Friday, May 7, 2010

She Turned In Her Own MOTHER

Friday, May 7, 2010

Sometimes the best part about your Wreck submissions isn't the photo, but the e-mail that came with it. Today's Wreck is aces on both counts. So allow me to allow Sarah L. to give you the intro.

"This wedding cake was made by my mom (who you can see having a nervous breakdown in one of the pictures) for her brother's wedding. Yes, she's my mom, but she IS a professional pastry chef. She went to culinary school, works at the Ritz Carlton, and her brother paid her for her services. (She's made several wedding cakes for $$ since then that turned out much better...I SWEAR.)"

You'll understand why Sarah was so adamant about her mom doing better work in just a moment.

In fact, I'd say all will be made clear right...about....

...now.

Hi, Sarah's mom!
Say, you DO kind of look like you're having a nervous breakdown. Perhaps if you sprinkled a little more powdered sugar?


To be fair, Sarah offers the following explanation:

"The wedding took place during August in Dallas, and I think the biggest lesson here is humidity and fondant DO NOT mix. The cake was essentially "sweating," and as it melted, it began to lean."

And yet, bravely, (some might say suicidally so) Sarah's mom battled onward:

Ah, that's better. The writing really helps camouflage all those...er...bulgy bits. Don't you agree, Sarah?

"...it ended up looking like it was constructed by an over-caffeinated toddler with poor spatial awareness."

Whoah, whoah, whoah! An over-caffeinated toddler with poor spatial awareness? Really? C'mon, maybe if she just added a few flowers...

Oh.
Or...not.

So I know the readers are dying to know, Sarah: what was the final verdict?

"It was made with love, and it tasted great, but...I thought the bride was gonna have an anxiety attack."

You mean she didn't have an anxiety attack? Aw, now that's a couple that's gonna go the distance, right there.

Well, I think we've all learned some valuable lessons today. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to dig up some embarrassing pictures of my mom during Band Camp; this mom stuff is comedy GOLD.

Oh, and Sarah? Better go with the premium bouquet this Mother's Day. With chocolates. And a few diamond necklaces. Delivered ahead of time. By someone else.
Stacie said...

Oh the internal conflict Sarah must have been fighting, "turn in mom, or show off this horribly hilarious, yet delicious wreck?"

Nice choice Sarah.

Megan (Best of Fates) said...

I can't decide if I feel worse for the mom or the bride!

Anonymous said...

Hey, if it was made with love and tasted great, the rest is icing on the cake. May the bride, groom, guests, and especially Sarah's mom be able to laugh about this for decades!

cath c said...

august in dallas. i think that excuses all and the bride should be gratful for the herculean effort! sinking ship, papercup, same idea.

Amy said...

Way to start off the Mother-In-Law/Daughter-In-Law relationship- they're destined to be besties for life!

Gina said...

This is the best story ever. I've made a wedding cake in Dallas in July and it ain't easy.. props to the mom for hanging in there, but seriously, that looked awful.

Gary said...

Dallas in August?
It isn't the humidity, it's the heat.

(Believe me; I'm from Dallas.)


... But hey, these things happen. Way to not give up, Sarah's Mom!

Anonymous said...

Having lived in the South West in August I would have gone with serving popsicles instead of cake.

Also- the colour is pretty and the bow is cute but yeah..humidity is not kind.

Anonymous said...

Poor Mom. A least it was made with love. My wedding cake was beautiful, but it turned out that the baker was rude at the reception. She was a "friend of the family" and so her and her husband were invited to the wedding. The two of them standing in the middle of the reception with big frowns on their face, waiting to get paid, is a vision I will regretfully always remember and never forgive them for. I would much rather have a heat induced wreck, than get a cake from someone who is a wreck.

Heather said...

You could see how it could have had potential to be a good cake! Too funny about the daughter turning in the mom, though!

A Girl In Her Kitchen said...

Sarah's Mom, we need to see some pictures of your good cakes to redeem your reputations!

http://agirlinherkichen.blogspot.com

Laurel said...

WOAH... Im glad I wasnt the bride.. I'd hate to have been arrested on my wedding day...

Eryn said...

OMG this is so funny! Thanks for the laugh!

