I baked a cake in a terra cotta pot. I then covered it with fondant and then put fondant roses in the pot (a lot of weight!)
The cake is slowing leaning and buckling! What can I do to save this cake? I took off some roses and placed a couple straws in the cake and also balled up some fondant and put it in the pot "tray" I made and put the cake in the fridge. So far this has helped - but I don't think it is going to last until morning. I made a few extra roses to cover these problems.
PLEASE HELP!!!!
what did you fill/ ice it with? is it really concave in shape?...and.... did you bake, and decorate shortly after that or did you bake, chill overnight then decorate?
i think refrigerating it will give it a chance to firm up and solidify. dowels will also help, i dont think straws are going to hold it too long, but if thats all that you have its good for now at least. leave it in the fridge for as long as possible..
I would certainly defer to melysa on this due to her expertise, but just thought I'd throw out a suggestion if you are really worried about it continuing to collapse before refrigerating it overnight. Although it still involves redoing your fondant and thus more work than you may be up for (but less work than redoing the whole cake!)
So here's my crazy, overwrought idea: remove fondant and cut the cake in the middle horizontally (like torting it) and turn it into a "two-tier cake" i.e. dowel the bottom "tier", put a cake board under the top "tier" and stack them, dowel thru center and then re-ice and fondant.
Just a thought. My suggestion may be TOTAL overkill but after seeing Cynita's beautiful beer bottle cake (down lower in this thread) take a beating, was just thinking, it would be a way to completely avoid the risk of the cake itself falling apart..? (Again, with my lack of expertise, I am not trying to say it WILL fall apart! Maybe it's already done shifting...?)
KrisD13, you are too funny!
This may sound crazy but... can't you cut the cake in half (top to bottom) and place it on another board/cake plate and put dowels under the top portion? That way the dowels are supporting the weight of the top layer and decorations. Just what I came up with without seeing wha you are talking about. HTH
Thanks, I think the heat and humidity got it! 
Once I put it in the fridge it seemed to firm up - I will just leave it in there and hope for the best tomorrow!!! Unfortunately I have no time to redo the fondant! I am attaching a picture - the fondant was once lovely and smooth - 
I covered and filled with bc and I baked and put the cake in the freezer a couple days ago.
In the morning before the cake goes anywhere I will dowel it up a bit and try to smooth the fondant out - I just hope it turns out fine!!!!! Thank goodness this is just for my Husband's grandmother - who is giving it to a friend. She was here this evening and said that it looks lovely! 
Again, thanks for all the suggestions!
twooten173, I think we were typing at the same time, lol 
.
Carson, it is so cute, just keep it refrigerated for as long as possible (and advise the recipients to do the same) as melysa suggested, and hopefully it'll hold up until they go at it with their forks. Nice roses!
Carson,
I have no sugestions but had to say...This is absolutely beautiful! Your roses are perfect and i love the whole idea.
Hope it all works out for you in the end.
the roses are so pretty! i see what you mean about the fondant sagging. i am sure it may be too late by now, but fyi, for future notice, its not a good idea to try to resmooth the surface of fondant once it has set up. it will usually just dent it up more. its also helpful to cover a cake with fondant while the cake is still chilled so its firm. i'm sorry this has happened, but seriously, the cake is still very pretty. most people are thrilled to have a cake such as that, that they dont even notice the "flaws" like we do. let us know how it turned out.
ceshell , stop inflating my ego heehee...
krisD13, i myself went on a crazy hunt for the sugarcraft thread last night after seeing you mention that. its like telling a kid there are cookies SOMEWHERE in the kitchen! i was so bummed out to hear about all of that, i was just about to spend 50 bucks on gumpaste ranunculus, which i cant find ANYWHERE else!!!
I just sent the cake as is - she was just so happy with it she didn't want me to touch it! I am glad but a little bummed because I know I can do better! I think if I put that much weight on top again I will use a cake board and dowel!! All I know is that it has survived the car ride and is now in the fridge. They are taking it out when the party starts as a "centre piece"- I hope there are no other cakers there - they are the ones that notice flaws!!
Thanks again!
Thanks ceshell, melysa and twooten for the suggestions, and everyone else for their nice words!
I think next time I will bake in the 6" rounds and carve!!
And ceshell, I'm watching the thread on how to cover a tall cake, I think this information will come in handy for a tall flower pot cake as well!
I was going to suggest taking off the flowers, dowel the cake and place the flowers on a cakeboard.
twooten173, I think we were typing at the same time, lol
.Carson, it is so cute, just keep it refrigerated for as long as possible (and advise the recipients to do the same) as melysa suggested, and hopefully it'll hold up until they go at it with their forks. Nice roses!
ceshell,
great - or maybe deranged - minds think alike! 
Carson,
Great idea, well executed (damn the heat and humidity) and those roses are flawless!
by the way, ceshell and tootin, the suggestion to have torted and put on a cake board with dowels to support the top half was an excellent one!
ha ha, i just snorted out loud because i realized that i wrote TOOTIN, not TWOOTEN...i am so sorry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
how embarressing, i think i was in a hurry 
oops
by the way, ceshell and tootin, the suggestion to have torted and put on a cake board with dowels to support the top half was an excellent one!
ha ha, i just snorted out loud
because i realized that i wrote TOOTIN, not TWOOTEN...i am so sorry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! how embarressing, i think i was in a hurry oops
I wasn't going to say anything because I've been called worse
When you do this cake, when you put the fondant on, do you leave it upside down for awhile to let it set up???
Carson---your roses are gorgeous! Your cake looked wonderful. It's just miserable weather to try anything fabulous right now. You should see my skateboard that I just finished. I don't even know what to say about it!!!!
Also, how did you get the beautiful design on the flower pot?
Lu
What BEAUTIFUL roses! They had to love the cake, I knowI do! 
lu9129
Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 7:15 am Post subject:
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When you do this cake, when you put the fondant on, do you leave it upside down for awhile to let it set up???
Carson---your roses are gorgeous! Your cake looked wonderful. It's just miserable weather to try anything fabulous right now. You should see my skateboard that I just finished. I don't even know what to say about it!!!!
Also, how did you get the beautiful design on the flower pot?
Lu
I did leave it upside for a while, maybe not long enough?
For the design - I used Polymar molds (used for polymar clay - new of course) that I found at Michaels. They are flexible and work well with fondant and you can get all sorts of designs and shapes.
lu9129
Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 7:15 am Post subject:
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When you do this cake, when you put the fondant on, do you leave it upside down for awhile to let it set up???
I did leave it upside for a while, maybe not long enough?
.
perhaps that was part of the problem. covering it upside down, turning it rightside up cooperates with gravity. i'd suggest chilling the baked cake overnight and then carving the cake, and covering it upright. that way the fondant wont buckle as much as when there is nothing holding on to the top of the cake. to show you what i mean, the second tier on this purple cake was carved into shape and covered from the top.
http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=845323
its a little tricky getting the fondant smooth without pleats at the bottom, but with a little patience, it works. with a flower pot, you'll also have the saucer at the bottom to cover up any pleating.
i placed the torted unfilled cake on a cake board, and also place a cake board that was two inches smaller on the top. used the top smaller board as my guide to carve downward (at this point the cake is upside down). when i finished carving all the way around, i flipped it rightside up , filled and crumbcoated, chilled for an hour then covered with fondant. i used imbc and satin ice fondant, i also find those two things work well with carved cakes because imbc is so stable and the satin ice is very pliable.
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