the elmo cake that ive been working on all week-end. i couldnt finish it before i had to drop it off today at 11:00. i still have the topper in my refrig and the cake is horrible looking. this has never happened to me before. i just didnt have any time this week to do any prep work (my grandaughter was home sick all week.)
i tried unsuccesfully to get 3 days work into 1 long day and sleepless night.
i feel horrible. it was 10:45 and i was still working on the cake. i had to just put it in the box and go. thankfully i did finish the smash cake somewhat.
forget that the design was no where what i had planned but it wasnt even a completed cake. and to make it worse the back end started to sink in prior to me leaving my house. then on the way to meet her-a car cut me off, i slammed on the brakes and the cake shifted.
i honestly wanted to call my friend and tell her the cake fell on the floor and i would go 'purchase' her a cake for her grandaughters party.
but my daughter talked me into dropping off the cake as planned, i felt so embarrassed.
now i have to clean up my mess in the kitchen-and i know just walk away from this expereince. to make it worse last week i made her a castle cake and everyone oooooed and aaaahed over that cake. im sure for this cake people will be like.....HUH? same person made this cake???
and i know its JUST cake, but im very upset and disappointed with myself that i tried to do so much when i knew that it cant be done.
and another thing. im always with my cakes. because its usually my party or im at the friends party where i bring the cake. this is the first time my cake is out of my sight. so i cant do touch-ups etc.
i couldnt go to the party with my grandaughter being sick.
gosh......i just dont know how your pro's do this! i guess that why im not a pro. and i never realized how protected i was of my cakes. until i made the castle cake last weekend and elmo this weekend.
im sensing a sickness here! 
I am sorry you are feeling bad. I am sure they still liked the cake. Don't be so hard on yourself. We all get this way once in a while.
I know how you feel, I have a bulldozer cake due on tuesday and I haven't started baking yet!
(I know I need to get my rear in the kitchen like 2 days ago!)
I've been busy with other things. Now I'm worried that it's not going to turn out. I am just going to do the best I can.
Hope you feel better soon! 
I'm off to bake....in a min!
listen i have felt this way often!!! and yes this happens to some (luckily not me yet) but luckily its your friend and im sure shes understanding that it slid apart in the car! amd she didnt know it wasnt great before the @ssh@le in front of you stomped on breaks!!! keep on baking these things happen hell even ace of cakes show these things happening!! to him
The way the pros do it day in and day out, is that our (at least my) schedule revolves around cake. The cake comes first. No I can't go to the neighborhood party (last Friday). Sent DH with the small chocolate fountain. Everyone took good care of him. No I can't cook dinner on any Friday night, ever. No I can't go out either. Yes, dear, I really am pulling an all-nighter. I don't have grandkids to watch, but honestly, if I've taken money for a cake, the mom would be taking care of the kid. Cakes are my business. The family and DH enjoy the $ I bring in, so they have to honor my schedule. Period.
That's the difference between caking as a hobby and caking professionally. When its a hobby you have options. When its a business, you put your customers' needs above your own.
And after all that, I'll bet your Elmo cake was fine.
I'm sorry for your troubles! I hope you're cheering up by now.
and I hope your grandchild is better...I'm a stay at home Grammie myself, and I usually watch the sick ones because honestly, the parents just don't get that luxury of taking a day off every time a child is ill.
Take care.
leahs you hit on the head. when you are a hobbyist like me friends/family dont understand how much time/energy/costs it takes to do cakes. so when i say im doing a cake, i still get pulled in a thousand different directions. noone gets that i need to spend maybe 3 days to do prep work. and when i do a cake i like to focus on that. i guess thats a plus for being a professional-people around you get it. (that was a definate problem on this cake-no set up or settling time-lesson learned, again!)
and i never accept money for any cakes. they are always my gift or i do some just for fun or practice. this cake however, and they castle last week-end, my friend wanted everything done organic, vegan and alcohol free. as much as i love baking organic-there was no way i could afford it. so we went shopping together to get what i needed. her jaw dropped when we were at the register. and that was just ingredients! not materials. shes offered me a gift card for the holidays to help cover materials (fondant, boards etc). i told her to go to global sugar for the gift card.(yippee!)
and my grandaughter is my responsiblity.
i havent heard from anyone from the party so i dont know what happened with the cake after i dropped it off. which is fine by me! i dont even want to know!
vtcake: my mom was a stay at home grammie and i can tell you how much i appreciated all she did to help me. especially my oldest who was always sick (in and out of hospital constinatley!) thank god for her-i wouldnt have been able to work without her.
im sure your family is thankful for all you do.
should i offer my friend 1/2 of what she spent on the ingredients?? or dont say anything?
