I worked really late last night to finish a birthday cake for a friend. Her son's first birthday. Finished the last touch ups around midnight. Dh prepared to put the cake in the box when the board creased! The BC cracked the smooth finish. It looks bad. I totally forgot to bring my camera but may be that was on purpose.

My friend is coming to my work to pick up the cake and I don't know what to say. She may (and I say that loosely) think it's great so I don't want to start off by saying "I'm sorry it's crappy"

I didn't do this cake for profit and I know I've lost money on it but I feel so crappy handing this cake over. I bought confetti to hide some cracks but you can still see some. *sigh*

I'm on the verge of running to the store to pick up a Wilton tube of icing (blech) to add some distractions w/o getting too busy.

WWYD?

I would just explain to her exactly what happened and apologize. If she's truly a friend, she'll understand. Definitely look into masonite or foamcore for future cake boards!

We are always our worst critics! I bet it doesn't look as bad as you think?! I think I always use too many cardboard rounds for my cakes, but you can never have too much stability when it comes to our precious cakes!

I think most non cake people don't notice the flaws that we do. I wouldn't worry about it unless she seems concerned. If it really bothers you and extra deco's won't ruin the look then go for it, but I'm sure it's fine

Offering 100% disclosure and sharing your personal disappointment would be foolish. The cake is a gift right? Don't rain on her once in a lifetime parade. If you were able to disguise it with confetti--go with that. Tell her you hope her little boy has a wonderful first birthday. It ain't about you or your cake. It's about a celebration that should be respected.

Who can't improve from one cake to the next? We all can. We all can do better--just keep doing it.

We are our own worse critics. LOL I can show you over 5 flaws in each of my cakes but when the customer comes to pick them up they never even notice. I think it's because 'we' know how it should look and we hold ourselves to that standard. Non cake people could really careless. IMO

She JUST picked it up. She and her MIL were impressed. I guess you were right. My heart still pounding. They really liked it. She's not a touchy feely person but she gave me a hug.

WHEW! Glad that's over and out of my hands. She's going to send pictures.