Grocery Store Cakes - Page 4

First of all, I am not offended by your statement, and I hope I do not offend you with mine.

However, in my opinion, the long and the short of it is this: it's just cake. So long as it tastes good, and is prepared in a healthy manner, people should be able to buy what they want. I've used ribbon (rarely, but just to kick up a cake when it needs a little something extra) and gummi roses once in a blue moon (nicer for the diabetics as they are easier for them to simply remove and still enjoy a smaller amount of icing). I also airbrush cakes for a nice effect.

This is not all I do, but I have done it before and people buy them because they think they're pretty. Just my opinion. I don't do it as an easy way out or very often, just because there are people in my area that like it. It's also how you use it. It may be abused by the decorators in your area, but I still consider it decorating.

squirrellycakes: in my experience the colours offered to decorators at grocery, donut shop franchise, and other similar cake outlets are liquids in lurid, non-natural colours (i think we could all live our lives quite happily never again seeing that anaemic sky blue frosting on a cake ). when i was working at tim hortons, i also did character cakes and wedding cakes, and i brought in my own paste colours to use (just imagine trying to get barney-purple or elmo-red using liquids!). i agree with you about flags: easier and more edible-looking to use picks or other removable decorations; ah...if only country flags came in soft, muted colours, eh?.

also, it's been 5 years since i worked in the industry, but i've never seen a chef/baker uniform that included elbow-length gloves. you can't stick your chef-jacketed arm in a vat of buttercream or mousse. i don't think i wore my chefs jacket past the first few weeks of my baking/decorating career; i've been up to my elbows in product, and decorating is easier when you've got the range of movement that a t-shirt and apron offers, and you don't have to worry about accidentally scraping the cake with your jacket cuffs (you just have to worry about your belly and boobs...both of which i'm ashamed to say have come into contact with cakes i was working on! )

Now that is funny! I haven't had the pleasure of this yet

Haha, I know most folks just wear the t-shirts, I was being funny. But really with those hairy armed folks I think shaving or a jacket should be a must, in fact, I am almost certain that a food inspector would insist on it. I say, what about armpit lengthed gloves, haha! Many of the grocery stores here actually do get their icing pre-coloured Aunt-Judy. It is likely something that varies a lot.
I agree that there are folks who do beautiful air brush designs, I also will add candies or other edible decorations and sometimes non-edible ribbons and such too. Sometimes the cake dictates what you should add. But I have also seen the cakes that are referred too, where things are just slopped on.
I know a lot of folks who have never eaten anything other than a grocery store cake. In fact they are so used to them that they find home made cakes and icings, taste strange to them.
I have an order to do where the lady requested a non-sweet icing like a certain chain here uses. Now personally, we find this icing to be the worst one around, but apparently she likes it. So I will be making up an icing that will hopefully come out similar to it. I am just dreading it. Personally I find it very sweet, but it just goes to show, it is all what you are used to. I really wanted to tell her to buy her cake from that store, but since it is a friend of a friend, I don't want to offend her.
But I have had neighbour's children that thought homemade cakes tasted weird. These children would also likely not like homemade soup because it wouldn't be as salty as canned - which is what they are used to.
I think the comments are dead on about educating the public. I liken it to furniture. For example, Bombay company makes nice looking furniture, a lot of folks think it is quality furniture. However because of the types of woods they use and the way they put the finishes on, this is not furniture that will withstand the tests of time It looks good new, that is true, but it will not hold up the way Ethan Allen or Gibbards, (if you are a Canuck), will.
Hugs Squirrelly

I have seen them! It was on the Simple Life when Paris was doing an exam on a cow. (You don't want details; it was not pleasant. It was funny though!)

That's hilarious! I've done it too. I quit work early when my 7 months pregnant belly kept hitting the sides of my cakes and messing up the borders. Very frustrating.

Haha, now that you mention it, I saw that episode with Paris Hilton too. Forgot about it!
Haha, at least you were pregnant and had an excuse, haha! The stomach portion of my apron is always a mess, wonder why, haha!
Hugs Squirrelly

Never trust a skinny cook! hehe

squirrelly: do you happen to be referring to the dominion/a&p/save-a-centre grocery store icing? i worked for them for three days (lowest pay i every made, even as a teenager!). their icing is a "butter"cream, or so they claim (clearly not containing sufficient butter that they refrigerate it...it sits out in a big tub). it's very greasy (you can feel the shortening), and alarmingly smooth...i find it irritatingly sweet and unctuous, but a lot of people like it cause you can't feel the sugar in it (i suspect it's made with some sort of syrup). just wretched.

those paris hilton calf-birthing gloves would have been handy...i used to come home from bakery work on public transit -- if i wasn't careful when cleaning up after my shift i could have smears of chocolate or icing on my arms or neck...when you see people covered in paint coming home from work you think they've been working hard -- i can't imagine what people thought of me covered in foodstuff stains!

to me the store bought cakes are soo generic...like they're made by a machine or something.

Independant Grocers, Aunt-Judy, they receive the pails frozen.
Hugs Squirrelly