So I was asked by a friend to do her a favor for a cake for another friends birthday. I sketched and gave a quote.... which ended up being higher then what she wanted to spend. So instead of fondant with other details, we ended up going back and forth... (at this point my gut said no!). We ended up agreeing on a carved 60 cake iced with simple borders. The 6 was carrot cake with cream cheese icing and the 0 was chocolate cake with choco butter creme in the middle. Since it's my best friend from college, I said yes to all her wishes. She asked if i could deliver it to the venue for her as she had to go to work. I agreed. thinking it was may be a 20 min ride. This morning i got the address.... map quest said 50 min and the gps said 39 min. I gave myself an hour.

The cake looked wonderful at home. I did the Viva treatment on it and it looked so good that my husband thought it was fondant

A bridge and 1 1/2 hours later I made it to the venue. Apparently the ride up hill, down hill and on trolley lines caused the left side of the 6 to shift. In the process i was cut off 3 times.

When I got to the venue, there are 2 entrances. I was at the wrong one, and waited about 10 minutes for someone to figure out if the party was upstairs or downstairs.... I hopped back into the car, drove around the dark building - there were pot holes all over YAY we made it- I find out what room it's in. walk all the way back. Get the cake. the wind pulled up the foil....my heart sank! I noticed the top part of the cake had cracked on the left side of the six cake. I had brought the three different icing with the tips, my spatualas. I tried to save it. i added a bit more icing, pushed it together. Filled up the icing to level - flattened it, added the borders. My six looked like it had a lil gut. I feel so horrible. I sent the pictures to my friend - both the at my house and at the venue. I am waiting impatiently for her to get done work. So we can discuss the refund situation.

This cake hobbyist feels like she should just stick to knitting.

Lessons learned:
Favors shouldn't shoot you in the foot before you even get started.
Get the delivery address ahead of time and don't take stuff more than 10 miles out.
Listen to the gut to avoid diasters.
Keep carved cakes frozen. (I wasn't sure if the IndyDeb recipe would sweat.)
When in doubt ask on the forum!


the pics are below

Pics are in my photos, the attachment thing didn't work or I did it wrong.

Any advice would be appreciated.

BTW my cakes were 3.24 inches high.

I don't know if this will help in the future, but people crack up laughing when they see me seat belt cake boxes in the car. I also use a bottled water to prop up the back of the box. (car seats are not level!)
I seat belt the cake boxes in to keep the cakes snug when I get cut off by tourists who don't know this area very well.

As far as the carving is concerned, that's an area that is new to me, perhaps someone with more experience in that area can help.

Also: God gave you a gut for a reason, we need to listen to it!

Best of luck!

Awwww! The cake looked great. I'll bet it didn't even look that bad at the venue. Our eyes become magnifying glasses when we see a flaw! Right??

The fact that the cakes were two of the most fragile - carrot and chocolate - just made more fun for the cake demons.

Did you chill the cakes before transporting? Were you able to keep the inside of the vehicle nice and cold?

I don't think freezing would have been a good idea. They might not have thawed thoroughly by the time they were served. That would have been a whole different issue!

Yep, getting all the info regarding delivery is essential, yet sometimes surprisingly difficult! Sure, the GPS tells you it's 39 miles, but does it mention that 10 of those miles are dirt road? Or winding, steep hills? You just gotta be prepared for anything.

I always call the venue a day or two before delivery to make sure they know what I'm going to need (tables, extra tablecloths, etc.) and to find out where to park and which door to come in. But, sometimes they fail to mention that you have to park in a 10-minute loading zone (along with every other vendor) and carry the cake up 3 flights of stairs!

Don't start handing out refunds unless you know they were unhappy with the cake. Don't be surprised if your friend raves on and on about how wonderful it was and everyone loved it. Keep that checkbook in your pocket.

Oh, and attachments haven't worked on CC for a couple of months.

I totally agree with the above advice. I think we are our own worst critics, and we tend to examine our cakes under a magnifying glass. This isn't a bad thing, except when we beat ourselves up. Hold on to your checkbook until you find out if they weren't happy with the cake and then go from there.

Hang in there! I've had some disappointments, too. And I've learned from them, just as it sounds like you have.

Yes what Diane said!
And she needs to give you a big fat tip!
No refunds!

(((big hug)))

I too have learned the hard way--there are so many questions to ask! I remember standing outside a locked door in the rain holding a heavy cake because the person that was supposed to open it for me forgot. Some of the venues that cakes will be displayed at have multiple doors and it takes some real detective work to find the person in charge that even knows where the cake will be displayed.

I would even go so far as to say that you should figure out the delivery route/mileage before you quote the cake. It is a lot more difficult to deliver a large cake over gravel and mountains than it is over a highway into town. The distance might be the same, but the stress level is way different.

These are questions I ask while we are figuring out the cake price, not after.

I can see that part where you had to fix it, but if I didn;t know about your ordeal I wouldn't have noticed! The cake looks great, you already gave her a good price, and delivered it for her! Wait and see what she says. That cake doesn't deserve to be refunded!

Sorry about all of the problems you had. The cake looks fine to me in your photos. I wouldn't refund her any money though. If they ate the cake and enjoyed it, they should pay for it.