Cake Design Failure

The resort I work at go all out for guests staying for extended period of time. We provide  them complimentary services and great restaurant deals. This month, we had a large group staying for more than two weeks. During their time at the resort, we found out that one of the guests and his son were both having their birthdays. For this special celebration, they requested I make two kinds of cake. Three pound carrot cake iced with cream cheese frosting for the little boy. Another three pound chocolate cake frosted with vanilla butter cream for the dad which I will talk about in my next entry.


Carrot cake for a three year old. How surprising! It was difficult to think of a design for the cake that would make the boy (and parents) happy. I thought of two options. Cover the cake with fondant and place animal figures on top  or decorate it with colorful M and Ms candy. After  careful planning, I ditched the idea of a fondant covered cake. We're right in the middle of high season. The demands tripled since I got an assistant.  To go through  all the trouble of rolling out, tinting and molding fondant would be impossible.  So, I went ahead with my second choice. Stick to the tradition of icing the cake with cream cheese frosting and decorate it with M and Ms. I was too confident that it would work out, not thinking that the frosting I'd normally make would be too wet.  The result was a disaster! I wasn't even halfway through when some colors started melting. I had no choice but to put the cake back to the fridge for a few more minutes to  harden the frosting. The process took longer than expected yet I managed to finish it way before the guests came down to the restaurant.

And guess what? The guests didn't mind the smudge on the cake.