Anne said...

Oh, poor Mom! At least she tried, unlike some of the other wreckerators featured here.

Yeah, Dallas in August will leave everything as a hot mess. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the (female) guests' hair and make-up (and, since this was in TX, there was some serious hair and make-up going on) resembled this cake by the end of the reception.
But it could be worse: it could have been Houston in August. Now THAT's humidity.

magda said...

Next time, just cover in Blue Bell ice cream.

Unknown said...

Her mom should be featured on a future Sunday Sweets!!

CookieMonster said...

I have the same tendency to follow something disasterous through to the end. Sitting on the other side of the wreck it's easy for me to say You should have just started over! A plain white, buttercream tier cake would have been way better, and would have taken just as long to create as it did to write all that stuff and add horrid beads and flowers. Stop, think, re-evaluate!

But, I'm likely to do as the Sue's mom did and plunge ahead wildly hoping it all works out. So I'm not condemning, just offering constructive comments.

Anonymous said...

I realise this is probably going to be a very weird-sounding comment...

..,but that is the most adorable wreck ever! It's so squishable!!

Of course, technically, I don't think cake is supposed to be squishable...

Still, I kinda just want to hug it.

M M said...

Poor mom, you can tell she was trying but that cake was doomed thanks to humidity.

On the other hand the family has a great story to talk about at the family reunions, and to tell the grandkids when they're old enough to marry.

Bakingdom said...

I've been there with the melting fondant, and it's so frustrating!! Despite all of your best efforts, it just keeps sliding down the side of the cake. The best you can hope for is that the client wanted a landslide cake...cause that's what they're getting!

As bas as I feel for the bride, I feel worse for Sarah's mom! Poor thing! She must have felt mortified and like she was letting them down! I'm glad it was still tasty and everyone seems to be able to laugh about it now!

kelly dwyer said...

The writing was what made me loose it. The last picture is the best, where you can see that she really tried to cram in as much as she could. The last few letters of "timeless" are slipping off!

Thanks for sharing Sarah.
Hope this brings your family closer together!

Stella said...

those poor ladies...the decorator and the bride.

Melissa said...

Oh dear. Thank you for sharing your family's sugar-filled funny, and I hope the bride and mum-in-law have become friends!

I'm sure every baker out there has wrecked a few... this one was wrecking in style, though!

Rachel said...

Oh Man! Turning mom in so close to Mother's Day is especially harsh. Hope mom has a goo sense of humor about it. Got to give mom credit for toughing it out and finishing the cake. Once the cake started melting I probably would said "Oh, screw it!" and given up.

Anonymous said...

I'm with the other posters that Sarah's mom needs to be on Sunday's Sweets since this was such a brutally honest expose of delightfully persistent wreckitude!

Could have been worse: what if it was an ice cream cake?

Unknown said...

Well, I think it could be said that the family that wrecks together, stays together! =D

Siouxzr said...

Sarah's Mom is one heck of a trooper! By the time I got to the last photo and saw the top tier heading downtown I was laughing hysterically.
Never give up! Never Surrender!

Aliza said...

Love that Sarah turned in her Mum-- and just before Mothers Day, too!

However, her mother deserved it. Doesn't she have A/C so as to prevent these disasters while baking & decorating? Even a cheap window unit would have helped. And there must be tricks and techniques that professionals have developed over time, since I doubt this was the first wedding cake to ever have been put together for a summer wedding in Dallas

Glad everyone's laughing about it now. And that it tasted better than it looked!!

mizdarlin said...

Poor Moms! And to have her daughter publicly humiliate her like this...well, all I can say is Happy Mother's Day-and some empathy too..we've all been there-humidity is a cake-killer every time, but that's what chopsticks are for...that's what I did during an immininent collapse and it worked great...until cake cutting time-wehn it just didn't matter any more...

regina in oz said...

Oh, it's just a beautiful metaphor wedding cake... about how two (or, in this case three...layers) become one!
Someone, give me a hankie.

msyendor said...

Excellent storytelling! Got me in the frame of my own family. I know if I'd had a cake meltdown like that, my brother would appreciate it even more. You know. Future sibling torment material.

Oh, yeah, and Sarah, you owe your mom a new springform pan and/or refreshed sprinkle stock.

