of knowing how they drove.  They could have been a very aggressive driver; the car hot; there could have been children or animals in the car who kicked it, etc, etc.

I had a similar situation yrs ago.  The people refused my delivering the cake (extra cost) but called later to say it didn't survive the ride and wanted me to come fix it.  NO, I told you how to drive & I have other deliveries to make.  Tough luck  - no I didn't really say that - just thought it :)

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CakeRae80 Posted 27 Aug 2014 , 1:48pm
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You are right you have no control over that.  I know when I deliver anything, I drive 5 under the speed limit (which is so against my driving ethics...lol) I also almost stop completely to turn, and I never follow anyone close at all.  I always pass this along to people when they pick up cakes from me.  But I still get so nervous that they get the cake to their destination in one piece.  So far so good...  The other week I had 2 guys come to pick up a cupcake wedding dress cake, that went into the trunk of a Focus.  It was on a sheet cake board and I had put icing on the bottom of all 35 cupcakes to try to secure them to the board.  They were put into a sheet cake box as well.  But these are two guys who like to go "mudding" and racing around, I was scared! But they did it, they got that cupcake cake in one piece to the venue!

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gr8cakemaker Posted 27 Aug 2014 , 1:53pm
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ANot to mention, I had to deliver the cake an hour to get it to them and it was completely fine. I definitely don't feel I should give them a refund!?

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gr8cakemaker Posted 27 Aug 2014 , 1:56pm
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AJeez kakeladi, that sounds frustrating! Cakerae80 I am the exact way when I am driving with cakes. The biggest thing is following close behind someone. If they slam on the breaks then you have to slam on the breaks. It's cake for Petes sake!!!

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Crazy-Gray Posted 27 Aug 2014 , 2:15pm
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AYeah it's 100% poor handling by them- if you feel you left them with enough information to safely transport the cake then I would offer nothing except sympathy and a polite I told you so... if you feel maybe you could have been clearer that 'you will break your cake if you don't transport it like this' then I would offer a discount on thir next cake/part refund with an: 'I guess I could have given you clearer instruction on transporting the cake, next time please drive more carefully'

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-K8memphis Posted 27 Aug 2014 , 3:44pm
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idk -- i'm thinking a little different -- i would feel responsible unless i had the cake climate controlled, sealed in a no window corrugated box with freezer packs to hold the temperature -- for next day delivery i would have instructed them to put in fresh freezer packs -- i know a lot of people do not allow their cakes to be chilled but considering what type of vibration etc on a long drive plus it's sitting for 24 hours at room temp open to adjust to the weather beforehand plus the heat from the bottom of the vehicle -- i know a lot of people also like to deliver with cakes on the floor board and for local delivery that's great but there's less vibration on a seat and less heat wreaking havoc -- 

 

it's hard to say for sure of course--but it looks like the bottom tier stayed put and the top two jiggled off? the only thing holding the lighter weight cakes was some vertical dowel and icing -- it makes sense to me that they could jiggle off in four hours -- but they could have stopped hard too -- but that's what you/they have to consider with a long distance ride -- i think it's just the nature of traveling 4 hours with it --

 

and is that gentleman 90? dang i look older than him :grin: what am i smiling about :lol: 

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scrumdiddlycakes Posted 27 Aug 2014 , 4:31pm
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ADid they move it onto a Dinner plate? There is a lot wrong with the cake in the second photo that could been a result of taking the cake of the board and moving it. I'd ask for a photo of it before it was moved before making any decisions.

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-K8memphis Posted 27 Aug 2014 , 5:28pm
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the first picture is the photo of it before it was moved, scrumdiddly-- i guess that's all she got -- i had to pop it open to see it

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costumeczar Posted 28 Aug 2014 , 11:22pm
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Is the photo of the gentleman with the cake the top two tiers, and the bottom fell apart? I'm trying to figure out what part was destroyed.

 

Were the top two tiers doweled all the way through into the bottom tier with two center dowels? If you did that, how can they have the two top tiers sitting flat, there should be something poking out of the bottom that went into the bottom tier. If you put all of the extra dowels in the bottom tier to attach it to the board the top tiers could have just slid off from the vibration of the car. If the cake wasn't cold when it was transported it's possible that the bottom tier could have shifted and collapsed.

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bubs1stbirthday Posted 29 Aug 2014 , 2:09am
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Quote:

Originally Posted by Crazy-Gray 

Yeah it's 100% poor handling by them- if you feel you left them with enough information to safely transport the cake then I would offer nothing except sympathy and a polite I told you so... if you feel maybe you could have been clearer that 'you will break your cake if you don't transport it like this' then I would offer a discount on thir next cake/part refund with an: 'I guess I could have given you clearer instruction on transporting the cake, next time please drive more carefully'

 

I often wonder this when I see people asking if others think the customer has somehow damaged the cake or whether it seems to be an error they could have prevented. If people aren't told that they need to handle/store a cake in a certain way then why would they know that what they are doing is wrong?

 

In the same way that a dog leaving the vet clinic after spaying is sent home with a 'after care sheet' and specific verbal instructions from an Veterinary nurse, (haha guess what I used to work as) any product needing special handling/care should go with verbal instructions and a brief written recap of the instructions. That way if people do handle it incorrectly it is on their head and not yours if it gets damaged.

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MBalaska Posted 29 Aug 2014 , 2:23am
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Those are two completely different cakes

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winniemog Posted 29 Aug 2014 , 3:12am
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A

Original message sent by MBalaska

Those are two completely different cakes

Spot on mb, I was doing the comparison and I couldn't figure out what perspective we were seeing of the two cakes.

