I make all my cakes from scratch & I've had a few friends ask me if they can have my cake recipes.

I don't know what to say. The way I look at it is that one day there might be possible cake sales & if they have the recipes why bother asking me to make the cake.

What have you done when people have asked you for recipes?

Thanks
Mar

"When Col. Sanders shares his secret 11 herbs and spices recipe, then I'll share mine. Let me know when you get that from him."

I don't give recipes away, but if people ask for a recipe, I do tell them where they can find it. Such as Ina Garten's lemon cake, the recipe is out there on the internet, I just say "google it". If it is in a book I tell them which book. But I don't go around handing out my recipes.

If you don't want to tell them that much, just wink and say "trade secret".

I make a brownie cake, that I'm renowned for among family, friends and work colleagues. When people ask for the recipe I either tell them it's a family secret, or that it's my business recipe, ie, you want brownie cake you buy it from me!

Or as it's as simple as kelleym said tell them trade secret!

Oh I like your answers, thanks so much. I have to say a few years ago I gave a scratch cake recipe to a friend because she asked me for it. Then I had her mom over for dinner and she was telling me "Oh my daughter made the best cake last weekend" Yup it was my recipe. I said "Oh that's the recipe I gave her & she said "Oh really my daughter didn't say that."
Till this day I regret giving it to her.

I know it sounds petty to talk like this but I worked hard to get the recipe just the way I like it and she took the credit for it & without giving any mention to me.

Ok enough venting...sorry.

I agree with everyone else--I find a polite way to tell them NO. No one has ever gotten upset about it either--I think that it keeps them coming back for more.

I normally tell people it's a secret recipe handed down thru the generations which normally it is. If it's a basic recipe that everyone would use and could possibly find online anyway I just ask them not to share it with others and not to post it on the web and such... like a recipe that was requested for my bc icing... I gave it to her and asked her not to share it with Crisco (as she had posted they asked her for her recipe to distiguish the problems)... she agreed not to share it with anyone which was great

I have jokingly said "Well I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you." I don't share my recipes, If someone asks I just tell them exactly that. "I'm sorry when it comes to my recipes, Im selfish. I don't share."

I've spent many hours perfecting my carrot cake recipe and icing. I send them in occasionally to my husband's office. One wife of an employee called me personally to ask for the recipe. She said she "got sick and tired of hearing her husband rave about another woman's cake". His bday was approaching. She wanted to make it for him. I was so touched, I gave it to her. She made it for him, but called me later and said "NEVER AGAIN". She said it took her all day, she can't decorate worth beans, and hubby didn't seem to flip the way he flipped for mine. I actually thought it was a cute story, so I wanted to respond to you. Sorry about someone stealing your credit. That's not nice. Too bad there is always one to ruin it. This same woman called a month later to order a carrot cake from me for her daughter's baptism. Not as easy as it appears. I got a kick out of it all! Good luck.

I tell them that I rarely measure, so I could not give them exact measurments. When I receive a recipe, I usually change it a bit so that I can honestly say that it started out as ******'s recipe, but was altered for my taste. My husband's aunt had the best fudge that I redid and made it a poured icing. When I asked her she told me to use a certain type and size pan to cook it and a certain bowl to mix in and a certain spoon for the ingredients. I had to watch her make it and guessed at everything including the weight of the pot to cook it. That is how I learned to give out recipes. No exact measurements. If they want my creation, they can pay for it.

dldbrou, you cook like me! My daughter says her husband (my son-in-law) is the only person who has been able to duplicate my meatloaf. SIL says, "I think it's because I can figure out how much "a sh**load of ketchup" is!"

I look at them in disbelief...and ask for their car keys...wallet or some other personal item...then laugh and say...aw...cmon you don't think I am gonna give away secrets to help put myself outta business do ya???

if it is a recipe I haven't modified, I tell them where to find it. If it is one I have honed over the years and altered, then I don't share it.

I once had a florist who nearly refused to give me the flowers for a wedding cake until I divulged my "trade secret" for keeping HIS flowers looking fresh on MY cake. I told him that "I don't go around asking you for your trade secrets, and I am not willing to share mine. I've been doing this a long time, and I know what I'm doing, let's just leave it at that."

There's much more to that story that I could impart, but the long and short of it is that I use much the same language when someone wante my recipes. I frequently tell people, "now, if I told you that, I wouldn't be in business any more, would I?"

