I delivered a cake Saturday for a 1st bday party. I had worked with the mother the whole time and she was informed about my policies (I'm not responsible after sign off, the conditions/environments for your cake ect). She wanted the icing to be like a gumball in that you cut un and there are layers of color. Easy enough but it is a lot of butter so she needed to keep it in the a/c, it's a 3 tier confetti cake with while chocolate swiss meringue and iced in layered colors of vanilla bean swiss meringue. We decided that she'd leave it on the dining room table where guests left presents then bring out the top tier for the candles/singing so on. People would be both in the house and on the patio, so she was happy with this situation.
I delivered to the husband. Wife was out with the child and not expected to be back for several hours (10 am delivery, 2pm party). He signed off, I gave him my spiel about cake temperature, a/c what happens to buttercream in the sun...
Yesterday I see the picture attached on Instagram. I immediately text mom with a probing " how was everything? Do you have any feedback, all feedback helps!" And she gushed about how cool and whimsical my asymmetrical cake was...I haven't responded because I DIDN'T MAKE THE CAKE LIKE THAT. The image is of the cake outside and way off center on the board. I think the hubs put it outside then tried to move it when it started melting. Then he left it all smooshed to the side without saying anything to the wife. I'm glad she thought it was "whimsical" but my "whimsically asymmetric" would have been more artful, lol.
I haven't responded yet, but I need to today. She loved it and I'm ok with letting him have his lie of omission, i wouldn't have even opened the can of worms if I had known she was happy with it. but she asked me a direct question! Obviously, I can not nor will not lie when asked a direct question. I also don't want to throw the husband under the bus, he was nice and I'm sure he was freaking out when it happened and just too relieved to say anything when she wasn't mad. It just piled from there.
I'm thinking of just making a joke of it, like, "Haha, well, I can't claim credit for the shape here. I think mother nature and the properties of butter gets credit for that one" she'll probably turn to the husband to ask what is going on and he'll be able to fess up.
What do you think?
but if it was as hot & humid there as it was here Saturday then just going in & out and opening the door to do the set up for the party would have helped exacerbate the meltdown — I might have advised for them to keep it in the fridge — but of course with a party going on unless it was catered probably no room in the fridge —
(and in an aside here this is also why relying on a car’s air conditioning to hold a cake is not wise —)
but one other burning question — was the cake fully chilled/cold when it left your place?
and wow, girl, what a save! a save for the centuries!!
and was the cake sealed in a box for delivery?
this thought reveals when the meltdown started
She asked "how did you do that? It was amazing!"
It was cold, I had it in my big fridge and delivered it 15 mins away in my innovative sugar works cake porter. It was still cold when it got there. Cold enough to warn him against trying to clean up the condensation that was forming. Their dining room was in the center of the house, so maybe the in and out could have started some melting, but the picture is of the cake outside on their uncovered back porch. It definitely was out in the sun and I had specifically told her that it should stay inside, we discussed it at length. What confused me is that the bottom left is where I put it, centered on the board but the entire rest of the cake is off to the side!!! How does that happen!!??? Did I put in too much filling and it slid?
I'm not concerned that she'll be mad at me. I'm just trying to thread the needle between answering the question honestly (no, I didn't do the cake like that on purpose) but still look competent because they did not follow my specific and well discussed and signed for directions.
I guess it's not on me to worry about it. Maybe I'll just phrase it as some kind of "Haha, the cosmos has better design than I do" kinda thing?? Explain that it was actually a standard 3 tier round as we had planned but that since it is outside and shifted to the side, it was probably moved and the whimsy was just a fortunate accident of temperature.
Keep it lighthearted? I think I should call and not text. Her tine would be a good guide of how to manage this. I don't want to come off defensive or as shifting blame. I don't think it's my fault, but maybe if I put too much fill? Perhaps my supports were insufficient? I don't want to create a problem where none was. Bleh.
the fact that it was condensing when you set it up is proof the dew point inside was killing it softly —
idk — i think I would avoid answering the question — just say thank you and how happy you are to have worked with her — and to keep you in mind for the future —
That's a good idea! She's not actually going to press for an answer, right?
that's what I was thinking -- tell her it's a trade secret if she presses -- jk jk jk
She didn't press. I just typed "I'm so glad you enjoyed the cake!" And she replied "loved it!"
And that was the end...lol
I have just one thing to say, that has to be the most amazing "cake wreck" ever! It does look cool! Maybe just as you said, just tell her that the slippage was due to the heat and not intentional, a happy accident!
I just used gel food color mixed with lemon extract. I propped the book up next to the cake and had at it with a paint brush. It's Seuss, so it's forgiving. I only really have issues with known characters that,if you get the curve wrong or a proportion off, it looks funny.
fs, don’t forget the copyright demons — you’re familiar with that yes?
Yea, I've read about that on here. It's a tough one.
posting pictures online is one way it can bite you so heads up
best to you 
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