Just Sharing My Story, Hope It Will Make You Smile....(Long)
Decorating By Photomommie Updated 30 Aug 2007 , 12:36pm by KrisD13
Well Thank goodness this wasn't for a paying customer or i would have been in tears!!!!!!!!
It is my Wilton course III final cake, a tiered cake. I found a cake here on CC that was perfect and was to try and create it. Now this being my 4th and final class ( I took Fondant & Gumpaste already) I thought this was going to be my best of the best!
Anyway 2 days before my class I'm going to make my RI white roses..........as I'm making them they look really good, I think!, well aafter about a dozen I look back down at the 1st roses, they are a big pile of ....well a blob! It is to hot and humid! As a note it was 10pm at night and I was in a house with AC, but outside it was high 90's & humid. So i stop there and choose a new cake to make.
Second cake choosen day of the class, it needs a 6" and 10" cake.......I have only 9" & 12" I run out to the closet store, they only have 9" or 12"....ugh! So I go back home, and start the 12" pan baking, then I bake the 2 9" pans, wash the 12" pan then bake another 12" cake. Okay now I have to trim all 4 cakes (can you say cake balls). The 6" cake is lemon with lemon filling, comes out fine....the 10" cake was YC with canolli filling, but my filling wasn't getting thick. I drained the cheese, maybe it was the heat again?????? well I put a thick dam to keep the filling in.....
Now to roll out my fondant.....I color it to a perfect blue, I roll it out on my greased mat to 18" round I place it over the cake and start to peel it off..........it is stuck to the mat! The enitre center of the fondant is stuck, coming off in pieces! CRAP! All of that nice Satin Ice, in the trash!
Ok no worries yet.......I will use BC instead, can't embroider but I will do something! I make more BC color it blue, not as nice as the fondant came out, but I deal. Now my crumb coat has been at least an hour....now I try to frost my cake, the WHITE crumb coat is coming up with my BLUE BC.. ...Ok now I'm starting to lose it, class is in 1 1/2 hours, I give up and just frost the cake with white spots throughout it, so much for my best of my best!!!! I get them both frosted, just in time to leave for class. Get my cake carriers and put the 6" cake in. Then I put the 10" cake in.......as I put the cover on I see the top of the cake getting smushed by the cover!!! $*#@!!!! Who cares I have to go.
I get to class and unload all my tools and reveal my wonderful cakes.....HEHE I"m not done most of the top of my 10" cake was on the inside cover of the carrier and well the 6" cake even though i had it on a non-slip mat....slipped into the side of the carrier. So it had no side to it!
So my cake was by far my worst cake EVER! I finished my class at least I found out how to put the tiers on........Oh and BTW the canolli filling was horrible, and the entire 10" cake was thrown out!
Gotta Love HEAT & HUMIDTY a cake bakers worst enemy!
My DH was shocked I didn't just break down and cry.
Hope this made you smile ( at my misery, JK) LOL
Thanks for reading my rant.........
Sounds like you had an awful time, but I have a question... why did the satin ice need to go in the trash? Couldn't you just have re-rolled it?
The underside of the fondant that hit the cake in some parts (which my non crusting BC crumb coat was attaching itself tooo) was all over. And with the way it tore, I couldn't even begin on how to repair it... I guess I'm still to new to this fondant stuff!
Oh my, sounds like you had a tough time of it. Next time your fondant sticks to your matt, just scrape off any (most) of the bc that stuck to it, knead it up and re roll.
What a story!
Buttercream kneads back into fondant just fine. Make sure there are no crumbs, then just knead it back to the right consistency and reroll.
I hope next time is a winner for you!
Thanks for sharing. To be honest, you made me feel a lot better. I freaked out this morning when I accidentally dropped a tray of freshly made morning glories!
By the way, is it possible to make roses in this hot, humid weather? I used to be able to make them and when I've tried lately, they look like cabbages!
One question: did you take a picture of it? I have found that I need to still take a pic of the ones I hated or fell apart. It is kind of like therapy. Makes the rest look really good!
"I roll it out on my greased mat to 18" round I place it over the cake and start to peel it off..........it is stuck to the mat!"
Do you normally use crisco or something to roll out your fondant on? You said you used a 'greased mat'... in the classes that I have taken we were shown to use cornstarch.
If you did use some actual kind of 'grease' would that possibly be why it stuck to the mat? I'm definitely not an expert though...