Goof said...

Awwwwwwwwwwe I think she did her best. But having the wedding in the dead of the sweaty summer? I live in AZ and even I knew to make sure to have my wedding in the spring to avoid the heat waves.

And good idea HollandK. Sarahs moms good cakes should be shown on Sunday Sweets to balance things out.

Michelle S. said...

oh what an adorable catastrophe! Sarah's mom I sure hope you kept your sense of humor. Your cake is a superstar!

That's the thing about weddings. Expectations are always so high, so much money gets spent, every last detail gets over-hammered. There's always so much stress trying to have the perfect day, that sometimes the whole idea of having a wedding gets lost. I think it's wonderful when little wrenches get tossed in the machine, like a tiny symbolic storm the couple and their family will weather together. Love and joy will prevail - even in the face of sagging fondant!

Anonymous said...

A Titanic like cake in the end.
The Mom did a heroic, if doomed job.

I tip my hat and bow low.

Mocking

Lindsey said...

This is classic! I thought the first picture was bad enough, but I was so excited/embarrassed when it kept getting worse with each picture! I love it!

Kelli said...

it looks like cellulite . haha

sendingtheclowns said...

Reading Rachel said...
"....Hope mom has a goo sense of humor about it."

Seriously...was that a typo? Ooooor NOT. heehee
=^~.-^=

My take on all of this?
Well..ever the optimist, I'm picturing being *in* the room in that last picture, gazing out of the window (with my back to the cake), thinking, "Oh, WHAT a GLORIOUS day for a wedding...!"

(And then..."What was that 'thudding' sound?")

UtahRoetkers said...

I hope the mom-in-law and bride were able to laugh about it. Somethings are just not that important!

Anonymous said...

When I was in my 20's, I worked for a big fancy catering company. We didn't cover cakes with fondant, but we did use sheets of marzipan sometimes. We were doing a wedding in the Sonoma wine country on a very hot day that had a tiered cake and while I was in the kitchen I heard that tumbling thumping sound you never want to hear from the dining room, especially if there's a cake around. The marzipan prevented a complete disaster, but I did have to raid the garden for *lots* of flowers to camouflage the problems. The bride and groom cut one slice then we lifted the whole cake on its tray and took it to the kitchen to cut up. No one ever complained or asked for money back, and I didn't see those telltale whispers behind hands while they were cutting, so perhaps it wasn't that noticeable. Or maybe I'm just forgetting...it was a long time ago.

jj said...

I wish more cake wrecks had a series of photos showing how they came to be. There are just too many that can't claim Texas heat as a good reason for being.

Anonymous said...

This is the best! Thanks for sharing that, Sarah.

Heather said...

Hmm... I know (as a cake decorator myself) that cakes can be fussy in different humidity levels - BUT from the looks of it I would say Mom just needs some more lessons in working with fondant. :-/

I get the whole "pastry chef" thing at the Ritz obviously makes her talented (with pastries) but I definitely would have to say - you need some practice on your fondant before accepting wedding cake orders! Even if it is just family.

Anonymous said...

I can totally sympathize with everyone involved. We got married at Disney World in mid-September. Turns out it pretty hot down there at that time. Everything was outside. I have no idea how long the cake had been outside before the ceremony. But by the time we cut the cake there was no hiding the fondant bubble or the fact the it was sweating so much it was shining. We even had to rush thru the first dance to make sure it didn't melt completely :)

Anonymous said...

So the bride and her new sister and law..Do they still speak? I mean really? Was this the grooms cake or the sure 'nuff wedding cake? I don't think I would have doe that to anyone, let alone my future sister -in-law. wow!

Minerva said...

I think Sarah now owes it to her mom to submit one of her successful cakes to Sunday Sweets. :)

Nikki said...

OMG.... it's not terrible, but for a wedding??? I feel bad for the bride, I hope she took this in good spirits. I can't believe that as a professional, Mom didn't relize that humidity and fondant are a NO NO! LOL Oh, well live and learn

SGBizMe said...

I kinda like it - it reminds me of a what a cartoon cake would look like. The blue is so soothing too LOL

spacedcowgirl said...