I agree, some people have no idea the amount of time that is spent making a cake. They think you just slap it together in no time! It's just cake and icing, right?!!!
I babysit 2 days a week. The girl called me 37 times today to see if I would switch days with the other sitter. (bring baby tomorrow instead of tuesday). I need all of tomorrow to finish this cake, there is no way I could keep him. She worked it out and is pretty understanding.
Aundrea I admire you for taking care of your granddaughter.
My grandma used to take care of me and my sister when my mother worked.
I will. My daughter is 5 and loves to stay at my mother's. I swear if I'd let her move in she would in a second! She isn't in school yet (b-day is in fall) so I let her spend the night as much as she wants for now. She is going in a little while.
She calls my mom moggy. She loves to call her on the phone to chat also. She is always asking to call her moggy or go her house. I think it's great for both of them. They have a great time together.
Ok, I've got to get busy! I'll let you know when I finish!
awwww so cute. my kids were like that with my mom too. they spent more time there growing up then they did home. but like you i knew how important it was because once they were grown they wouldnt spend so much time there. (school, sports, work, boys etc!) a relationship with grandparents is so special.
and i had sweet revenge...i just ate the elmo cake (carved one that didnt make it on the cake) for breakfast. ...... tasted good!
I think leah hit the nail on the head for sure.........something that I find that helps is when my kids ask me for something when I'm decorating or my DH wants something....I just yell from the kitchen "I'm at work, I'll help you when I get home" LOL It reminds them that even though I'm standing right there, I technically AM at work.....when my DH is in a bad mood and decides to argue if it actually is a "real job" i remind him about his $300.00 slacker radio that he received for His Birthday and how I could NEVER afford something like that if I didn't have a job, or about the countless groceries and odds and ends that are paid for solely with "cake money" (cakes are my only work now) that usually ends it!
thats exactly what i mean! because i only do the as my hobby-my family/friends dont understand.
i hear "what do you mean you are gonna spend all weekend doing a cake?" or "why do you do all this work and dont make any money?"
then i have to explain it again for the one thousandth time.....
that probably is the most frustrating part of having a hobby that gets eaten and for the sole purpose of enjoyment. and alittle bit of therapy too.
oh well i refuse to get discouraged.
thankfully i can come here and vent or get encouragement.
sorry your feeling so down ,im sure your friend understands she will if she is a true friend, as for your grandchild money cant buy the love we have for them or the love we get back from them they are precious.
thanks -laidback, i havent heard from her so i dont know what happened with the cake.
as for being a gramma, i LOVE it! i wasnt planning on being a gramma so young, but i wouldnt trade it for anything in the world. she is also my name sake and im her godmother. we have a very special relationship.
now that i have one- i want more! im greedy. didnt realize how much i miss having little ones around. thats why i do so much volunteer work - enjoy working with kids. i also think it helps keep you young.
First of all, Ms. aundrea, can you be MY grandma? lol. I'm sick (cough, cough 
) Really though, your grandaughter is SO lucky to have you. My only grandma doesn't really care to have a relationship with us. 
She's really into herself and her sympathy needing hypochondria 
As for my kids, we live too far from my mom since DH is in the army. Thats a good thing tho, cuz my baby sister is their age, and my mom has "dysfunctional favortism" issues. Oh well, I'm sure thats more than you wanted to know. lol. 
As for the cake, I saw your cake and if you hadn't said something, I would never have thought something was wrong with it! As a matter of fact, even though I know you said it was messed up, I just can't see it! I don't know about the shifting, but in the picture it looks great. 
You definitely should NOT give 1/2 back. All of your cakes are beautiful. I kinda agree with your family. You SHOULD get paid for your beautiful work! I'm glad you feel better.
hi sugarnspicediva- love the screen name.
i consider myself lucky to have the relationship i have with her. i was close to one of my gramma's growning up we had such a bond. i miss her so much! she passed when i was 17. my other gramma who is still living lives in another state and we were never close. shes 97 and ive let all the past stay in the past.
i can relate to your situation.
ive made it a point to be close to my grandaughter (and hopefully future grandchildren ) because most of her grandparents are either passed, or have move far away.
as for the cake, it looked presentable i guess. but with all the stuff left off-i just felt bad. and disgusted. im actually making a little cake right now for work tonight, kinda redemption.
i just hope to finish it before i leave. im also waiting for the furnace guy to show up, hes already late ugh!
and i just peeked at your pics....nice work! love your roses 
The way the pros do it day in and day out, is that our (at least my) schedule revolves around cake. The cake comes first. No I can't go to the neighborhood party (last Friday). Sent DH with the small chocolate fountain. Everyone took good care of him. No I can't cook dinner on any Friday night, ever. No I can't go out either. Yes, dear, I really am pulling an all-nighter. I don't have grandkids to watch, but honestly, if I've taken money for a cake, the mom would be taking care of the kid. Cakes are my business. The family and DH enjoy the $ I bring in, so they have to honor my schedule. Period.
