My First Wedding Cake Was A Disaster
Decorating By EverlastingSweets Updated 15 Jul 2007 , 4:10am by FrostinGal
Hi all, I'm so upset! I had my first wedding cake order, and it was for a friend, and it was a mess! I had to make 3 cakes the same day, and I haven't made cakes in awhile and have ALWAYS used the Crusting Cream Cheese Icing, never failed me...til now!!!
It would not crust to save my life!!! I had to keep sticking it in the freezer every 30 minutes and could it just would not smooth. This was the first time I've used that new Crisco w/the zero transfat, could that have been it?
Then when I took it to their house, to top it off, I live in Houston, it's rained 26 days in June. It rained 5 days this month and we're only on the 7th!!!
Then their house was warm so the top tier started to slide, they finally had to put the top tier in the freezer, but it's lopsided!!! Its in my photos, just uploaded it...I'm to sad to figure out how to attach it here...
Comfort me please...
Hello, Sunshine! So sorry for your sadness. I just had the same thing happen today too. Let's just blame the weather together! Lots of hugs and sympathy...We'll have to pat each other on the back at the next Flour Power meeting...or share a glass of wine to drown our sorrows. lol
thanks friends... 
I guess I need to try that hi ratio shortening everyone's now talking about.
Hey funfoodie!!! I'll remind you about that drink!
I just love your work and was suprised see this thread was started by you. But then I read about that cursed new crisco and new the culprit. I'm in MI, but it is VERY humid here and the New Crisco doesn't work for me at all! Between the weather and the New Crisco from H-E-double hockey sticks, your poor cake didn't stand a chance. Hold your head up high because you did a good job on it! It may not be how you wanted it to be, but you did good under the circumstances.
I'm so very sorry that this happened to you. My biggest fear of accepting a wedding cake job is that I'll mess up... or something will mess up. I think your cakes still looked wonderful, the flowers and the design were stunning. Chin up.
thanks MK and Sept,
I NEVER accept wedding cake orders, they're just not my "thing" I'm more into fun, colorful stuff, especially LOVE doing kids cakes. But this was for a neighbor, so I made an exception.
The groomscake came out perfect, but it had fondant on top of it. Figures!!!
It finally stopped raining over here, but it's still crazy humid! I've got to get me some of that high ratio shortening everyone's raving about!
There have been 'issues' with the no trans fat Crisco. It is much more 'wet' than the original Crisco.
Heat and humidity are the enemies of crusting icing.
Which is why you should add liquid "until it looks right" and not follow a precise measuring until you find the right combination that works for your area (heat, humidity).
I've had zero problems with the transition from old to new. I've always used milk and not water, which one CC'er posted makes the difference.
Edit to add: Heat and humidity have no effect on my crusting BC. If you have a good crusting BC, it will hold up fine. (outdoor wedding .... 90 degrees .... super high humidity in August ... my cake sat outside for 5 hours ... zero melting)
My heart goes out to you. But... I have to honestly tell you I've been to weddings where the cakes looked MUCH worse and the baker went about bragging on their work.
You had the cards stacked against you for sure, on a positive note I'll bet it tasted delicious!!
EverlastingSweets,
I live in the Waco,Tx area and had the same problem last March on a grooms' cake. Of course it was for my best friends daughter so I wanted it to be perfect and it wasn't. I thought I had done something different or wrong until I read the thread here about how Crisco had changed and took out the transfats. THAT WAS IT. My can of Crisco I just opened was the new kind.
Go as fast as you can to Wal-Mart and get their All Vegetable shortening. It has 2.5 grams of transfat. I have been using it since April with no problems! My bet is that you wont have any problems either--even in our Texas humidity that we're having now!
Run, now, go to Wal-Mart......... 
Do use a 1/2 butter 1/2 crisco recipe?
