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Original poster

<< wails >> It is going to be a bloody disaster...

27 replies

bellavita · 23/04/2010 20:55

I like cake making and do lots and lots of baking.

Have made party cakes and some a little bit more upmarket.

My friend asked if I would make a 12" square fruit cake, marzipan, ice it and decorate it for her parents 50th wedding anniversary which is at the end of this month.

Cake made weeks ago. It is very very heavy. Fed it a couple of times, but due to a crack in the middle of the cake decided that the less man handling it had the better.

Have got it out tonight and it has got four huge cracks in a square across the bloody thing. I have marzipanned it but every time it is being moved there is more chance of it breaking even more...

What on earth is it going to cut like after it has been iced with fondant?

It is going to a hotel so I assume that someone in the kitchen will cut it - is it likely to all crumble?

Oh fucking 'ell it is ruined isn't it?

G'wan give it to me straight, I can take it

OP posts:
differentID · 23/04/2010 20:57

do the cracks meet?

Original poster
bellavita · 23/04/2010 20:59

Oh yes, big time!

OP posts:
differentID · 23/04/2010 21:04

ouch. Sorry I can't be more help.

Did you use plain flour or self raising?

Original poster
bellavita · 23/04/2010 21:08

I cannot remember now....

It was plain flour I used.

I have done the cake before but on a smaller basis and it was easier to pick up.

Well, what is done is done I suppose. I am not getting paid for it or anything (my friend bought all the ingredients) and she knows that I like to do them in my spare time and am not professional.....

OP posts:
activate · 23/04/2010 21:09

what is it about old people and fruit cake with marzipan

nobody under the age of 40 likes fruit cake

thisisyesterday · 23/04/2010 21:12

is the crack all the way through the whole depth, or just on the surface?

mine normally crack a bit on the top, it doesn't affect how it cuts at all.... but you're right, the more you handle it the more you risk it going deeper/falling apart.

i would just ice it and hope for the best tbh!!!

(i am well under 40 and i LOVE fruit cake!)

differentID · 23/04/2010 21:13

I like fruit cake! In small amounts, but they can be delicious!

Bellavita, don't worry yourself.

It could have been the oven temp, so blame it on the equipment

FiveGoMadInDorset · 23/04/2010 21:14

I love fruit cake and onlu just hot 40.

Bella, as little handling as possible I think. Are you taking it to the hotel or the friend?

MitsubishiWarrioress · 23/04/2010 21:17

sorry Bella, i know how hard you work on them.....

Original poster
bellavita · 23/04/2010 21:17

No friend is going to pick it up on Thursday evening and take to the hotel on Friday morning.

I feel sick...

It took bloody 6 hours in the sodding oven. It took about 2 hours before that to mix all the ingredients together and another 45 minutes sorting out greaseproof paper so it was well wrapped and then wrapping the outside of the bloody tin too.

OP posts:
FiveGoMadInDorset · 23/04/2010 21:19

Ice it will as great care as you can and then leave it. Phone your friend and explain what has happened and give her very strict instructions about handling. i am guessing that it will be put on display, couple with stick knife in and then it will be whisked away. May be worth phoning up the hotel itself and reiterate the instructions that you will tell friend.

Original poster
bellavita · 23/04/2010 21:22

Fanny, do you think I really need to say?

Oh god, I do don't I......

OP posts:
thisisyesterday · 23/04/2010 21:25

you know what? phone your friend now. tell her what has happened.
then give her the choice of continuing to ice it, and hope for the best, or buying another lot of ingredients and making a new one.

Original poster
bellavita · 23/04/2010 21:27

thisis, I haven't got the time to bake another one. I work.

OP posts:
Original poster
bellavita · 23/04/2010 21:30

Right, she is coming down tomorrow at some stage in the day to bring the ribbon to go around the bottom of the cake. I will tell her then. I cannot ice it until Sunday because the marzipan needs to dry.

Thanks ladies.

OP posts:
FiveGoMadInDorset · 23/04/2010 21:32

How big is it? I did a lovely fruit cake for christmas presents that didn't nee dfeeding, just soaked the fruit for 24hours before hand. So that could be a possibility?

Original poster
bellavita · 23/04/2010 21:36

It is 12" square Fanny. I soaked the fruit for about 3 days before hand.

Thing is, it looked fab in the tin and when I got it out - have a silverwood cake pan that the sides just slide off it looked really nice. Maybe I shouldn't have fed it. Although the smaller cakes I have done I have always fed and they have not cracked. I think it is just the sheer size and weight of it - it has approx 6lbs of fruit in it.

OP posts:
FiveGoMadInDorset · 23/04/2010 21:38

Sounds like it is just big. It will be fine. Your friend will be OK.

Original poster
bellavita · 23/04/2010 21:39

Thank you. Am a little calmer now..

OP posts:
differentID · 23/04/2010 21:40

Sounds like it will be fine- like five said- probably just the sheer size of it.

hellsbelles · 23/04/2010 21:43

just found this! Bella - it will taste gorgeous and that is really all that most people will be bothered about. Also cake is served at the end of the meal when everyone is pissed so they will think they are imagining the cracks

taffetacat · 23/04/2010 21:49

hear hear hellsbelles

I am 42 and love fruitcake but apparently I am old

Original poster
bellavita · 23/04/2010 21:52

I must be really old then... I will be 45 in August and I do like fruitcake

OP posts:
Collision · 23/04/2010 21:58

This is why M&S was invented!

Just do some writing on one of their cakes

Job done!!

MamaG · 24/04/2010 07:14

Nobody will notice the cracks

they're getting a small slice of it, as opposed tot he whole cake being paraded around teh room!

I've got a 12" fruit cake in my cupboard, I made it for DS2's christening (which hasn't been arranged yet ) and i haven't checked it for ages

if it's cracked, I'll be putting it on the cake board upside down (i.e. cracked side down) and icing the lovely smooth bottom!