Wedding Fondant Peeled Off By Maitre'd??
Decorating By bdrider Updated 22 Nov 2010 , 6:30pm by cownsj
Has anyone ever heard of the fondant off a wedding cake being peeled off by the staff of the wedding venue BEFORE being served to the guests????
I have never in my life seen this...
I made the cake for the wedding I was at and noticed the slices being served looked TERRIBLE as the buttercream was missing in places on the servings and there was fondant only on every 8th or 9th slice I saw...
Turns out the maitre'D was peeling it off before slicing and serving because he said most people just peel it off anyway!!!
I was truly horrified... It looked soooo terrible...
Thats terrible. What on earth possessed this person to do this? I still get amazed at some people's thought processes. At least he didn't take it off before the cutting, right?
I think is terrible but I did hear of that before. I went looking at a venue for my own wedding a year ago. Very beautiful place and also very high end. When I told them that I was going to make my own wedding cake, they told me that no outside wedding cakes were allowed. That you must buy from them and all their cakes were covered in fondant. The best part was when they told me that the basic price was $8.00 a serving. ( to be expected from a place like this) but I almost fell off my chair when they told me that because fondant taste so bad, they would pell it off before serving to the guests! 
So, I got married someplace else AND made my own wedding cake 
I think is terrible but I did hear of that before. I went looking at a venue for my own wedding a year ago. Very beautiful place and also very high end. When I told them that I was going to make my own wedding cake, they told me that no outside wedding cakes were allowed. That you must buy from them and all their cakes were covered in fondant. The best part was when they told me that the basic price was $8.00 a serving. ( to be expected from a place like this) but I almost fell off my chair when they told me that because fondant taste so bad, they would pell it off before serving to the guests!
So, I got married someplace else AND made my own wedding cake
You have got to be kidding me! Good for you, for not buying into that mess! Unbelievable! 
Unless directed by the bride or groom to do so, he had no business doing that.
However, having said that, I saw a special on tv on weddings in Disney World. They showed the cakes being decorated, put out, the cutting, then in to be sliced. And yes, as they cut each slice they peeled off the fondant. At about 5:33 into this video that is 6:07 long, you'll see them doing it.
It was like a horror show... I walked into the back room to find 5 people standing there FROZEN when they saw me - the maitre'd had latex gloves on and a PILE of fondant on the floor!!! I went a little overboard in my comments to them, i know.... but it was a BIG BIG deal for me to travel to NC from NJ to make this special cake for my special friend.... And if they had fixed the buttercream before serving it would have been a much different story but the slices look AWFUL... including the brides!! And they didnt take th fondant off ALL the slices... which was totally stupid.. They apologized profusely but it was already on 75% of the guests plates.
And yes it was a really high end place... but i thought that would be more reason to NOT serve something that looked so bad...?
Maybe you could contact them again and tell them they owe the bride a partial refund for the cost of her wedding cake (whether you charged your friend or not), because of what they in fact did to her cake. I can't imagine walking into the kitchen and finding that. I'm so sorry for you.
Turns out the maitre'D was peeling it off before slicing and serving because he said most people just peel it off anyway!!!
Well let's just serve the baked potato by scooping it out and piling it on the plate because most people don't eat the skin anyway.
we're not going to serve butter with our rolls because people are eating healthier and don't want butter anyway.
No, ma'am, we DON'T put ice in our drinks because it just melts and people dont' eat the ice anyway.
The point here is that its not HIS decision to make. What other foods did he "decide" that people won't eat anyway so it never made it to the tables?
(And seriously, this guy was piling it up on the FLOOR?????? He works in a kitchen and has no idea of health dept guidelines and can't figure out that this is really not acceptable??????)
i don't think they should have peeled the fondant off. some people may have wanted that fondant. plus it almost takes away from all the hard work that you put into it!! its different if the people eating it take off the fondant!
on a side note: i LOVE that mickey mouse cake with all the silver mouse ears stamped on it! :0)
lol.... thanks for the input everyone... I feel a bit better. I just don't understand why they wouldn't let the guests decide for themselves. And I do plan on contacting the venue... Seeing the brides piece look that awful just put me right over the edge... lol. Hell hath no fury like a cake designer who saw her cake desecrated!! 
