My Wedding Cake Began To Fall =O(
Decorating By aviles2005 Updated 16 Aug 2007 , 5:21am by kansaslaura
Let me start of by saying I took 2 wedding cake orders on the same day. (Both were 4 tiers) I live in an apartement with a mini oven and a normal size fridge.
I started to make the cakes and all but one cake fit in the fridge. So I figured after the first one was picked up I'll finish that last one and it should harden up in 3 hours in the fridge, well it didnt. It was still soft and I went to the reception sight to set it up and you would see that cake start to buckle. It as the second to the bottom tier, The cake was going to fall...... My bother was helping me and said just leave it... 
Well I coulnt just leave it, the cake was starting to crack open 
I didnt know what to do so I took it into the hot kitchen and removed that layer. Will lil icing I got it together but It didnt look so good. It wasnt perfect and I was so so so sad. 
that cake I removed was crumbled inside, I mean broken into little pieces.. 
How in the world is that possible. Anyway I havent talked to the bride yet, At least I saved the cake. What do I do know??? offer a refund? but I only charged her like a $1 a slice because she was a co worker and it was my first real wedding cake. the 12" cake is what fell apart I dont know if they even tried to serve it. Thats a lot of pieces that werent served. I came home and took a minute to cry becasue I felt like such a failure, In the end the 3 tier cake was still nice.
im not sure why you needed to refrigerate you cakes for so long.... i usually leave mine at room temp and they are just fine. when did you bake them in relation to when you iced and delivered them? im sorry that happened to you. i think i would refund the money for that tier, since its likely she wasn't able to serve it, and she ended up with a three tier cake instead of the agreed upon 4 tier cake.
I am so sorry that happened to you. I would give them a refund at least on the 12 inch and offer to make them a free anniverary cake. Good press goes a long way
Same question here - why would a cake need to harden? That means, if I'm thinking correctly, that the cake is only "stable" if cold? So, if that is the case, aren't all the cakes at risk of falling apart if they come to room temperature?
Otherwise, I can't make sense of it!
Melissa
I make my icing with all butter buttercream and ( It was so hot in my home and outside) I had to refrigerate it so it wouldnt be so so soft. I made the cakes a day before and I filled this one with white chocolate mousse and fresh strawberries. I had the cakes doweled with the thick white hollow dowels. I knew I had cut these to short just to fit the plate on. I put a plate on becuase I wanted to make sure it would be secure, I obviously messed that one up. I also used boxed cake and I vow to use scrath cake for now on. They have been so flimsy lately..I havent heard from the bride but the other bride that got all her cakes in one piece emailed me there 
that made me feel better
I make my icing with all butter buttercream and ( It was so hot in my home and outside) I had to refrigerate it so it wouldnt be so so soft. I made the cakes a day before and I filled this one with white chocolate mousse and fresh strawberries. I had the cakes doweled with the thick white hollow dowels. I knew I had cut these to short just to fit the plate on. I put a plate on becuase I wanted to make sure it would be secure, I obviously messed that one up. I also used boxed cake and I vow to use scrath cake for now on. They have been so flimsy lately..I havent heard from the bride but the other bride that got all her cakes in one piece emailed me there
that made me feel better
I think when we are making cakes in the heat we need to add that half a cup of shortening. I think that's the only thing that would've held in the fillings!
so sorry that happened to you but, glad the other cake was great!
Did you doctor the box cake or make it just like the directions say?
I would say that just a boxed mix no doctoring would not hold up very well to stacking. I use the WASC extender for eveything and have no problems with it. It comes out more like a pound cake and can stand up to stacking/carving etc.
I would say that just a boxed mix no doctoring would not hold up very well to stacking.
It's all I've ever used for 25 years, so I wouldn't say that's a true statement.
When a cake is stacked, it's not really sitting on top of the lower tier cake .... it's sitting on the doweling system.
I agree with Deb I have only had one problem knock on wood. But it was how I had the support system not set up very well. Needless to say I learned from my mistake
So sorry that happened. Even though you doweled your tiers with the hollow white dowels, which are the ones I use and I really like them, maybe it was the spacing of the dowels. Did you space them far enough apart to support the rest of the cake.
If I am making a 4 tier cake with the bottm tier 12" and the next 10" I mark a 7" square in the center of the 12" and place 4 dowels on the corners. And just for overkill I put 2 more in the center spaced 4" apart(those 2 act as a ground level center support system for the top 2 tiers)
The bottom tier has to support the entire cake so I always use at least 6 dowels. I know that takes away from the number of servings so I just make the cake to feed a few more people. For the other 2 tiers I go with 4 dowels each.
Think of cake decorating as being like a medical career. Its a practice. Some things are exact and concrete. Some things can be improved upon through trial and error. We learn someteing different with every cake. Ive been doing this for 30 years and Im still learning
Call your bride and offer a refund on the ruined tier. She probably wont take the money. I mean where can she get a 3 tiered cake for $1 a slice? 
Oh and I agree with indydebi, I use box mixes sometimes without a problem. But not Duncn Hines I think its very fluffy.
I used the Duncan Hines cake mixes, i used the extenders recipe. Honestly I never had a problem before but for some reason I have been getting a fluffier cake out of it, just way too soft and gentle. I'm afraid to do a scratch white cake because the recipes are so simple and box cakes are so good. I honestly think the the main problem was the fact that my soft buttercream never had the chance to set and on top of that I didn't dowel it correctly. I think that was my biggest problem. I tried to use a separating plate for support but I didn't have the thick dowel so the plate could just fit into. SO I though I was compromising and making it work but obviously I made it worse and Ive learned my lesson. To deliver the cake I staked the 14"&12" and the 10"&8" and let me just say they chose there reception on the bumpiest road around. When You guys are doing a huge heavy cake. Lets say a 16" in bottom with 5 tiers, What do you use for the bottom layer support. Do you use wooden dowel, separation plates. or white hollow dowels. I want to know for next time. Thanks girl.
II think that was my biggest problem. I tried to use a separating plate for support but I didn't have the thick dowel so the plate could just fit into. SO I though I was compromising and making it work but obviously I made it worse and Ive learned my lesson. To deliver the cake I staked the 14"&12" and the 10"&8" and let me just say they chose there reception on the bumpiest road around. When You guys are doing a huge heavy cake. Lets say a 16" in bottom with 5 tiers, What do you use for the bottom layer support. Do you use wooden dowel, separation plates. or white hollow dowels. I want to know for next time. Thanks girl.
Indy is right on the money. I guess if you think of it as an illusion that the cake is stacked on itself it would help understand the importance of the dowels. With proper doweling it's conceivable you could put a layer of cake on top of a pile of whipped cream. I have never used the hollow dowels, only the wooden ones.
Just for the record, I NEVER transport stacked. I allow time at the hall to finish construction. The movement/sway on those dowels supporting the upper layers during transportation would only invite trouble.
My methods may be old school, but I've never had a crack or collapse doing it this way.
Here's a {{{{Hug}}}} hard lesson, but I know you'll never repeat it.
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%