I have been making cakes for a year now and wedding cakes for about half of that. I haven't posted any pictures yet because I'm just not totally happy with my wedding cakes when they're done ! The folks I make them for are pleased with the finished cake and they pass my name on to many others, but I'm just not happy when a cake is more than one tier !! ...Perhaps I'm trying to hard and should learn more , I really don't know. For instance I am finishing one for tomorrow and am now waiting for the icing to crust. my problem is... my cakes are so heavy, delicious, but heavy. I use the wasc recipe and my customers love it, so, is everyone else's cakes heavy when they're done as well? and does it take many hours from start to finish for everyone as it takes me ? I have a real problem with centering the second layer every time..is there something I'm not doing "every time"? ..Oh dear, maybe I'm too tired today I don't mind working on a cake as long as it takes but it's frustrating to not know what I'm not doing ! I guess I just had to get all thid stuff outta my poor head..people are so great with sharing on this site, I'm hoping for some tips or hints I can use. Thanks for listening

I know the feeling! I haven't done wedding cakes- but I do have issues with the amazing tasting WASC and it weighing so much on the layers below. I don't use a much icing filling (which is usually BC) but I still get the 'budge' from the weight. One day an amazing solution will come to me... LOL!

just remember...it will get better with practice. i've tried the wasc recipe and it is a bit heavy, but delicious. i wish you would post pictures so we can see the finished products!

Yup. They're heavy!

Yup. It can take hours and hours.

Remember, you are producing a work of art!

Keep it up! If you are getting repeats and referrals, you must be doing something right!

One thing that helps with the bulge is to put the filling in and then let it settle overnight. Then if there's a ridge on the cake the next day, you can trim it off before you frost the cake.

stick with it! I had a cake completely fall apart last weekend and i literally fell to the floor and cried my eyes out. Sometimes we are just tired and exhausted and walking away for a while is the best thing to clear our minds and start over. I weighed a 6inch round and it weighed 4 lbs! couldn't believe it! As long as you enjoy what your doing, don't worry about how long it takes..although i have felt the same many of times. We will get faster and more efficient and precise with practice so keep up the hard work!!! It will pay off....i'm certain OK....atleast thats what i keep telling myself

DON'T DESPAIR......... I have only been decorating for about 3 yrs and I have had NO training. Your cakes are probably fantastic - remember, we are our worst critic!! You should put your pictures up and let everyone here see and help you.

It certainly does take hours and hours depending on how much work is in the cakes, as prterrell wrote, you MUST be doing something right if people keep asking you to do them. I have looked at some of my cakes and picked it to pieces whilst others look in amazement and I am sure your's are the same.

Please don't give up, we have all been there and I still have days like that where I just don't know where to start but bit by bit, hour by hour, we get there

If you are unsure, post a thread on here and I GUARANTEE, there will be plenty of USEFUL ANSWERS and GOOD ADVICE !

Best of luck and I look forward to seeing some of your photos!

It takes me not only HOURS but DAYS to do a good-sized cake. That's partly because I work full-time, but usually I have to take Friday off to decorate a big cake that is already assembled!

As far as things not centered, bulging, and imperfect, the best advice I can give you is to buy at least the first three DVDs (Buttercream, Fondant, Stacking) by Sharon Zambito. She covers in detail, with great ease and clarity, exactly what you need to do to avoid all the problems you mention. You won't regret the expenditure. If you can't afford it, save for it, beg for it, do what you gotta do to get those DVDs!!

I would think if you are being referred, to other clients, by your current clients, you are doing an amazing job, do not doubt yourself or be discouraged, keep doing what you do, practice makes perfect, the more cakes you make the better you are, and after a year you must be good, Post those Pics so we can see those amazing cakes and make some wonderful comments

Kim I can't believe that you Pick your cake to pieces you cakes are totally amazing,

like the poster above said, if you are being recommended then you must be good. no-one will pass one someone's name if they are disappointedin the product. i have realised that now after having so much repeat and word of mouth business that no matter how hard we are on ourselves, cake muggles dont see what we see - they see the overall effect not every tiny element of the cake like we do. i made my first two wedding cakes last week and i nearly had a breakdown. i had all the cakes baked, flowers made, etc and it took me from 9am-5pm on tuesdsay and wednesday just to make my buttercream and fondant and tort, level and cover each cake. i had taken holidays from work so i would have plently of time and thank god i did!! i was all ready to never to another wedding cake again apart from the ones already booked but im already looking forward to my next one next week.


keep your chin up and try and think about how you would feel if your friend was at your standard and made a wedding cake - you would look at it as a whole and say it was gorgeous and you would mean it. we are all our OWN worst critics xo

...I know I'm not much help but ditto to everything you said!!! Also, I woke up to my first cake wreck this morning after hours of finishing it yesterday. Totally non repairable!

Well, I the wedding cake as my avatar... The bottom tier is Mud Turtle. I dam the cake and put in runny, yummy caramel and pecans. What I didn't think of was with the shape of the cake that torting and daming and filling would make the cake disintegrate into a puddle of goo the night before delivery. So at midnight (and missing some ingredients) I started re-baking. Lesson learned. I managed to pick up the pieces enough to salvage the wreck and served it to my neighbours. They love me now.

So just remember, these things happen, and if you love doing it, then keep on trucking!!!!

You've been doing it this long - don't give up now! Just keep doing what you are doing and you will learn new things and continue to get better and better.