Coffee Cup Cake - cake wreck? or ??

Coffee Cup Cake and Treats

What can I say?  Cakes take time.  Like any good thing, a well-made cake shouldn't be rushed.  In my experience, fondant or gumpaste accents that need to be able to stand on their own should have at least 2-3 days to dry, and a cake should settle for 24 hours (or at least overnight) before fondanting.

So, considering I filled, ganached, and fondanted this cake all within 1/2 hour, and only gave the plate/saucer and cup handle about 8 hours to dry...I can't very well expect perfection!  And perfect it certainly was not.  Although I have to say, despite very limited drying time, the gumpaste plate held up remarkably well.

A bit wobbly in appearance and somewhat lacking in symmetry, yet still offering that pleasant and inviting feeling that a good cup of coffee and a slice of cake should!