My First Cake Fail

I have had my fair share of cake fails, however nothing compares to my first one. It was from this fail that helped me create the biggest rule I 'cake by'.

Here's the story:

I had just started my cake business and I was super excited to sell my first cake. I sold it for $50 and the customer wanted me to 'do whatever I wanted' on the design for his daughter's graduation cake. I was so excited and I came up with a pastel floral design. 

When I finished the cake I (mistakenly) decided to keep the cake on the glass display stand and loaded it onto the floor of my car using the side of the console and chair to support the stand. It made the whole 20 minute drive to the restaurant parking lot, but as soon as I drove up into the parking lot, the glass stand fell to the side and the cake fell with it. 

I was in complete shock. I got myself together and went into the restaurant. I told the customer that the cake had fallen by accident. I felt horrible and I refunded him his $50. 

But what happened later was what felt even worse. My customer called me to tell me it was ok. And in this call he told me that, basically he didn't think the design I had made was very good. He told me he was expecting something much different and better than what I brought him.

I mean I know I was just learning my craft, but I must say, this was so hard to hear. You know, one thing is dropping your art, the other is someone telling you that your art was not so good to begin with... after they gave you permission to create any art you wanted! 

This experience led me to create an important rule that I 'cake by', and this rule is:

Always, always, understand the customer's cake vision. What do they like, and what inpsires them? To get an idea, I always request that customers provide cake images that show the styling they are looking for. I ask them about their theme, color preferences, and finishes that they might prefer (like buttercream or fondant). 

Needless to say, I never take a "do whatever design" cake project ever LOL. 

And the other lesson I learned was to never travel with a cake on its stand... I am sure this is obvious to everyone else, but it wasn't for me! I do know that some people travel with the larger more stable stands but I don't think I will ever get myself to do that again :O).

Happy cake decorating!

Christie