I just made my first made to order cake for a distant relatives engagement, and spent all week fretting over the bulges, then the lines being straight, then the luster dust sprinkling off...yadda yadda yadda...
SO...
I thought, I am going to PRINT out instructions for this thing...what i called "my baby" of a cake. How to carry the box, how to drive the car, how to get it out of the box, what had to be removed before consumption (ribbon), and FINALLY how to cut it up.
I was so specific that I matched the stripes on the outside of the cake to co-incide with where the cuts had to be. IE: to the RIGHT of every stripe..brain surgery I KNOW!
So anyway, the bar staff decides to cut into one cake (kitchen cake) leaving the actual 2 tier cake on display (???), but cut it a third of the size I specified, and even separated it at the filling: ie intead of cake-filling-cake to each serve, you got cake and MAYBE some filling, cause someone else was eating the other half of your matchbox sized serve.
AND then I complained to her repeatedly and told her I made the cake so i know how it is supposed to be served, decided to finally just go ahead to cut the actual cake myself, and she shoves the cutting guide I gave with the cake in my face!! ARE YOU SERIOUS!!!
I think my biggest pet peeve was somthing I just found out about on Friday night. Last year I did a fall wedding cake that all told was 7 cakes, three of which where 14 inch double layers and a matching mini cake that was a gift to the bride from the groom. Ok, here is were the grrr comes from. The girl who was a co-worker was the one who referred me and she was a bridesmaid in that wedding. She no longer works with me but just the other night I ran into her at the local walmart. She told me that the cake wasn't cut until late in the evening so only the 8in tier was cut and served. Then she happily told me the rest of the cake was thrown away because no one thought to put it away. About 30 hours worth of work and about 10lbs of cream cheese not to mention all the other materials and effert were compleatly wasted, right in the dumpster at the venue site. 
Is it just me, or does anyone else hate it when they ask you how long it took you to make the cake? If you think about it, there's really no good answer to that question. If I say 2 hours, I threw it together. If I say 15 hours, they stare gape-eyed in disbelief, and wonder why the he!! it took so long.
How do you answer this question?
Is it just me, or does anyone else hate it when they ask you how long it took you to make the cake? If you think about it, there's really no good answer to that question. If I say 2 hours, I threw it together. If I say 15 hours, they stare gape-eyed in disbelief, and wonder why the he!! it took so long.
How do you answer this question?
I was asked that question at a wedding. I told her, "7 hours JUST in baking time." Her mouth gaped opened as she said, "SEVEN HOURS!!" I repeated ...... "JUST in baking time! That doesnt' count mixing, decorating, assembling."
they've no idea. One co-worker (well, over the years, MORE than one co-worker!) honestly thought a 4 tier wedding cake was baked the morning of a wedding that started at 1 or 2.
I HATE HATE HATE HATE touching cornstarch. It is like fingernails on a blackboard and gives me instant goosebumps.
I am crazy, I know.
Haha, I have a big issue touching popsicle sticks, skewers, toothpicks...I actually gag when I see people eating a popsicle w/ a stick in it...its so bad that I make my kids eat their fudge sicles off a plate after my DH removes the stick while my back is turned...I know super freaky..
back to the post...
My map cake broke my heart...I had put so much work into it, and seeing as how I tend to over analyze everything, it was alot of time. I just knew they were getting ready to cut it, so I walked outside, but it's worth eat when the cake tastes great and I get too eat it...
I think I need to start making a spare cake to eat myself for those people who don't invite me to the event..it just bugged me(on my transformer cake) that I wasn't there to eat the cake w/ them, I knew the cake tasted good(from the carvings) but everyone's palete is different..
Is it just me, or does anyone else hate it when they ask you how long it took you to make the cake? If you think about it, there's really no good answer to that question. If I say 2 hours, I threw it together. If I say 15 hours, they stare gape-eyed in disbelief, and wonder why the he!! it took so long.
How do you answer this question?
yah the last 3 tier stacked cake i did (the super hero cake in my photos) hubby was asked "is she STILL working on that cake" cause i spent over the course of 3 days working on it
NO.. i did not spend the majority of those 3 days working on it
one day i baked, froze, next day made up all the icing i'd need,filling, crumbcoated, prepared the boards etc.. then decorated the next day and delivered the next morning..
the cake was either frozen the first day or refridgerated after that till the night before delivery so that the icing and colors would settle up intime for me to see if i needed to fix anything.
i spent portions of those days helping hubby with his stuff he needed done for other factors in his life while he helped Them with set up rehearsals practice etc.
NO.. i did not spend the majority of those 3 days working on it
one day i baked, froze, next day made up all the icing i'd need,filling, crumbcoated, prepared the boards etc.. then decorated the next day and delivered the next morning..
it's like they think it just magically happens. I get the same thing in catering. My sister's son got married. I did the cake and food. A co-worker of my sister volunteered to be at the reception hall "for me" so I could attend the wedding of my nephew, then leave right after the wedding to get back to the reception hall "....before the guests arrive". Yes, it was a WONDERFUL offer and I appreciate the thought behind it, but I told sis, "Are you kidding? that's when all the work is going on! I can't be gone then!" I went on to explain that "When the guests start to arrive is when I let my crew go out for a smoke break because there's nothing to do at that point."