OMG! Great story. hahahahaha

I feel a little concerned about my mental state that I actually don't think the last pic looks that bad. It certainly isn't a "traditional" elegant wedding cake in its actual manifestation (though I can see where it would have been very nice if it came out as envisioned), but it has that kind of manic, surreal Alice-in-Wonderland look going for it, purposeful or not. :) I also LOVE the gold decorations. There, I said it. :)

Anonymous said...

What a shame! It should've been an amazing cake...stupid humidity! I hope someday this mom gets included in the Sunday Sweets!

Anonymous said...

if it was made with love it doesn't matter how it looks

Sarah is very, very lucky to have a mother who loves her - mine hated me and abused me for years

cakes get eaten and forgotten, love endures

Tricia L said...

Haven't laughed this hard in a long time. Think I dislocated my jaw. I'll add fondant to the list of divinity and meringues to not make when it's humid.

heather said...

I wonder if the bride and groom kept the top tier for their anniversary. Or, you know, blackmail...

Corina said...

actually...I think it is adorable and cuddly. Maybe not what the bride was going for but things go wrong on wedding days and if this was the only thing, she was lucky. I think from now on Sarah should make all the family cakes like this on purpose. Uh oh....I think I feel a whole lot of Wreckorator tribute cakes being mixed up right now!

WV miume

Miume will always love me 'cause she's my muim.

john (the hubby of Jen) said...

Hey all,

Allow me to say that the caliber of our readers is really coming through today. Jen and I are the luckiest bloggers ever to have commenters like you.

Thanks.

john

Angela said...

This was great! I mean just the pictures of mom and the overdoing of the cake. I wonder what i was originally supposed to look like.

Because minus the sad downfall, it does seem a bit over the top with all the words and such.

I am really glad I wasn't the bride! And it let's me know NOT to have a fondant cake, getting married in the caribbean.

Kerri said...

I do have to say...it WAS a cool concept. I would like to see what it was supposed to look like.

Anonymous said...

that was a lot of work for a disaster-in-the making. funny choice for a post, Jen, right before Mother's Day weekend! LOL good advice you gave...:)

wv: mallye. What you scream when you see a wreck (mallye! mallye!) Either that or the act of browsing at the mall.

Martha said...

Aliza @ 11:23
>>However, her mother deserved it. Doesn't she have A/C so as to prevent these disasters while baking & decorating?<<

Aliza, it's Dallas. EVERYONE here has A/C. Seriously. It's often over 100 for 30 days in a row, and sometimes the A/C can't keep up.

I hope when you're a mom someone lets your kids know that if you try hard but still mess up, you deserve public shame.

Jan Holt said...

I so love this post and the cake. Made me smile so BIG!

Thanks for keeping the wrecking in the family for Mom's Day.

Scarlett Robyn said...

Ha! Funny as always, thanx!!!

ksaldria said...

Oh....oh my o.o

Unknown said...

Why in the world would two people choose to get married in Dallas in August, anyway?! If you live in Texas, you should get married in March or October!

Catherine said...

You know, given the outright disasters of execution, taste, and inattention that we see here everyday, I'd say this is a fairly pretty cake, and I'd be tickled with it if I was the bride.

@Aliza--I'm sure she has A/C, but you just can't keep a car cool enough in August in Texas to transport it without it getting hot. I know everytime I go out to my car in August in Louisiana or Arkansas it literally is about 120 degrees inside, and even if you have the A/C cranked it's hot wherever the sun comes in-which can be EVERYWHERE!

That said, yet another reason _not_ to use fondant.

Unknown said...

That is too funny. I live in Florida so I can sympathize about the humidity. Poor Mom.

Tricia L said...

@ Saralyn
"Why in the world would two people choose to get married in Dallas in August, anyway?! If you live in Texas, you should get married in March or October!"

May I add that this applies to the entire South, not just Texas. You don't get much hotter than August in Tennessee.

Anonymous said...

I don't know...it has a certain charm...

Sandy said...

This has got to be the funniest post.... I'm at work, on a much needed break... and I see this. I laughed so hard I had tears... Thank you so much for sharing this. You did it again!!

Sandy

Corri Goates said...