I do, and the new crisco isn't compatable with it. I found so far that almost everyone who doesn't have issues with the new crisco uses the pure crisco (wilton) recipe. I'm wondering if since the crisco seems less solid from the start that the 1/2 butter in it is weakening it's stability. I even didn't add any liquid as Indy suggested and it was still a royal pain in the butt to work with. I scraped it off of my cake and threw it away. My DH went out to Walmart and bought their kind of crisco and no issues now. (I still pefer the old crisco though) As soon as I can I am switching to a high ratio shortning.
HOW CAN THEY NOT HAVE THE A/C ON!! What is the matter with these people???!?!!?!?
Seriously though, lopsided and all, it was a very nice cake. I would have loved to have that cake at my wedding!
I've always used the Wal-Mart all vegetable shortening, too, and have never had a problem with it. So sorry about your not-so-great experience. Chin up. These things keep us humble, right?
There have been 'issues' with the no trans fat Crisco. It is much more 'wet' than the original Crisco.
Heat and humidity are the enemies of crusting icing.
Which is why you should add liquid "until it looks right" and not follow a precise measuring until you find the right combination that works for your area (heat, humidity).
I've had zero problems with the transition from old to new. I've always used milk and not water, which one CC'er posted makes the difference.
Edit to add: Heat and humidity have no effect on my crusting BC. If you have a good crusting BC, it will hold up fine. (outdoor wedding .... 90 degrees .... super high humidity in August ... my cake sat outside for 5 hours ... zero melting)
indydebi -
Do you use an all crisco recipe? I have experienced some issues with lack of crusting lately....I'm sure it's due to the humidity. I use mostly crisco with 1/2 cup margarine (not butter), should I make it all crisco. I also do not use water, but milk.
I used the Crusting Cream Cheese Frosting recipe listed here on CC and have used it for YEARS and I've never had this problem.
I am going to stick with the Walmart brand shortening. I used it yesterday with the White as Snow Buttercream and it came out perfect.
But it was tasty!!! It was my first try at that White Almond Sour Cream cake and I put strawberry filling, with the salvable cream cheese frosting, the cake was divine!!!
Thank you all for all your comfort, this will be the ONLY wedding cake for awhile! I'm traumatized!!!
LOL
I think the cake is wonderful! I am always critical about my own work but everyone else loves it and do not see the flaws.
As for the "new crisco" with no transfat. I know transfat is really bad for you but to be honest, it is being cut out of nearly every food on the shelves and out of most restaurants cooking oils, which means, people are NOT consuming much of this stuff these days... and how often do people really eat cake? It's a celebration, enjoy your "bad-for-you-food". And as long as the icing is not an inch thick with ginormous icing flowers, personally, I don't worry about nonsense like how much transfat is in my icing. I don't know, maybe it's just me. hehe.
Just chaulk it up to another learning experience. If the couple liked it I wouldn't worry about it. It may not have been perfect but it was still beautiful. And like others mentioned--I bet it tasted great.
I'm with you Sweets on that! Oh the insanity of it all!
Trevie, your post made me laugh out loud, I guess what you said then with your avatar, just "fit."
i am so sorry to hear about that. i looked at your cake and i think it looks wonderful despite everything. heres a hug for ya!!!
I've always used the Wal-Mart all vegetable shortening, too, and have never had a problem with it. So sorry about your not-so-great experience. Chin up. These things keep us humble, right?
I've just started using the walmart brand shortening, and I really love it! I just wish they would make it in sticks! I was having trouble with my bc too with the new crisco but also noticed a change in my scratch cakes. The walmart brand is cheaper so i guess I'm happy.
Measurements are approximate .... after 25 years of making this, the closest thing to a measuring tool that I use is a wooden spoon ("2 big glops of crisco").
2 lb p.sugar
1-1/3 cups crisco (give or take)
2-3 Tbsp clear vanilla (I LUV vanilla!)
