OMG!
That's an horror story... Thanks for sharing it. I learn with all this stories you guys post.
Puerto Rico's humidity level is SO high that we NEVER refrigerate or wrap up cakes. We bake them two days before the party, frost and decorate the day before and the day of the party we deliver it as early as possible. If you wrap up things here it could get mouldy in two days.
In all honesty, if my wedding cake was moldy, I wouldn't eat another cake from the same person. I'm not trying to be mean.
If your friend said there was something there, then I'd not take any more money as payment on the cake.
I also wouldn't give up on doing cakes. People have problems all of the time. Check with your health code on violations- there are probably tons of restaurants on the list that are still in business. That being said, we don't WANT bad things to happen, but at times they do. This wasn't something that was purposely done.
well, i have heard of this happening, though never seen it. My wilton instructor said that she had this happen with a fondant cake when she used water to apply the fondant to the buttercream. She was the one serving the cake, so she discretely threw away the musty/moldy section as she served the okay sections. So my question would be, did you use water as your means of applying the fondant? Also if anything that would mold easily got on the cake at all that could happen very quickly especially in the heat.
There were wrapped and stored in a cool place and icing and fondant not put on them until thurs and friday night.
The only cool place to put the cakes is in the fridge or the freezer. 34 degrees is a lot cooler than 60 or 70 degrees of room temp. I would rather put my groceries in an igloo cooler, or have my family eat out for a couple days than leave a wedding cake out of the fridge. My fridge is a side by side and won't fit larger than a 14".
Maybe it would have been better to ice it than wrap it, the icing may have acted as a preservative.
Maybe I missed this somewhere in the responses, but was the "mold" on the cake or on the icing? If it was on the icing, I just wonder if something might have brushed up against it (like that green foamy stuff that florists use to put flowers/water in) That kind of breaks off and might resemble mold. Or something else like that might have happened. I am a little surprised that someone didnt contact you sooner, but I don't know that they were "trying to get away with something" necessarily. Unfortunately you dont have any evidence to know if if was mold, an honest mistake, or someone trying to get out of paying.
I wouldn't take her word for ANYTHING until you call the Catering manager where her wedding took place. IF there was mold on the cake, he/she will know about it. Once he confirms that there was something wrong with the cake, then work with her. People sometimes will do ANYTHING to get out of paying full price.
In all honesty, if my wedding cake was moldy, I wouldn't eat another cake from the same person.
I actually disagree. I mean everyone is different, so if one person feels that way that's ok - but I wouldn't. Freak mistakes happen. We've all returned something to a store that had a defect and accepted an exchange - so I don't see how that's so much different.
I think offering her a small cake as a sort of apology is a very nice gesture - and that one will be undoubtebly perfect and delicious - so you may just get some very good word of mouth advertising out of it in the end.
Most people realise that mistakes and unforseeable problems do happen - it's how you deal with the aftermath that makes the difference.
That being said - I guess it's possible that is was moldy. You'll never know for sure what it was not having seen it yourself - but it could have been something else too. Maybe even something on the cutting knife or the serving knife - who knows. But it makes good business sense to always assume the customer is correct (unless they very clearly aren't) and act accordingly. I think you're being very good about it and I wouldn't think less of you or your cakes for a simple freak accident.
In the Midwest because of the humidity, cakes mold fast. I bake a wedding cake one week in advance, wrap and freeze the cake to reduce crumbing. For a Saturday wedding, I take the cakes out of the freezer and keep them wrapped so they stay moist. I uncover them Thursday afternoon and finish them. I never had a problem doing it this way, but if I were to keep them in a cool room for more than 2 days, they would mold. Sorry this happened to you.
Vicky
In all honesty, if my wedding cake was moldy, I wouldn't eat another cake from the same person.
I actually disagree. I mean everyone is different, so if one person feels that way that's ok - but I wouldn't. Freak mistakes happen. We've all returned something to a store that had a defect and accepted an exchange - so I don't see how that's so much different.
I think offering her a small cake as a sort of apology is a very nice gesture - and that one will be undoubtebly perfect and delicious - so you may just get some very good word of mouth advertising out of it in the end.
Most people realise that mistakes and unforseeable problems do happen - it's how you deal with the aftermath that makes the difference.
That being said - I guess it's possible that is was moldy. You'll never know for sure what it was not having seen it yourself - but it could have been something else too. Maybe even something on the cutting knife or the serving knife - who knows. But it makes good business sense to always assume the customer is correct (unless they very clearly aren't) and act accordingly. I think you're being very good about it and I wouldn't think less of you or your cakes for a simple freak accident.
I also see your point. I guess I should have said, I probably wouldn't eat another cake from the same person right after this happened (assuming it did happen the way they said) because I'd be too mad. It is a nice gesture to offer another cake, however.
When I made my package cake for Course III I baked and iced the cake the day of class. Covered it with fondant in class and took it home. It was kept on my kitchen counter so people could help themselves. Within 3 days the bottom of the cake (the part touching the cake board) was covered in mold. You could not see it anywhere else on the cake until it was cut and put on a plate. Luckily it was noticed before anyone ate any of it. I personally think it had something to do with the fondant because none of my other cakes have ever done this.
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