They (food civilians) think my "work" starts when they walk in the door, and the two 8' tables filled with hot chafers loaded with food with fresh strawberries and stacks and stacks of heavy glass plates, and operating chocolate fountains just came out of box that said "Add water .. POOF! Instant buffet for 150!"
My pet peeve is being asked to cut the cake when I'm at an event that I brought it to. My standard reply is "I don't cut cake, I just bake it." At that point, when I put so much time and energy and emotion into it, I feel like it's cutting up my baby...I don't mean that to be melodramatic, really. I'm just so slow at decorating that I get "attached" to the cake I'm working on and to cut it up would be painful after spending all those hours together.
And, what really annoys the heck out of me, is spending all that time on the cake and nobody want to cut it! I want to scream, "CUT THE CAKE!" That's what I made it for for crying out loud! GRRRR! 
My biggest peeve came when I spent days making my friend's wedding cake (remember, I told you I'm a slow decorator) and the venue people cut the groom's cake and left the wedding cake! I wanted to scream! All that work and the guests weren't going to get any! Several times I talked to someone about cutting it and they never did. Good thing the bride and groom stayed "in town" for a few days before leaving so they could go to their niece's baby shower. She has 7 brothers and sisters so when everyone got together, they had cake! 
Oh, maybe the grand finale was doing a wedding cake for someone in our small group and not getting paid...how awkward is that?! To make matters worse, the cake served in their backyard Luau reception was pineapple updside down cake - the groom's favorite! My Luau wedding cake was never cut and it was a huge cake! I was soooo upset! Weeks later she told me they were eating cake for days! I'm more upset with myself because I couldn't bring myself to tell her I felt like I was taken advantage of...and WHY did she and I keep meeting to talk about cake details???
It was MY fault though about the money, I just can't talk money to people and find it extremely awkward. Even when we have had garage sales and people come to pay for their items, I go in the house and let my husband collect it. He does get upset though when the cakes end up costing US...Recently I did a cake for our pastor's daughter's baptism and they gave me $5.00 over the cost of the ingredients. They asked how much money I spent ont he ingredients. I didn't know what to say and just gave it up as an offering to the Lord that week....it just makes me feel underappreciated.
I'm sorry if I veered off the topic...guess I should get back to therapy, huh? 
Have a good week my fellow CC friends!
My pet peeve is when people think they need to constantly lick their fingers while serving cake.
My cousin's wife did this once while serving their son's birthday cake. Needless to say, they had a ton of cake left over because noone wanted to eat it after she had her nasty fingers all over it.
Ewwwww!
Regarding the pet peeve about licking fingers while serving cake... I have often been asked to cut simple sheet cakes at work and this is my procedure:
First I wash my hands thoroughly with soap, and then announce to everyone that I just washed my hands. Then I don a pair of plastic food serving gloves, all the while touching nothing else. As I cut and serve the cake, I continue to touch nothing but the cake, if necessary, and the knife.
Throughout the cake serving I repeatedly reassure everyone that my hands are extremely clean and I'm not touching anything else until I'm finished. My hope is that people will be enlightened and think "Gee, I never thought about it that way. I guess I should wash my hands and not lick my fingers the next time I serve cake (or anything)."
Do you think it might work? 
my biggest pet peeve:
"Who would pay $XXX.XX for CAKE???" or "I don't remember grocery store cakes costing that much"
bi**h, don't make me slap you
Okay...I have a list....
1. hate it when they don't want to cut the cake cause "it's too pretty"
2. hate it when they hack it to death as well-I mean seriously?
3. hate it when they ask ME to cut the cake because I'm really sick of cake by this point
4. hate it when they all "rag" on me for not eating any of my own cake if I am attending the event-I get sick of smelling cake!
5. hate it when people probe me for like recipes or how I decorated something-like they are thinking about taking this skill up-I mean, I do this for a living!
oh I forgot about #5!!! I usually get asked "What recipe did you use?" My answer: "Mine" HA! Take THAT ya lazy b***h
Like some PP, I'd much rather do the cutting myself if I'm in attendance. I can't stand if someone "hacks" my cake. I don't mind if they cut into it...it's when they don't take care in doing it that somewhat bothers me, albeit fleetingly.
Other pet peeves is when people say they just want a "small" piece but when I cut them a "small" piece, they say, "oh, can you cut it a bit bigger?". Doh?
Oh, and I forgot to add the other one before clicking "submit"...
2nd pet peeve is when people say, "oh I would love to be able to do that too (decorate cakes) but I just don't have the patience."
Yah that's all it takes! NOT! LOL
As if it's so easy to do but the ONLY requirement is patience! That's probably NOT what they really think, but that's how it comes across sometimes and it is a bit disappointing that they don't give more credit for the part I'm most proud of and that's the creativity & artistic ability.