That's the difference between caking as a hobby and caking professionally. When its a hobby you have options. When its a business, you put your customers' needs above your own.
And after all that, I'll bet your Elmo cake was fine.
This is a great point. I am very particular that on certain days certain things must get done and if not, I don't go to sleep until they do. It's the only way I can keep on schedule.
I'm sorry things didn't work out this time. Live and learn.
Aundrea, I gotta be honest with you....I like the elmo cake more than I like the castle cake (not that the castle cake is bad, cuz its great)...so you definitely are being too hard on yourself. And, I think this is what makes you a wonderful cake artist...you ran out of time, you improvised, and still ended up with a beautiful product.
I hope you stop beating yourself up about this, and instead start reminding yourself about what talents and blessings you have.
Looking forward to seeing more of your cakes!
Sandi
i hear "what do you mean you are gonna spend all weekend doing a cake?" or "why do you do all this work and dont make any money?"
We could say the same thing about lots of other hobbys that don't even have the illusion of making money! 
Golfing? Walking around on a big yard for miles and miles in the hot sun to hit a little ball into a hole? And pay a big fee for the privilage of doing so? And you're going to spend all day Saturday doing it? 
Deer Hunting? You mean you're going to get up before the butt crack of dawn just to sit in a tree hoping to shoot a deer? And for all of that uncomfort, you still might come home empty handed? And you paid HOW much for that equipment?
Puttering in the Flower Beds? You mean you're going to kill your back and legs and hands by digging in dirt and messing around with flowers in the hot son on a Saturday? why would you do all of that work and not get paid for it?
Scrapbooking? You're going to spend a butt load of money to put pictures in an album in a 'fancy' way just so they can still be just some pictures in an albums? (In my personal opinion, this has GOT to be the biggest waste of time that I'll never get back in my life!) 
Camping? You mean you're going to pay a fee to go to a camp site, leave an air conditioned comforatble home to sleep on dirt and cook in a primitive way? And you paid how much for the euipment to do this?
You're going to spend ALL DAY volunteering in a soup kitchen? And not get paid for it?
Yeah .... we're going to do all of that. Because we ENJOY it! And when we're all done with our soup kitchen duty, and our scrapbooking, and our camping with our family, and making our house look pretty with the flower beds, then we're ALSO going to enjoy the time we spend making our cakes.
And we're going to do it Just Because!
amen to all of the above!!
now if you any of you will come over and talk to my family/friends i would soooooooooooo appreciate it! haha.
but seriously- thank you all so much for making me feel better when i was a bit down last week-end.
this was a lesson learned.
***muah's**** to all of my cc'ers.
I have to agree with Leah. My daughter was in the hospital for 5 days and my mom stayed with her because she got sick during graduation. I had commited to those customers and there was no going to be with DD til the last order was done.
Though I have to say that as pros we still get interrupted a million times a day while working on a cake. It is not our family and friends it is other customers. They all think they have to personally talk to me and that my employees are props that are incapable of writing an order up.
I started as an out of the home baker and expanded to my own shop so I have played both sides and have to say both sides have distractions. I like to get into a cake zone and not be bothered. Many days you will see me ipod earbuds in and volume LOUD!
I get grief about all of that, but also I have gotten bit by the challenge of "trying" to compete in some of the cake shows....okay, i want to challenge myself and see what I can do and how well (or not) I do against other cake designers out there....so I get complaints from my family why I am spending so much time working on a dummy cake that isn't for sale and can't be eaten...most of the complaints originate with DH (do I have to say dear?), but honestly, why is caking not taken as seriously as any other interest or hobby or talent or job? Honestly, the amount of work and time and talent it takes to make a successful cake rivals a lot of hobbies and day jobs that I know of, certainly my day job and I went to college for that! Having cake and cookie decorating as creative outlet is what saves me!
aundrea - I just had a look too and I also think you are being WAY too hard on yourself! Maybe dont think of it as an un-finished cake, but rather one that you changed the design along the way. Part of the creative process, often times my cakes look alot different to what I had originally planned! Haven't we all had a cake we just wanted to see the back of! It's really cute and it was afterall for a little girl who I bet thought it was the best thing ever!
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