Present Cake

This was taken as soon as I finished it.

This was taken the next day after I added the "Z".

You can kind of see a crack in the top loop of the bow.

2-layer 8" Square Cake: $60

This was definitely a learning experience for me.  I've only ever done 2 other cakes before doing this one so cakes are not necessarily my forte.  I had so many issues with this that I'm going to need a list of all the issues I had:

• Marshmallow fondant for the bow was probably not a good idea. It didn't stiffen up as much as I wanted it to and when stacked, the lower bows got crushed and cracked.  I wanted to get some Tylo powder to help stiffen up the fondant, but I didn't have time.
• After pulling the cake out of the fridge after the final coat of icing, I should have waited until the cake came to room temperature and everything settled.  It ended up settling after I added the fondant which caused the filling inside to bulge out and cause ripples in the fondant.  Not the flat smooth finish that I wanted.
• I didn't measure the height of my cake after adding the bow against the height of my box.  I put it in the box, closed the lid and when I looked at it later, realized that the top bow had cracked.  It was 1 a.m. at this point, so I had to think fast.  I decided to glue it together with a little buttercream and then make a "Z" dusted with luster dust and put on top so it didn't make the patch job look glaringly obvious. 

Next time, I think I will make the cakes WAY ahead of time and freeze them.  I keep reading that they come out so much more moist this way and this is what a lot of bakeries do.  This will save me some time with the cooling process and I can start carving away and adding my filling when I'm ready.  I also need to make sure that I let everything settle and come to room temperature before I add the fondant.  Basically, I just need more practice.  I've got all the knowledge, I just need to apply it correctly.