Sleepless Weekend: Two Jelly Cake Orders with Portrait

One thing I dislike is when a customer makes a rush order because that means no sleep for me. Although this only happens rarely and getting an order means getting paid so I still accepted the cake order.

I received a message some days ago inquiring about jelly cake with portrait. I'm still not confident enough making portrait drawings but I took it as a challenge and told that it was doable. After finalizing the details for the cake and receiving the downpayment, I started making the base.

Even making the base for this order wasn't simple because the customer also had customized letters and happy birthday lettering add-ons. The customized letters make me nervous all the time, not only that it takes a lot of time to arrange it but some of the letters slides from its position sometimes when I pour the hot agar.

And as expected, the portrait drawing didn't come out good. The lines were broken and even the bottom part of the eyeglasses appeared slanted. I don't want to give a bad-looking drawing since the customer trusted me and it's rare for customers to avail the jelly drawing. Yup, I repeated it. Two hours of making this drawing was gone to waste but lucky enough that I still have time. Customer ordered two days ahead of her pick up date.

With patience and prayers, the portrait came out better than the first try. Thank goodness!

I'm glad that the customer ordered the 8 inches cake because it's the only mold size that I have with a window. It's easier to see how the cake would look like when I use this mold.

Tada! I still liked how this cake turned out. The only issue for me was the letter 'Y' on the Happy Birthday lettering that wasn't completely filled with white color.

I think the customer and the people who have seen the cake liked it because two hours later the customer sent me another message requesting for a rush order.

I was lying on my bed after cleaning all the tools used and thought I could finally get to rest after few hours of sleep for two days but here comes another order. And it's due 8 in the morning next day.

The customer called me and ended up accepting the order. Well, I think I can make it if I don't sleep.

But heck, I'm crying inside because it's not just a simple jelly cake. It has customized letters and portrait drawing and dinosaur drawings. I carefully arranged the steps in my head to make the cake faster.

After settling the design and payment at 4 P.M., I immediately started making the customized letters and base. I think I finished the base around 7 P.M. Then I took a break to eat dinner before proceeding with drawing the portrait and dinosaurs while also waiting for the agar to become firm.

And my worst nightmare came. The lines were broken despite using the technique I used for my second trial on the previous order. I've got no time to redo the drawings so I have no choice but to go with it. This is why I dislike rush orders, no time to fix the mishaps.

Guess what? I finished the cake at 6 A.M. I set the chiller's temperature to maximum so the last layer would set faster. I usually let the cake set overnight before unmolding but I only have 2 hours left for this order and it's making me very nervous that the last or bottom layer won't set with the remaining time. I sent a message to the customer and requested a 1 hour extension because the cake still haven't set completely.

After washing some of the tools I used and cleaning the table, I ate my breakfast and rested on my bed at 7. I didn't notice I fell asleep but thank God my angels woke me up. It was 8 A.M. Like a robot, I quickly got up and run to the chiller to check the cake. The last layer seem firm already but still not as firm as when it's left overnight. I prepared the cake board, box, and other packaging materials before unmolding the cake.

I thought it would be easy to unmold it but this cake gave me trouble. Because this cake was thicker due to the added layer where the drawing was, it became difficult to unmold. I was also very nervous that I would damage the cake when I put more force. The edges of the bottom layer was already separating from the cake. I was already on a panick! I did a quick research on how to unmold it easier because the technique I'm using wasn't working.

Whew!!! The relief I got after unmolding it successfully was similar to the relief you get after getting constipated. Lol. Thought I would end up messaging the customer to cancel the order. I was done wrapping the cake 7 minutes before 9 A.M.

I placed the cake back into the chiller so the gelatin doesn't melt while waiting for the customer to pick it up. And 13 minutes later, the customer called me and was already there to get the cake.

Such a buzzer beater order! Thank goodness I was able to finish everything just in time. We don't have a waiting area so I don't like to let them wait for a long time. The customer messaged me later and thanked me for still accepting the order. I wish this is the last rush order I get.

And this is why I was also gone for a couple of days on Hive. My energy was so drained that I felt really sluggish and tired for days. I also missed my important day here. But yeah I'm slowly returning again as I prepare for Christmas.

Thanks for reading! 💚