Cake day from hell...

I had two orders due today. The first was the Baby Block cake for the shower. I was initially very excited about the order, because it gave me a good chance to try some decadent fillings, and try to challenge myself construction wise. Umm. so in MY opinion, it was a disaster. Block 1 was white cake with strawberry filling. The filling is awesome, and the cakes baked up pretty well, so I thought it was smooth sailing. I leveled everything off, added fillings and layers, all went well. But every time I tried to put the coat of buttercream on it, it would just fall right off, taking pieces of the cake with it.

:-O

I chilled it in the fridge, and came back to it, and it was still REALLY crumbley, but I did manage to get enough buttercream on it to overlay it with fondant. The batch of fondant that I made was awesome, it rolled out really well. I put the cake on the board, laid over the fondant, and it looked pretty good. But by the time I had the second block ready to put on the board, it had done a slide. Not a terrible slide, but a noticeable one considering the cake is supposed to be BLOCK shaped, not rhombus shape or whatever the fuck. I put the second block on, iced it fairly easily, and covered in fondant. I then inserted two support dowls into the cakes. These are pretty sturdy dowls, so I thought for sure that with a little kanoodling, Block 1 would shape up, and look like block 2. Block 2 was chocolate cake with an chocolate orange ganache filling. Block two ended up being the only block that stayed block shaped. I was up until 5 this morning trying to finish, and fix the cake. I took a two hour nap, and when I got back up at 7, the damage was done. The fondant was not completely adhering in Block 1, causing bubbling and cracking. Block 2 remained decent, but the top block was LEAKING vanilla cream, down the back of the cake. Through the fondant. I did a lot of paper towel dabbing, and soul searching, and a bit of crying before I called the lady. I told her over the phone that the cake had slid. She said she wanted to see it before she made her decision. She came, and absolutely LOVED the cake. She said it was a little droopy, but totally exceeded her expectations. The lady that came with her to get the cake also loved it and said it was "darling". I think it was quite possibly the WORST cake experience yet, and did not agree with either of them. She paid full price for the cake, and wisked it away. I DID NOT TAKE A PICTURE OF THAT HORRIBLE CAKE. I just wanted it gone away from me. But she said she would email me pics at some point...guh.

Then it was on to the next cake, which I had originally wanted to at least bake off last night, but the block cake took over the evening. Long story short, it wasn't done at 6 this evening when they came to pick it up, and the girl stood and watched me finish the cake. Did I mention Elora was screaming the whole time because she wanted to eat the cupcakes that went with the order? Nerve wracking enough without a total stranger standing in your dining room watching your every move. Holy shit what a day. So glad that the next thing I have to do isn't cake.  


I will sleep well tonight. Cause I don't have to make a cake tomorrow. I need a break.

back to normal, well for me anyway

Another day, another cake. This time it's just a safe old birthday cake. Sheet cake, to be precise, chocolate with buttercream. The only interesting bit about this cake is the new strawberry puree recipe I came up with. 1 pint fresh strawberries, cut into chunks, put 1/4 of them in a saucepan with half cup of sugar. Start it at low heat until enough liquid is produced, then turn up the heat and bring it to a boil. Meanwhile, mix up a thickening agent, consisting of 1 Tablespoon lemon juice, 2 Tablespoons of cornstarch, and 1-2 Tablespoons of Chambord. In case you don't know what it is, it a black raspberry liquor with little honey undertones, it's fabulous. And even more fabulous with the strawberries. You mix the thickening agent with the strawberry mix just after boiling, return to boil and stir constantly for 2 minutes. After that, take it off the heat, and add the rest of the strawberries. It is knock-your-socks-off fabulous, and the best part is...the alcohol burns off, so it's good for everyone..even the kiddies. Try it sometime...put it over cheesecake...I dare you!

But other than that...run of the mill cake.

It was good to get back to the regular stuff. The next cake is ABC blocks for a baby shower, for Saturday. Wish me luck!