My birthday cake turned into a leaning tower of frosting

I was making a three layer chocolate cake for my friend's party in Tacoma last weekend. The middle layer slid right off the plate while I was putting on the final coat of buttercream (it was still a bit warm, oops). I tried to prop it up with some chopsticks I found in a drawer, which just made the whole thing tilt like a weird dessert ship. Has anyone else had a layer cake try to escape, and what's your best fix for a cake that won't stay put?

3 comments

3 Comments

julia6222mo ago

Honestly that sounds like a feature not a bug, leaning cakes have way more character.

brown.reese2mo ago

You know what, @julia622 is totally right. A perfect cake can feel a bit boring. That little lean makes it look homemade, like someone actually made it with their hands. I remember a chocolate cake my aunt made that listed to the side, and it was the best one at the party. It felt real, not like something from a store shelf. A straight cake is just a cake, but a leaning one has a story.

john4301mo ago

Man that's rough. I've definitely been there with cakes going rogue on me. One time I made a carrot cake for a coworker's retirement and the whole top layer slid clean off when I tried to move it to a platter. Ended up just patching it together with extra frosting and calling it a "rustic tower" which everyone thought was intentional. Your chopstick idea is actually pretty clever honestly, even if it didn't work out perfect. Sometimes you just gotta accept the lean and go with it, the taste is what matters anyway.