15 Replies

The only thing I can think of is did you put and dowels between tiers and under the stork/carriage to help support the weight?

I had several collapsed cakes in my low cake decorating experience but everytime that happens i ont go down and i learn with mistakes.
I think that you shouldnt keep the cakes in the fridge, when they came out the sugarpaste/fondant starts to melt.
Also i think that primacakesplus is right when she says that the support of the dowels could be not enough fot the cake you made.
Next time put some good dowels to support all the cake, make an “inside view” on how the cake could be supported so nothing go wrong.
:)

Oh dear. Never mind we all make mistakes and that’s how we learn. I agree with the other comments, looks like not enough support in the bottom layer. I had a problem with a shoe heel sinking into the top tier because the stick in the heel didn’t go to the bottom of the top tier, so I used a drinking straw. I inserted it into the cake, then the stick into the straw. It worked! Everything then became supported. Maybe next time you could use a small cake board, cover with fondant and then put the cradle and stork on the board. The weight would then be distributed across the tier and you could use dowels to support the board and decoration.

Don’t worry about it though, pick yourself up, dust yourself done and move on. You’ll laugh about it one day when your making fab cakes and you look back over your learning journey. Chin up. Thinking of you.

Sam, Samantha’s cake design

Feel so sorry for you dear! Don’t brood too much over this incident and end up dampening your cake decorating spirit!

Probarbly was a structural issue, I agree with the others – your cake needed much more support. If really you need to refrigerate fondanted iced cakes, bring it out and keep in the cake box at least 1 hour plus before its picked up – effects of condensation on the fondant would have worn out by then.

Also try incorporating styrofoam balls in your modelling, that will help to reduce the weight of the figures – by wrap the paste around the styrofoam, you won’t need to use so much much paste to build up your figures.

Cheer up, definitely this won’t happen again because now you know better!

Thank you all for your support, i couldnt sleep, kept thinking about this cake and how horrible this woman must have felt at her daughter in law’s babyshower.

Hola guapa, creo que a muchas nos ha pasado algo asi pero una cosa si te digo NO pongas una tarta forrada con fondant en la NEVERA pero eso NUNCA porque suda y es malisimo el fondant con el agua no pueden ir juntas, ánimos y adelante!!!

Sorry LaRosa but i dont understand Spanish

Hi. Already happened to everyone. Never put a cake cover with sugar paste on the fridge. Humidity is the worst enemy of sugar paste.
xoxo

I’m so sorry what happened to you, it had to be terrible to have to face those people and give them a cake… We have all at some point had something like that happen with our cake, but don’t get discouraged, that is how we all learned (on our mistakes).
1. As everyone already said it seems that you didn’t have a proper support underneath the cake, like cardboard circle separating the tiers and supported with dowels.
2. What kind of filling did you use, soft fillings will make a cake bulge between the tiers and also how much filling?
3. I put all my cake into the fridge, (covered with fondant or not) if your home is really hot, there will be some condensation because if the difference in the air temperature, you can sort of say that the cake gets a little shock from the temperature differences. If you do that Mike Mccarey recommends keeping the cake in a cake cardboard box which is placed in a plastic bag and closed while in the fridge. When you take it out remove the bag but still keep the cake in the box until it dries out, the cardboard will take in all the moisture. Otherwise if you want you can also use Sharon Wee’s tip, getting your cake in front of a table fan to dry it out, just be careful…. The only thing to remember is not to touch the cake while it’s drying, when it’s so sticky it will take in any prints and smudges and shapes and stay like that….
Hope that helps, and trust me the next cake will be better… In the beginning I almost lost my mind covering cakes with fondant, even my husband knew to get out of the kitchen and keep away when that dreadful moment would come ;)

I think we’ve all been there, so don’t let it get you down. Just like the others have said, just use this as a learning experience. It’s very important to use a VERY stiff dam of buttercream and then place your filling (even if it’s also buttercream) inside of the dam. This will prevent any filling from bulging out the side. To me, it looks like that’s what might have happened in this case.

If it’s any consolation, your design was very pretty! I would have called the client back and offered to either return the money or give her a full credit for her next cake. Perhaps that would help ease your disappointment and hers.

At the risk of repeating the same thing, I am almost positive you had a structural problem. I have a rule of thumb when I do multi-tier cakes – I use as many dowels as the width of the cake – if I have a 10"cake, I use 10 dowels — if I have an 8" cake I use 8 dowels and so on.

Dowels come in wood, plastic, straws, etc. They also come in different widths – the thicker ones, I use on the bottom cakes because of the weight. They are all good, as long as you place them properly on your cake. Always dowel your topper – even if you think it’s too light to cause any damage.

One last thing – refrigerating your cake won’t damage it – as some of the other ladies have mentioned, just make sure you don’t touch it because fondant will sweat. The good news is that it will eventually dry and it will be as good as new.

Good luck and chuck this up to experience – you’ll do great next time.

Thank you guys for all your help
I made these cakes after the disaster one
It’s not perfect but at least it’s better than that one :))

your cakes are great – even the great bakers have had major disasters so you are in good company

First of all, you do a great job! Don’t let one mistake ruin your fun in making them! No matter what you do in life, there is bound to be a disappointment, but we learn and move on! :)

As the first poster said, when you do a tiered cake, even small ones, you should put supporting dowel rods, and even cake plates if needed, just like you would a wedding cake. Anytime there is a weight on top of a cake, you run the risk of it totally collapsing.

As for the fondant sliding, did you use a lot of buttercream or other crumb coating under the fondant? Maybe that could have caused it once it came to room temperature? (just a guess)

Either way, keep doing what you’re doing! You’re doing a great job! :)

Love all your work.