I hate to hear this - it is upsetting that people don't give fondant another chance. Everyone has had a food item that was awful but the next time they had it it tasted great! I work hard to make my fondant taste good - people that have had my cakes tell other people "and you can eat the fondant..." LOL
What a horrible thing to have had happen - assuming is a bad thing to do - shame on them!!!
There is so much confusion about fondant. Although the guy had no business doing that, in my opinion he was on the right track with the idea that the fondant should not be eaten. I have yet to come across any (usable) rolled fondant that would be added to the cake just for the taste. If it doesn't compliment the cake, it should be left on the plate.
What could possibly be delicious about dried up tootsie roll or marshmallows on cake? I think bakers use the public's ignorance about fondant to lure clients by saying 'my fondant taste better' when it doesn't matter if it's better - it's still not good enough and shouldn't be eaten.
howsweet.....my grand daughter absolutely loves my fondant...........she loves the new wilton fondant.......so really, it is not your decision it should be the people, they can eat it or not. The maitred was wrong.
Lots of people who eat my cakes love fondant. It should be their decision.
About the Disney cake...I'm still wondering about pouring sugar water on the cake layers before icing them. I've never heard of this. Does anyone here do that? If so, how much and doesn't it get soggy?
Wow Howsweet... Thats a touch harsh. I personally love fondant, I had a break for 6 months while we renovated and I could not wait to get back into it so I could open a box of fondant and smell that sweet smell.
But horses for courses I suppose. Personally I *hate* buttercream made with crisco. It just tastes artificial. Waxy and blegh. But I dont condemn though who use it or ask for it.
Wow. It's not often that my jaw hits the keyboard twice in one thread, first from the OP then from a comment (Howsweet).
I have never heard of fondant being peeled off by kitchen staff. But then again, fondant isn't very popular around here (at least at any of the events I've been too. Never seen it once in person!) Regardless, I think that was just wrong of him to decide that no one would want to eat it. IndyDeb hit the nail on the head with her comment! I'm wondering though, do you really have a claim to make against the venue? Shouldn't it be the bride who lodges the complaint? After all, the contract was between the bride/groom and the venue, not between you and the venue, right? Hmm, but then again, if people KNEW you made the cake and your business suffered b/c of the hack job they did serving it, maybe you do. I'll leave that up to you, your bride, and your legal team 
Howsweet's comment left me thinking HowRude. Everyone enjoys different tastes, and it is not our (cake makers) place to decide who should like what. I have seen cake and filling flavor descriptions on here that leave me going "ewww" but obviously people like them. I'm sure no one else around here cooks up elbow macaroni, fills the pan back up with soy milk and eats it hot with a dash of salt and pepper, but you know what? That is one of my favorite foods and it is no ones place to tell me that its still not good enough to be eaten. Same goes for fondant.
My kids love my fondant, my 7 year old only eats the fondant off and she's done haha! I mean really, some ppl hate American buttercream, do we just wipe off all the buttercream and leave a dry piece of cake on the plate? I make my fondant to compliment the cake, such as lemon flavored, buttercream flavored etc...that stuff is great! At the very least it should have been given a chance, high end or not, the bride should have made that decision!
I mean really, some ppl hate American buttercream, do we just wipe off all the buttercream and leave a dry piece of cake on the plate?
good one!
I'm a person who removes the icing from a cupcake and eats just the cake! (I'll eat icing on a piece of cake .... but not a cupcake. I know it's wierd .....!) But geesh, I'd never suggest that we wipe off the icing from cupcakes!!
Lots of people who eat my cakes love fondant. It should be their decision.
About the Disney cake...I'm still wondering about pouring sugar water on the cake layers before icing them. I've never heard of this. Does anyone here do that? If so, how much and doesn't it get soggy?
