I Have Just Created "cake Surprise." Arggh!!!
Decorating By i_heart_pastry Updated 6 Jul 2007 , 5:09am by i_heart_pastry
I just have to vent!!!
I have just spent a good 8+ hours on a cake, and I am now throwing in the towel. Actually, I threw in the towel 10 minutes ago when I tore into said cake with a large knife.
All was going well. I made scratch butter cake that came out perfectly. I made a scratch lime filling (homemade lime curd blended with buttercream). I made a scratch raspberry buttercream. I made my raspberry syrup. This WAS going to be a fantastic lime-raspberry cake.
Then I stacked and carved my cakes - the topsy-turvy cake was trimmed, doweled, and ready to go. Crumb coat went fine. Completed my icing - all was looking good.
Then came the fondant. I don't know what went wrong. My normally great MMF was waayy too soft and had a million stubborn little air bubbles in it. I couldn't get it to roll out smoothly no matter what I did. Finally, I had the fondant pretty well rolled out for the top tier, but once I put it on the cake it all went to h*ll. It practically melted off the cake. Aahhh!
That's when I lost it. The cake was for a party tonight with a bunch of my friends, who really won't care if there isn't a showpiece cake there. So now, they are getting "cake surprise." Think trifle, without the layers. It may look bad, but it should taste great!
One last vent: Did I mention that a couple of days ago I spent three hours making all the decorations for this cake? I now have a cake's worth of quilled flowers with no cake to put them on. At least I can save those for another cake!
Sigh. Now to go clean up my kitchen and take a shower to get ready for the party. I think I'm going to have to find someone to drive me, since I'm now ready for a very large cocktail!
Thanks for listening and sharing my vent! Oh, and if you have any ideas on what happened to my fondant, I'd love to hear them. I used a different brand of shortening (walmart, not crisco) and I think that may be the culprit. It feels softer in the can & I can tell that the consistency is different. Next time, I'll pick up some crisco & hopeful my old fondant will be back.
Thanks!
Bec
Really sorry to hear about your disaster but couldnt you have just put b/c on it instead of fondant? At least that way you could have still put on your decorations and had an unusual (topsy) and lovely cake rather than having torn into it with your knife (had me chuckling there) I guess it's better than pulling your hair out then scrambling for a wig to go to the party lol. I hate mmf and much prefer Toba's fondant so I cant really help you on that end.
Thanks! Actually, I could have salvaged the cake if I wanted to. If it had been for someone else or a "real" party, I would have. But I just wasn't up to it today. Plus I hated to put my pretty decorations on the raspberry buttercream when they really wouldn't have matched. Now I'll just save them for another cake when my fondant looks right!
I have the TG fondant recipe - I may try a batch this week to try it out. I normally love the MMF, but this time if failed me...
Oh, the party was a blast and I did have that drink! (and the cake surprise was a bit hit!) 
Bec
Sorry to hear about the cake! Where in WV are you? I am in Fairmont
I can so relate to your sad tale. Though, I didn't go after my cake with a knife, rather I impaled it repeatedly with my piping bag. Felt silly afterwards but boy did it feel good in the moment.
I'm glad your tale had a happy ending. Good luck with the next batch! (I'd love to see your quilled flowers - do you have pics. of them to post?)
Sorry to hear about the fondant; Its so disappointing when you put a lot of time and effort into a creation, envision it a certain way, and it falls short. 
(Cocktails always make it better though dont they?) 
I'm in Teays Valley (between Charleston & Huntington). My inlaws live in Fairmont & my husband grew up there - we visit all the time!
Bec
I haven't taken any pics of the flowers yet, but I'll be sure to post them once I do (hopefully they'll be sitting atop a lovely cake!). 
Thanks for your support, everyone!!!
Bec
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