Cake Didn't Make It There Totally Intact.questions About Why
Decorating By mushbug9 Updated 21 Jun 2006 , 1:06am by BlakesCakes
I made a Jack & Jill shower cake for this weekend. It was decorated in a big rush due to a family emergency. The person picking up the cake was COMPLETELY understanding and great about it (she even picked it up instead of having it delivered) but I was wondering why it didn't make it.
The cake MOSTLY made it, but she said the bottom tier had a layer that slid a bit. It was doweled with 6 dowels and one in the middle. Here are my theroies.
The cake, frosting and filling(custard) was all made at least a day in advance (the cakes a few days, froze till defrosted the night before) but the cake was not assembled till the morning of the party. That was supposed to be the case anyways, and I was going to then refrigerate it till that afternoon for transport. That didn't happen, it was litterally put into the car as soon as it was finished being decorated. If it had the afternoon as planned, would it have been more set up so as not to seporate?
Otherwise, if not, was it simply the ride? Of course she probably has never transported a tiered cake before and I had to assemble it first, no choice.
Because of the emergency (Hubby broke his arm that morning, I got the call about 10 minutes after starting to assemble the cake) she hasn't asked for anything back or anything else. I FULLY intend on letting her know that she or the showered couple will get a HUGE discount if they order again from me.
So other than the rush for the emergency, did I plan everything right? Should it have made it if it had sat a bit and been driven gently?
Thanks. 
PS the pic is in my album, the flag cake.
This is why I am afraid to do fillings. They always slide (for me). Chilling it probably would have been helpful. Maybe there was too much filling.
I would also like to hear so strategies for custard/fruit-filled cakes.
WAY TO HANG IN THERE, EVEN WITH THE TURMOIL IN YOUR LIFE!! Good Job.
First of all, are there pictures of the cake after it arrived to the party? If your cake was doweled and only the bottom slid a bit, it seems to me as if the person picking it up could hyave stepped on her brakes a bit too hard during transport.
Without pointing fingers, ask to see if she has a picture of the cake so that you can look at it and "Figure out what you did wrong". If she can supply you with a picture take a good look at it and see if she possibly stopped too fast. Then again, it could be the cake settled during transport.
Hope the DH is doing well.
I think what you offered her is excellent and you shouldnt feel too bad, except that it is your business name associated with the cake ( that it slid is all) since we all do have some pride in our work and want to see it in one piece! Customers who pick them up from my location are totally responsible once they leave our posession and, gulp, luckily weve never heard of any accidents from one yet. But still, offering the discount is a nice way to clear any bad feelings over anything and the safe way to go. I would!
That's too bad. the cake looked great. My husband broke his leg on father's day playing hockey. So he didn't get to play in the stanley cup finals game on Monday
You had a cardboard under the top layer, right? hmmm. I have stopped using custard filling until I find one that is more firm. But I never had a cake slide apart.
That's a bummer.
Sounds to me like you've done a good job with everything. The cake looked great, you took care of your husband and you offered her a discount. Nothing else could really be done. I don't have great luck with fillings either, especially custard unless I'm covering with fondant. Maybe it would have been best had you had the time to refrigerate. I always do and it seems to work wonders. It even helps figures stay put without having to wait to place them. But more than likely, she wasn't as careful driving your cake as YOU would have been. I know my customers never seem to be and it terrifies me to the point that I offer to drive the cake myself most of the time when they get it in the car! You did great. I'm sure she will be calling again. 
For what it's worth, the only time I ever had a sliding problem was when I delivered the cakes right after I finished decorating them. I'm not saying it's entirely your fault because who knows how she was driving or whatever. It's just that IMO cakes need to settle and chill for a good amount of time before delivery &/or stacking or you risk the layers hydroplaning.
Was the bottom cake on a board (cut to the same size as the tier) other than the scalloped edged Wilton board? Those wax coated Wilton boards allow cakes to slide like crazy--especially when buttercream "glue" is put on them. I no longer use them for anything but "underboards" when icing layers before transfering things to the final, decorative cake board.
Had I been assembling this cake, I would have put all tiers on 3/16th inch foamcore boards cut to the exact size of the layers, and then stacked them on a double layer of 3/16th inch foamcore. I would have put 3 sharpened dowels all the way through the finished cake and into the bottom 6/16th inch foamcore layer. Hope this makes sense and is helpful.
Rae
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