I just took a course from an experienced decorator of 30 years who makes fabulous cakes, Kathleen Lange. She uses simple syrup and uses a spray bottle to spray on her cakes before applying the crumb coat to make them moist. A light spray is all your need to provide moistness/flavor. The Disney people were just using a ketchup bottle to apply instead of a spray bottle. Kathleen also cuts off the outside crust of her cakes before crumb-coating. You can get the recipe for her simple syrup at (scroll down the page):
http://confectionarychalet.com/recipes05.shtml
There is so much confusion about fondant. Although the guy had no business doing that, in my opinion he was on the right track with the idea that the fondant should not be eaten. I have yet to come across any (usable) rolled fondant that would be added to the cake just for the taste. If it doesn't compliment the cake, it should be left on the plate.
What could possibly be delicious about dried up tootsie roll or marshmallows on cake? I think bakers use the public's ignorance about fondant to lure clients by saying 'my fondant taste better' when it doesn't matter if it's better - it's still not good enough and shouldn't be eaten.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but to advice someone not to eat fondant is ridiculous... everyone has the right to choice what they eat and what they don't. I know for instance the fondant I use Renshaws (here in the Uk) tastes absolutely fantastic.... but really it's up to the Bride and Groom to choose whether they want the fondant on the cake, if they didn't shouldn't they of picked a all buttercream cake instead? If they want Fondant, they want Fondant and know one has the right to tell them otherwise. I had a Royal Icing Wedding cake... I would have been highly offended if someone had taken off the Royal Icing before serving I paid good money for my wedding cake!
If I were the bride I'd be pissed. Seriously. I'm not a fondant person myself (I'm going to make Michelle Foster's in the near future, so maybe that will change?), but if I were the bride and I ordered fondant on my cake, that better damn well be served too because I PAID for it. It's the individual guest's decision whether or not to peel it off. But if it's something I PAID for, it needs to be served as well.
By the way, anyone attempting to scoop out my baked potato will draw back a bloody stump, because I LOVE the potato skin!
There is so much confusion about fondant. Although the guy had no business doing that, in my opinion he was on the right track with the idea that the fondant should not be eaten. I have yet to come across any (usable) rolled fondant that would be added to the cake just for the taste. If it doesn't compliment the cake, it should be left on the plate.
What could possibly be delicious about dried up tootsie roll or marshmallows on cake? I think bakers use the public's ignorance about fondant to lure clients by saying 'my fondant taste better' when it doesn't matter if it's better - it's still not good enough and shouldn't be eaten.
If you came to the Uk and said that, You'd get laughed at. . Seriously, you would, The sugarpaste is part of what cakes are over here, its very very rare to see a buttercream only cake. You'd also be told, that manners cost nothing and theres no need to be rude.
To the o/p . . Thats soo bad! i hope you complained like hell to the manager! i would have flipped a lid if i saw that, ive never heard of anything like it and cant beleive he would do that to your cake 
I would be really p***** if that was my cake!! My fondant tastes wonderful and all my brides are always pleased about all the compliments that the cake gets. Fondant has such a bad rap that when I get a bridal consult I get them to taste it as they always have tasted bad stuff.
Thinking about the server peeling away the fondant....gross
I would be really p***** if that was my cake!! My fondant tastes wonderful and all my brides are always pleased about all the compliments that the cake gets. Fondant has such a bad rap that when I get a bridal consult I get them to taste it as they always have tasted bad stuff.
Thinking about the server peeling away the fondant....gross
That is an excellent idea to have the brides taste your fondant! I'm going to start doing that too! Thanks!
In the UK it's more rare to see a buttercream decorated cake it's nearly all fondant here.
My kids love it and hover around for scraps after I've finished a cake lol
So sorry they wrecked your cake, the thought of the taste of his latex gloves in the buttercream made me feel yuk!!
The fondant is probably where most of the brides money was spent and he was throwing it on the floor like scraps
The same thing happened to me with one of my customers. I ended up writing a letter saying that the fondant was meant to be eaten. My customer received a partial refund. LOL
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