Was looking at this (thinking- Oh, dear God!)and had a co-worker look over my shoulder and say, What a cute cake...This is why the wreckage persists!! Now I'm doing my best not to laugh out loud!

Kore said...

I nearly had a fit when I first saw all the words. I thought one of them was "molest".

A in NL said...

Perhaps the real mother's day gift would be to submit one of her better cakes for Sunday Sweets.

LisaMama said...

I LOVE hearing the stories behind the cakes! Thanks to Sarah!

Aliza said...

@ Catherine-- thanks for explaining that! Yikes at 120F *I'd* melt! I remember such temperatures when I lived in Australia, but at least that was dry heat. I can certainly see why the cake would struggle in transit-- but I thought the photos were taken at Sarah's mum's home.

I remember once trying to make a wedding cake sample in high heat/humidity: the butter was literally melting on the counter, and hten my fridge conked out. I informed the bride -- a close friend-- that she had to send her fiance over to help install window A/C units or else there'd be no cake! In the end, the cake turned out fine... but the wedding party got heatstroke from the outdoor photo session. So this wedding was much luckier that only the cake suffered!

I still wonder, though, aren't there tricks to help cakes weather such weather? Does anybody know? If not, I'm with that person who suggested popsicles!

WV: Uttili-- that was an uttili cool design and colour scheme at least

Tiffany said...

The best thing I can say is that at least it's the sweetest wreck I've seen!

Let's just hope everybody involved has had a good laugh about it! I know I have! :)

Unknown said...

Jen, please have mercy on this poor mum and feature one of her, um, better cakes in Sunday Sweets? Pretty, pretty please with sugar on top? It is, after all, Mother's Day???

Anonymous said...

I live in Dallas, and anything you do in August feels like this cake looks... :)

I'm melting, I'm melting, what-a-world what-a-world....

Anonymous said...

oh, dear. i feel such sympathy for mom. i always (now) have a Plan B for my brides who want a fondant cake, just so we avoid this kind of thing. i once had this happen to a fondant cake that was due on what turned out to be the most humid day of the year, and the fondant was hopeless, melting and bulging just like that because it would no longer stick to the buttercream,and was simply too sticky and wet to smooth on it again. it wasn't leaning, thank goodness, but let us just say i was thankful that i had tons of extra flowers to cover that cake. of course...when i got a picture of the cake from the bride, the hydrangeas were FLAT on the cake and it looked like a dali painting! the bride and groom had cut the cake HOURS after it was set up and sitting in a non air-conditioned room...luckily, they had seen the cake and taken pics of it when it was still gorgeous to look at. the bride was so happy with the cake and thanked me profusely...sometimes, there are just things that are out of our control...like the weather and broken AC. if the bride and groom were not in the one pic i have of it, i would submit it to you!

Unknown said...

I know her! She is awesome, talented and has the most fun-loving personality. I used to work with her and she told me of this awful experience and how it made her vow never to make a wedding cake again. I have no doubt that they all laughed about it, if not then, now :)

Julie said...

Oh my! Really, the result isn't as bad as most I've seen here, but still! That should be a baker to us cake decorators--if you can't save the fondant, unstack the tiers, rip that crud off, and whip up some meringue buttercream in the same color. Maybe you won't get that exact porcelain finish, but it does seem better than the alternative, as shown here. Poor mom; I wanna give her a hug. The cake design itself, independent of how it turned out, is so rad.

Our Little Beehive said...

I can't believe she kept going! Don't they have Costco in Dallas? My mom and I made cupcakes for my wedding and holy hell was that a stressful near-disaster on the hottest, most humid day of the year. We battled through too...and didn't serve them until our guests were good and drunk.

Sherry said...

I was feeling "blue" until I saw this, starting laughing hysterically while at the same time crying for the poor mom, and the combination completely lifted me out of my doldrums. Thank you, Cake Wrecks!

B said...

When I got married outside in Texas in the summer, I just had blackberry cobbler. For this very reason.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the laugh! If that's the worst thing that happened at the wedding, the bride was LUCKY! :)

Bree said...

I've seen worse wrecks. At least she tried her best to save it.