1/3 to 1/2 cup milk, depending on consistency
3 Tbsp powdered Dream Whip
Part of my "until it looks right" test is to push my finger gently into the icing (that's on the beater). If lots of icing sticks, it's too thin and needs more sugar. If it makes a dent but none sticks to my finger, then it's too thick and needs more milk. Depending, of course, on whether I need it thin for a crumb coat or thicker for making roses.
now that I'm done sobbing. Let me give you all an update:
The mother of the bride, just called me, told me that was the WORST cake she's ever tasted. She had to throw both cakes away, I ruined her daughters day, and she just wanted to let me know what an awful job I did so that I don't do that to someone else.
(Now, they live right down the street, our kids are in the same grade, this was my first time ever dealing/meeting her as we never see her, only her husband, and he's really nice).
They had asked for a strawberry filling. So I put in fresh strawberries in a syrup sauce, in fact, a baker friend of mine, sells this in all her cakes and she made it for me. She told me she's never heard of ANYONE putting fresh strawberries in a cake, that that was just ridiculous and it was awful. She ended up telling me she wanted a strawberry cream. I told her that I was sorry, strawberry cream was on the list of fillings, but they had said strawberry filling.
After she had sampled Satin Ice at my house, she ended up telling me that the groomscake, which was covered in Satin Ice, was horrible, that that was not what they wanted and she had to throw it out. Even though she had agreed to it at my house.
She said, for the price she got, she should've recieved the servcie she paid for. I told her that I had only charged her $100 for BOTH cakes as a favor, and that the cakes were just what I had showed her and if it wasn't for the shortening problem and the humidity, there would not have been a problem. She complained about the top tier, and I told her, I had told you THERE that let your guests eat it, I would make another one for your daughter for her first anniversary, the bride had said okay. But the bottom 2 tiers were more than enough to feed all the guests as there was only 50 people and there was absolutely nothing wrong with them.
I remained calm with her, she insisted on going on and on about how awful they were and that she tasted CINNAMON and she hates cinnamon. I told her there was no cinnamon in the cakes, as there wasn't. And she said I was lying.
I told her I had made 2 other cakes the same way for 2 other parties, that same day and that there had been no complaints and I"m sorry that that happened to her, but she said that obviously people did not want to tell me how awful the cakes were and I needed to stop baking as I'm doing a dis-service to people. Which both of those 2 ladies called and ranted and raved about the cakes and were wanting cards to hand out to people who requested my info.
My husband, who never gets mad, was FURIOUS 
He went over there, gave them their $100 and after she tried to go off on him, he stopped her and said that I DID do her a service and I always DO a good job. Told me then that the $100 was worth not having to speak to them anymore.
So I started bawling, I was more hurt than anything that I did a favor for someone and for them to be so hateful, so ungrateful....
sorry this is so long...I thought ya'll would want to know...
what is this ....bit**y brides week? I just finished reading another thread about someone who was a Queen B about their cake.
My mouth was hanging open while reading this! OMG! 
I cannot get over some people!
So much I could say, but giving the money back and washing your hands from this is best. I'm am so glad you have a very supportive hubby who cut her off. My impression is women like that like to SOUND tuff by telling all of her friends "Well, I. Just. Told. HER!" And hubby didn't let her do that.
Look .... it's easy to say "don't dwell on it" but don't dwell on it. I view it this way ..... you are NEVER going to have another cake situation that is this bad ever again! 
And now when you hear other crisis stories, you have earned the right to sit back, smile, and share this story that starts with, "Oh yeah? Wait till I tell you THIS one!"
thanks indydeb! You really made me feel ALOT better. It was a spiritbreaker, but when I was telling my friend about what happened she said that that woman is a major B! That no one talks to her and she's very rude to everyone. So I just know now that she's just a mean person.
I feel better now and I'm not happy it happened but now I know the pain and hurt that other people on here feel and hate it now, that I can relate!
I was sharing what you said in your last paragraph with cc'er jewelykaye and we both just started laughing!
thank you {HUGS}
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