You poor thing! Atleast you held it together. But it seems like when you have days like that and everything that can will go wrong. Then you will have days that breeze by and wonder why they all cant be that way. I guess life immitates art!
sorry that you had a bad cake day....but like you said thank God it was for you and not a client!!!!
i feel your pain. my last cake was supposed to be all MMF, but i couldn't keep it from sticking and had to eventually throw it out & go w/buttercream instead. i was so frustrated. i even used a buttload of PS on the counter and it still stuck. it made me crazy to say the least! sorry you had to deal with that too. i just chalk it up to a learning experience. when i finally figure it out, i'll know a gajillion ways NOT to do it!
Stiffen up that royal icing and it will solve the problem. I use 4 egg whites and 2 pounds powdered sugar. Sometimes it's too stiff, sometimes it's too loose, it's a day to day thing. Never hesitate to add some sugar!
What a story!
Buttercream kneads back into fondant just fine. Make sure there are no crumbs, then just knead it back to the right consistency and reroll.
I hope next time is a winner for you!
Now you tell me! LOL,
TY HollyP I didn't know that! All that Satin Ice in the trash, such a shame. I'm quick to throw things out, I once made a tray of eggplant parm for my DH, he told me the eggplant was cut to thick, soI threw the entire try away....he wasn't to happy with me .
I need to put a lock on my trash can!
Thanks again for the info!
Thanks for sharing. To be honest, you made me feel a lot better. I freaked out this morning when I accidentally dropped a tray of freshly made morning glories!
By the way, is it possible to make roses in this hot, humid weather? I used to be able to make them and when I've tried lately, they look like cabbages!
Hey if I spray the lumpy roses lt green and give them to my kids and say that they are cabbage, they might actually eat thier veggies ! I like it!
Thanks rsdd108, sorry about your morning glories!
One question: did you take a picture of it? I have found that I need to still take a pic of the ones I hated or fell apart. It is kind of like therapy. Makes the rest look really good!
Yup I did, gotta keep the bad ones!!
Do you normally use crisco or something to roll out your fondant on? You said you used a 'greased mat'... in the classes that I have taken we were shown to use cornstarch.
If you did use some actual kind of 'grease' would that possibly be why it stuck to the mat? I'm definitely not an expert though...
Yes Buffin, I did use crisco. So if I roll fondant out on corn starch it might not stick, I know I have cornstarch in my fondant bag, but I forgot what it was to be used for, my bad. Thank you for helping me!
Stiffen up that royal icing and it will solve the problem. I use 4 egg whites and 2 pounds powdered sugar. Sometimes it's too stiff, sometimes it's too loose, it's a day to day thing. Never hesitate to add some sugar!
kansaslaura, I was adding meringue powder to stiffen it up, not sugar! DUH! Well as you can see I still new at this.
Thank you all for all of you ideas and fixes. I appeciate it
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[quote="buffim"]Do you normally use crisco or something to roll out your fondant on? You said you used a 'greased mat'... in the classes that I have taken we were shown to use cornstarch.
If you did use some actual kind of 'grease' would that possibly be why it stuck to the mat? I'm definitely not an expert though...
Yes Buffin, I did use crisco. So if I roll fondant out on corn starch it might not stick, I know I have cornstarch in my fondant bag, but I forgot what it was to be used for, my bad. Thank you for helping me!
I don't know about everyone else, but I much prefer to use Crisco to roll out my fondant. I used to use powdered sugar or cornstarch, and I will never go back. I use MMF, though, but I wouldn't think SatinIce would be any different. I think the Crisco helps with the texture of the fondant, too. And - bonus - it softens my hands!
Heather
PHOTOMOMMIE,
I just read your article, in all honesty - IT MAKE ME LAUGH SO HARD THAT I ENDED UP IN THE LADIES ROOM AS I WET MY TROUSSERS!!!! LOL, LOL.
When my co-workers heard me laughing so loud, they came to my desk to find out what caused me to laugh this way. I just left them reading your article while I ran to the ladies room. Thank you, thank you for those laughs - I really needed them
But you know something my dear? I have had most of your problems too. Specially the canolli filling issue. The more I read, the louder I laughed because I saw myself going through the same just like you. GOD bless u.
Rolling your fondant out on Crisco is better, cause the powdered sugar, or cornstarch dries it out, and it will crack much easier. It's also not as easy to work with.
From the general consensus, use the Crisco.
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