But still, this should be a wake-up call that sometimes, just sometimes, buttercream wedding cakes are the way to go. My aunt made a fondant wedding cake and luckily the day was cool so it didn't melt and it looked gorgeous, but the taste was little to be desired.

ecuakim said...

Oh my freakin' gosh!!!!! I am practially peeing my pants! That is too funny. As the daughter of a mother that makes wedding cakes (her worst story is the time she knocked one over) this CRACKS ME UP!!!!! Great story.

Anonymous said...

Awesome. And for Sarah's sake (and for her eventual hope of remaining in the will), I hope this baker gets a Sunday Sweet. And a diamond necklace. :-) It may be a wreck, but it's such a funny story!

Alena said...

I am just shocked it's still standing!

jillb-ilslp said...

That Mom looks great - like a ton of fun! Makes me miss my fun Mom even more. She would tell a funny story on herself: There was a Cake Walk at my oldest brother's elementary school. (A silent auction fundraiser with home-baked cakes - something done in the "olden days" when homemade goods were still permissible and safe at school.) After finishing making and frosting the cake, she went to get cleaned up. When she came back to the kitchen, the toddler in the house had taken a huge paw-swipe out of the cake. With no time to make another one, Mom filled the entire hole with frosting and delivered the cake, quickly depositing it on a table and sneaking out.
Happy Mother's Day to all Moms and to all of you who have/had a Mom. ;-D

Anonymous said...

Closing in on our 30th anniversary (when the hell did THAT happen??), I have to say that what we and our family and friends remember is the hilarious bits where things did not go according to plan. We barely remember, much less treasure, the few things that turned out perfectly, but still relish discussing the sleeves on the groom's shirt that came out too short, the moment when the bride, with her hair done and in her underwear, was surprised by a dozen lost wedding guests marching through the bathroom, forgetting our house key and breaking into my in-laws' house together as our first misdemeanor as man and wife. . .

Trust me, in later years you will not think back on the place cards that perfectly matched the invitations but on this wonderful wreckstrosity made with love and heart.

Jenna Lynn Cody said...

Oh my.

First off, with all the fondant rolls (look at the rolls between layers there) it couldn't have been that delicious: fondant tastes like crud. Maybe the underneath-the-fondant cake was good though.

Secondly, bulges and tilts aside...that writing totally looks like the scrawlings of a serial killer writing to the cops that "I'm the one who lurks in shadows, the tarot card of death. I shall never be caught"....all creepy and oddly sized and scribbled.

Anonymous said...

I just had a redo on a cake that looked like this one. It "melted" in the heat and ended up in a heap, so this totally made my day. I've got tears from laughing with Sarah's mom- her expression was my own at 11pm last night. o_O The moral of the story... Bad cakes happen to good people. :) thanks for the much needed laugh

Misha said...

I LOVE the look on Sarah's mom's face. I've soooo been there.

Arlene said...

Aw her poor mom must have had a fit once she saw what the cake ended up looking like.. hey at least they still ended up with a cake after all..

Anonymous said...

When I was little, several of my mom's nieces got married and had her make their cakes. She would drag my brother and I out of bed before sunrise to go assemble everything. Now it occurs to me why-- the heat would have been awful past dawn to transport them! I don't know why it didn't occur to me at the time, but at that hour, what kid is thinking clearly? :)

Tía Hillary said...

Thanks Jen! I, too, LOVE the stories behind the cakes!
I agree with the posters that are hoping things are fine & happy between mom & daughter-in-law ... seems like the bride would have to have a sense of humor, as mom and Sarah both do!

Becca said...

Wow, the decorator deserves a pat on the back for persistence. I know a lot of people who would have completely given up.

Even in Arizona's dry heat we use "tropical" grade fondant in the summer time for just this reason.
I transport cakes frozen and pack ice packs around them, even then the thought of this keeps me from sleeping well the night before.

I would love to see some of the decorators successful cakes.

ecreativeweb said...

This cake is made from a mother with very hard for my daughter's it's very good

Christy said...

I feel it's safe to say it was a custom, one of a kind, (hopefully) never to be produced again....even with your...err...best (?) efforts!

Unknown said...

I LOVE how the window in the background goes from day to night to day again...and she's still going! That's CLASSIC! I bet she was totally strung out by the end of that experience.

