I am not sure what happened. I made a 2 tier fondant baby cake I used straws and 1 wooden dowel down the center for support. It fell that same night at the customer's house. She said she thought it might have been bc it was too hot. Any suggestions on how to have prevented this from happening? This is the first time this has happened that I am aware of.

So sorry that happened! I know you must feel sick over it.

Did you use drinking straws or Bubble Tea straws? I just don't think drinking straws are strong enough to support much of anything. As well, how many did you use? If it was only four, then I'd say you have your answer right there. The weight of the fondant just won't be supported by something as light as a regular drinking straw. Some people use a drinking straw and then insert a wooded dowel into that. Others use the Bubble Tea straws... many still use the wooden dowels by themselves. I like the large plastic dowels that Wilton carries. They are a bit harder to cut, but are pretty close to fail proof.

Heat could have played into the variable in the sense that if things were not terribly stable to start with, you were on the losing end of the spectrum when heat was added in.

Again, so sorry it happened to you!

And she's sure no one *touched* it? A pet or child, or curious hubby who didn't think that could happen? When you say straws do you mean bubble tea straws or plastic drinking straws? How hot was it in her house? The bottom tier looks to have too much pressure on it, that's what would cause that sort of breakage. Straws could be too short and heat too high.

Sorry to hear that

Did you have a cake board under your top teir? Maybe your straws were too short causing the top teir to be putting pressure on the cake below.

I use wood dowels or the large plastic rods, I wouldn't dare use a straw of any kind with fondant. Sorry it happened, but you'll learn from it. I've gotten many lessons believe me.

This is the very same cake as the most recent one in your photos, right?

In the collapsed picture, where is the name? The frogs? If it just collapsed spontaneously, why are they missing? Were they really firmly attached to begin with? It's very curious that they're gone... Was there an explanation provided for their absence?

It seems to me that removing them might have been enough to cause a collapse under the circumstances. Unless there's some other reason they're gone, that is...

That cake looks like it was dropped.

Sadly, you'll probably never find out what they actually did with/to the cake. You obviously know how to stack and support your other tiered cakes that look just fine, so I wouldn't worry about it too much--looks like there's nothing you could have done once it was out of your control.

It looks to me like the frogs would be on the other side of the cake. This is the back. My question is... It is obviously in the fridge. Was it in the fridge when it collapsed? did something get pushed against it as it was going in the fridge? If it was put in the fridge and then taken out maybe the condensation was too much for the straws to handle. I'm not sure but I think its weird that it would just collapse on its own.

this cake was most def dropped

Wow. I agree. Something seems sketchy here. If it had just collapsed the baby should be facing the other direction.

Ohhh, how sad! This must be the front of the cake - it's facing the same way as in the OP's picture posted in her photos. The name does seem to be missing right where the collapse is. Maybe they closed the fridge with something in the door shelf and it hit the cake. Trying to remove the letters from cold fondant to fix the damage would have pulled it apart. I don't know how structurally sound it was to begin with, but in any case, i"m so sorry this happened to you.

I am sorry this happened to you.

For your next order, you should have the customer sign a disclaimer.

I totally agree! This is not a collapsed cake. Curious hands or pet...maybe. Dropped...more likely.

From the look at this cake, this would have been the 7.0 of cake collapses. There must have been an massive earthquake inside this cake. It almost looks explosive! The fondant ball decorations even are out of place. Fishy I tell ya!

I 100% agree that something doesn't seem right.
I hope they aren't trying to blame you for something someone else did.
Jodi

I agree with the others that say that there is foul play involved. I don't know much about cake collapses, but if that's all that happened, why would there be icing all on the sides of the cake that are still intact and cake/icing on the board?

And like others have pointed out the top tier is still facing the same way...

I'd like to see how you resolve this with the customer.

I used regular straws but had about 8-10 straws in it. I did also use a cardboard piece underneath. I did not transport it there so I am not sure if anything happened on the way. She said that it was quite warm in her house that they are needing a new ac unit. It's a friend of mine, but does look like it might have gotten messed with looking at the pic. I have stacked quite a few cakes before using regular straws (I use wooden dowels or straws depending on size of cake) and never had this issue(especially being the same day I stacked it)

Oh Wow! This totally looks like there is some shady business. You never know...DH or kiddo could have messed with it and THEY are telling a fib to mom...good grief. It really doesn't look like it just collapsed

I am not sure what happened I am trying to not feel too bad about it bc it wasn't like this when I sent it on its way. I told her not to put in the fridge but to keep in a cool room...so not sure how it was stored.

sorry, it posted twice!

well she just said she was mad when she first saw it but that it turned out okay and still tasted good. She never called to tell me it happened I just saw the pics on her facebook and asked her about what happened to the cake. Like I said it was a friend of mine who lives out of town so I didn't transport it there. As far as resolving it with her that was the extent of it...along with me feeling bad that it ended up looking that way before the shower.

Oh man, the cake detectives are all OVER this! And once again, I'm certain they are right!! I thought you delivered it, there is no way for you to be responsible for it once it leaves your possession, especially with them driving it by themselves!! Sorry for their loss, but it is exactly that... THEIR loss! Someone is not being honest here. Whether someone else did it, or your friend, I don't mean to insinuate that your friend would intentionally lie to you, but things have happened to this cake. BAD things.

Thats assume for one second that it did collapse on its own (yeah right), how on earth did icing did smeared all over the out the side of the fondant? Furthermore, how did cake crumbs end up on the corner of the cake board?!?!?! There is just NO WAY!!!!! This cake was dropped. I agree with others, it looks like the top tier was placed back on top backwards.

I hope she didn't put your name with the pic on her facebook!!!!

If she didn;t call to complain perhaps something did happen like a drop or a bump and because she knew it was her fault she didn;t call to ocmplain and just tried to salvage the cake for the event. SOrry! Did she write anything negative with the facebook post?