Then, as Alton Brown says, "just [smile and] walk away"

HTH,

Odessa

My father went to his grave with his recipe for Muscadine Wine. He never wrote it down and did not give out the recipe. No one in the family has ever been able to duplicate it since. My mother also has her own recipe for Dirty Rice, and so far I have gotten very close, but until I inherit her black iron skillet, I don't think I can make it taste the same. My grandmother had her secret recipe for Gumbo that I have never tasted again since she died. Sometimes, it is ashame that they did not get passed on to at least one family member, but nobody knows how long they have here and they will take their secret recipe to their grave.

It depends on the recipe and who's doing the asking. Otherwise, it is a family recipe.

what if it is a family member? I have a sis who likes to do cakes as a hobby, but is a cpa by trade. I am trying to start a cake business, so I really don't want to share, but she is my sister. I put a lot of time and research into these recipies. Ya know what I mean?

Also, what do you say when they say... how did you do the flowers/people/building? I really want to say, FIGURE IT OUT! But Of course I don't. I ususally say something like "a lot of time and patience and I would be glad to make one for you."

Maybe I just have PMS, but for CRYIN' OUT LOUD!!! They don't go to the doctor and say..."how did you make the plaster for the cast? or the mechanic and say, "how did you put the timing belt on the dingly thing". They wont go to walmart and ask them!! Why do they think you should tell them???

Okay....breath...count...1..2..3..4..5...6...calming down...

I know exactly what you mean by having people ask you for your recipes!! My problem is that I've always made good tasting cakes, and all my neighbors took the recipes!!!! But that was before I started selling cakes and cookies and cupcakes!! NOW, I have a neighbor who wanted to make 2 cakes for her daughters birthdays, OF COURSE she didn't want to order from me, so she went to the Wilton supplies store, bought the yearbook, piping bags, tips, icing color, marzipan etc... AND she came to me and told me to go teach her how to decorate the cake using the start tip, AND covering with marzipan, AND how to decorate cookies with Royal Icing!!! I tried to get away but I couldn't, so I went to her house, and started doing it myself, it was better than teaching her! Then she wanted to give it a try, so I gave her the piping bag and I left her house saying that my husband needed me. Of course the cakes and cookies were not well decorated at the end!

Oh I forgot!! I also have 2 family members who would never say no if you ask them for a recipe, but they NEVER give you the right recipe!! There is always something wrong with it, so I have to try to figure it out myself! My husband says I stupid to keep on asking them for recipes.


By the way, the neighbor I was mentioning before, NEVER gave me any recipe I asked for, not sweet recipes, but regular cooking recipes. And IF one day she decides to do something, she will lend you a cookbook and tell you that the recipe is inside it, but of course, the recipe is NEVER inside the book!

I am never asked by customers, but I do share recipes. I figure that is how we all get better.

When someone asks for my recipe I ask for their credit card number (including the three digit code on the back!). Hey, if they're willing to trade, it works for me. So far, no takers.

But, I do write my recipes down so that someday when I'm gone, the world can have them. No, I'm not telling you WHERE you silly goose!

You know it seems even when you give a recipes. they all complain b.c they can't make it as good, so I do believe there is some inherent talent there. NO?!

Seems like I am different in my feelings here but I never keep any recipes to myself. There have been many generous people out there who have helped me along my way and without them I may not know all that I know. Of course its upsetting when someone doesn't give you credit, but inside I know where the credit belongs. Like someone posted here earlier, although you give the recipe away, doesn't mean that you let your secret out. Everyone has their own touch to things and that is probably what makes the recipes so special. However, to each his own and people should respect whatever it is that you choose to do.

I don't give my recipes out to my customers, however I would to any of you! I am always glad when you share with me. We are all over the country and more than likely out markets do not intersect. I am always bummed when someone on here won't share. I can understand if it were a professional bakery, buy just us little home bakers can always use a hand!

I cannot create an original recipe for the life of me! I don't understand the science and I am always afraid to mess it up! Where would I be without y'all!


Thanks for sharing!

Stephanie

I'm enjoying this thread so much. LOL. I don't feel half as bad now telling people that "I could give my recipe to you, but then I'd have to kill you, and what would that accomplish?" LOL. I don't share my recipes at all... You don't see Coke passing out their recipes. Most of my recipes are derived from ONE recipe that has been passed down on my mother's side for generations. I have simply added my own twist and tweaks to it. Everyone raves of my moist and tasty cakes. I want to leave it that way...MY recipes. As far as writing them down...they're stored right up top...in my brain for only me to know. LOL.

Here's another option...give them your recipe...IN SHORT HAND!!! That used to bug the bejeebers out of me!!! My mom would make out Christmas lists with our names written down and everything to buy to the side of our names...in short hand. She'd leave that list on the front of the refrigerator for all of us kids to see...knowing that there was NO way we'd ever guess what it said. LOL. Gotta love her! LOL.

Amy