Limey Cakelover said...

This cake is beautiful in its own way! However... maybe it doesn't mean the same in the States, but in England 'WC' stands for water closet, i.e. toilet/restroom. The finishing touch, I feel, and one Jen will surely appreciate, given all the poo cakes she presents to us.
WV: entoll
The road was entolled, and it cost us $5.

Anonymous said...

c'mon, folks...it was a cake made with lots and lots of love for her BROTHER AND SISTER-IN-LAW...and Mother Nature decided that this cake was just not gonna happen.

There are times when, no matter how talented you are, you cannot fool with Mother Nature (lightning and thunder)...She recovered as well as she should, and her final cake is still an awful lot better than some of the Wrecks that show up here...and it's a story that will last a long time. (If there were any truly hard feelings about this, I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have ended up in Jen's inbox...for something like this to be passed around for the world to see means everybody has forgiven and moved on. Y'all should do the same.)

Most wedding cakes come out fine...can you actually describe what a wedding cake looked like at a wedding other than your own? We went cheap on ours -- it was a very pretty cake, but nothing fancy -- because nobody actually cares what the stupid thing looks like...and ours tasted good, too.

As for those pondering the timing...maybe, just maybe, people decide to get married in August in Dallas because they love each other and want to make it forever, and they don't actually give a rat's red rump if it's the proper humidity levels for the fondant.

WV: Blest. Blest be the cake decorator who can laugh at the stuff that went wrong.

Mousekiro said...

Is this really a Wreck? I have to admit, to me it looks rather cute and unique once the writing is on. A charming, cuddly sort of cake.

Raquel said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Gary said...

This is an interesting test of how many people read the text, as opposed to just looking at the pictures. The baker was not the bride's mother-in-law-to-be, folks. She's the sister of the groom. Sarah clearly states that it was Sarah's mom's brother's wedding (not her son's wedding). What ever happened to paying attention? I guess attention spans are now only 140 characters long ...

Kari in Dallas said...

I'm sorry...there is such a thing as AIR CONDITIONING. Even in Dallas. And especially in August! So really there is no excuse!

Anonymous said...

This cake reminds me of the cake wrech that Funa made in "Sleeping Beauty." If only Sarah's mom had a magic wand!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1HBD9K-JyY

Jess said...

LOL that was great. It reminded me of a toilet paper cover my great grandmother once knitted. I think I still have it....Jess

Unknown said...

This has to be one of the best wrecks! I was able to work with Anne "the MOM" in the pictures. I can assure you the stories were just as funny as the pictures everyone gets to see today. I think Anne will think this is one of the most perfect mother's day presents from her daughter. And I think she has the best family. It's too bad the alligator groom's cake wasn't included! All of her former Ritz family has enjoyed this post maybe more than her!

Lauren said...

You know, if you just saw the end product and not the WIP (wreck-in-progress!) pics, it wouldn't be that bad. Considering the heat and the delicate nature of fondant, this is actually a passable cake. And I don't remember who said it, but someone made the comment about how the things that didn't go smoothly on the wedding day are more memorable. My wedding was relatively hiccup-free, and as a result it's pretty much a blur!

So YAY Sarah's mum - you didn't just make their cake, you made their most memorable moment!

Creative Mom said...

Oh no! That is just awful. I recently had a similar experience with my 5 year olds birthday cake. I'm not a professional baker, but I didn't think I had to worry about icing melting in February! You can see it, here, if you like:

http://makestuff4kids.com/?p=23

I don't really know who to feel bad for - the Bride, or the Mother-in-Law. Perhaps both?

I really appreciate the effort that went into it, and even if it doesn't look great, I'm sure that it tasted good!

Anonymous said...

No offense to the baker...but the minute the fondant headed south, she should went to buttercream. I would've been an unhappy bride. Sorry, to me it's just not "cute", it's sloppy and unprofessional.

SLV said...

My mom had a similar situation happen one summer. She made a wedding cake for a friend's daughter and it was so hot the cake was leaning. As soon as she got it all set up it fell over!! Flowers on top saved the day!

Anonymous said...

aww bless her heart. she did a great job fixing it. it looks like its supposed to be a cartoony style.