Man, you are a detective and a criminal all wrapped in to one....

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costumeczar Posted 29 Aug 2014 , 3:19am
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It looks to me like the original had three tiers, but the top two are the only ones in the last picture, which is why I was asking if the bottom tier fell apart. The tree on the photo on the bottom is on the left side of the first picture.

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AZCouture Posted 29 Aug 2014 , 3:31am
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AWhat the heck?

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FrostedMoon Posted 29 Aug 2014 , 3:58am
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Do you think one is a cake made to look like the other?  I don't see that they are different.  I see two tiers that were possibly put further to one side on a 3rd tier.  I see how the tree matches up, the border at the base, and the 90.  Looks like a few of the signs fell off or were taken off.  If they were dowelled as the OP said, it could be that the holes were right behind the 90.  I see a small dark spot back there that could be a hole where the dowels popped out when they put the cake down.  I'm assumed either the bottom tier fell apart due to vibration and they just scrapped it and put the top to remaining tiers on a plate, or the two top tiers shimmied off as someone else mentioned might have happened.  Not sure how the two top tiers would look as undamaged as they do if the latter were true though.  Am I missing something?  

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MBalaska Posted 29 Aug 2014 , 4:02am
post #19 of 28

Quote:

Originally Posted by winniemog 
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by MBalaska 

Those are two completely different cakes

Spot on mb, I was doing the comparison and I couldn't figure out what perspective we were seeing of the two cakes.

Man, you are a detective and a criminal all wrapped in to one....

 

The first cake, the blue toppers are so wide that they not only overlap each other, but overlap the very top of the cake.  The bottom cake the numbers on top sit side by side and fit within the edges.

 

The top photo the cake is on a blue fondant base, the bottom photo it’s on a green plate.

 

The top photo has yellow fondant leaves with green letters.   The bottom photo has green fondant leaves with green letters.   Etc. etc.

 

{ps: I've driven passenger busses, big and small.......just saving for gasoline and my bail money}

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FrostedMoon Posted 29 Aug 2014 , 4:04am
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Oh, I get it now.  The first pic is of the damage before they took the two top tiers off.  Looks like the bottom supports shifted out from under the board and the top two tiers slid to one side.  As many often say, the center dowels did little to hold the room temp cake in place, and the cake tore around the center dowels.  This is why I use the SPS system.

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FrostedMoon Posted 29 Aug 2014 , 4:12am
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Quote:

 

 

The first cake, the blue toppers are so wide that they not only overlap each other, but overlap the very top of the cake.  The bottom cake the numbers on top sit side by side and fit within the edges.

 

The top photo the cake is on a blue fondant base, the bottom photo it’s on a green plate.

 

The top photo has yellow fondant leaves with green letters.   The bottom photo has green fondant leaves with green letters.   Etc. etc.

I'm still not seeing it as being different.  If you click on both pics you can see they are the same.

 

The toppers look like they were removed & repositioned.  If you look, the letters that were overlapping are missing/broken.

 

The top photo is not on a blue fondant base.  That is the bottom tier.  If you click on it you can see the filling where it tore.  They moved the top tiers to a green plate.

 

I think the leaves looking different is a lighting thing.  You can see where it looks like one of the leaves fell off.

 

 I don't know why I'm wasting time arguing this when I've got cakes to make, but I don't think someone would take the time to make and match broken cake like that.

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MBalaska Posted 29 Aug 2014 , 4:27am
post #22 of 28

hopefully the gentleman had a good celebration and the cake was delicious!

 

Someone tried to make a special personalized cake for the gentleman in the second photo, and was brave enough to attempt tiers, so they are yards ahead of me (I made a right ugly mess out of my first attempt).

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MBalaska Posted 29 Aug 2014 , 4:41am
post #23 of 28

Quote:

Originally Posted by FrostedMoon 

......."I don't know why I'm wasting time arguing this when I've got cakes to make, but I don't think someone would take the time to make and match broken cake like that.".......
 
You're busy and you sound a little stressed in this thread:   "Please calm me down before I write something I regret..."

 

So yeah, the OP will figure it out. 

ps: You make really awesome cakes, cupcakes, and cookies ;-D no wonder you're busy.

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FrostedMoon Posted 29 Aug 2014 , 5:15am
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AThanks MBalaska for the kind words!

Hate to come off that way, but yes, it's been a stressful week and I'm staring down the barrel of an even more stressful month. That wasting time remark was aimed more at myself than anyone. I may make cute cakes, I'm a pretty good mom, and I used to be a darn good therapist, but procrastination is really what I do best! ;)

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Bunny0410 Posted 29 Aug 2014 , 5:26am
post #25 of 28

Yep, I get it now, the top two tiers fell off the bottom.

 

It could be either, damage from stopping or cake movement.

 

Tough call...

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MBalaska Posted 29 Aug 2014 , 5:28am
post #26 of 28

Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow. ~Mark Twain  :razz:

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810whitechoc Posted 31 Aug 2014 , 11:28pm
post #27 of 28

Quote:

Originally Posted by MBalaska 
 

Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow. ~Mark Twain  :razz:


I have two huge cakes to do this week and what am I doing? - hanging out on CC haha

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winniemog Posted 1 Sep 2014 , 5:06am
post #28 of 28

A

Original message sent by MBalaska

[SIZE=14px]Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow. ~Mark Twain;

Original message sent by 810whitechoc

I have two huge cakes to do this week and what am I doing? - hanging out on CC haha

Welcome to my life.....I'm avoiding quoting some cakes at the moment, not to mention a whole lot of gumpaste models!

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