I can't stand hearing "Fondant tastes sooooooooo gross" from people who have never even tried the stuff. What are you? Five years old? Are you really going to just take someone else's word for it?
I guess I'm even more peeved with Wilton for making such dismal tasting fondant.
2nd pet peeve is when people say, "oh I would love to be able to do that too (decorate cakes) but I just don't have the patience."
oh me too! I also crochet and cross stitch and I get the same response on that, too. My response is "What's patience got to do with it?" 
Yet these same people will sit on hard wooden benches for HOURS in the hot sun hoping a 10 year old with hit a ball with a bat (I have ZERO "patience" for that!) or spend hours/days doing scrapbooking (the biggest waste of life-time that I'll never get back!) or lay on an uncomfortable lawn chair, sweating in the sun so they can create cancer cells on their skin for the purpose of looking 'pretty'.
Nah ... they don't have "patience" to do a cake!
Haha, I have a big issue touching popsicle sticks, skewers, toothpicks...I actually gag when I see people eating a popsicle w/ a stick in it...its so bad that I make my kids eat their fudge sicles off a plate after my DH removes the stick while my back is turned...I know super freaky..
How funny.....I have the same problem. Anything wooden scraping along teeth just sends me to the roof. Gaaaaaa it's giving me the willies just thinking about it now!
Pet peeve.......people who were never taught 'look but do not touch'. I swear some adults are worse than children with this. I'm so appreciative of the ooohs and aaahs, but please, if I didn't make the cake for you, don't start poking at it because you can't believe that it's all cake or you are amazed at the construction and feel the need to see just how sturdy it is. Along those same lines, I don't like it when someone says they've never seen fondant up close and their fingers are suddenly drawn in by the intense gravitational pull which forces them to poke it just to 'see what if feels like'!
Is it just me, or does anyone else hate it when they ask you how long it took you to make the cake? If you think about it, there's really no good answer to that question. If I say 2 hours, I threw it together. If I say 15 hours, they stare gape-eyed in disbelief, and wonder why the he!! it took so long.
How do you answer this question?
I was asked that question at a wedding. I told her, "7 hours JUST in baking time." Her mouth gaped opened as she said, "SEVEN HOURS!!" I repeated ...... "JUST in baking time! That doesnt' count mixing, decorating, assembling."
they've no idea. One co-worker (well, over the years, MORE than one co-worker!) honestly thought a 4 tier wedding cake was baked the morning of a wedding that started at 1 or 2.
I say 30 years and counting.
my biggest pet peeve is setting up a wedding cake and little kids being unattended. You carry the cake in dang near tripping over them and they want to help, my mommy said I could. Go get your mommy so I can talk with mommy. I don't need to play 20 questions either! Yes it is hard work. Yes it is expensive. Yes I charge more than Costco(not currently in my own biz, but past), yes it is worth it. If you feel the B&G spent too much, take it up with them. They chose to have a cake that tasted delicious and looked nice too. They were thinking about the guests they are serving. They apparently value you enough to pay for it too bad you don't feel you deserve it! 
I've been thinking about that "30 years and counting comment I said just upthread there ^^^ and I'm thinking it's getting to be like 35 years and counting--but 30 sounds better huh???
But anyway one of my biggest pet peeves is when people, when talking to me, compare my work to someone else's--up or down comparison --I don't like it--turns my stomach. I mean if they think my stuff is better than a particular person's or someone else's is better than mine. In the sense of condemning one for the other.
I mean I know a complement when I hear it so not that but--I mean when there's the putting down of one in favor of the other--kwim? Hate that.
Then the other one is when some idiot decides and presses the fact that I should start a business--or when anyone should start a dang business just because they can decorate a cake. Like they just single handedly discovered Leonardo DaVinci could paint and should take it down the road. Deliver me! <yawn yawn yawn> You are so original. You opting for a finder's fee if I make it big? 
When someone makes a great burger do they routinely insist that they should open a chain of McDonald's?
Geez that does feel better though. Thanks!
SpringFlour
I have one friend who will look at a beautifully decorated cake (mine or a pic of one I like) and say "someone has too much time on their hands"
She'll spend hours gardening but somehow my hobby isn't as worthy.
Sounds to me like she's just being petty. Jealous much?
Haven't read the entire thread yet but chiming in to say that I'm one of those who would rather cut up me cake than watch someone else butcher it. My biggest pet peeve is when people try to cut up a cake with a cake server. Um...cake server is for SERVING!!! They end up mashing it to a pulp! 
...Then the other one is when some idiot decides and presses the fact that I should start a business--or when anyone should start a dang business just because they can decorate a cake. Like they just single handedly discovered Leonardo DaVinci could paint and should take it down the road. Deliver me! <yawn yawn yawn> You are so original. You opting for a finder's fee if I make it big?
When someone makes a great burger do they routinely insist that they should open a chain of McDonald's?...
Oh yeah THAT one lol!
Soon as I made my first decorated cake and got those ooh's & aah's, I was hooked and knew that this is what I should be doing. I decided then & there that I would do this as a business one day. In the meantime, I knew I had to first hone my skills, find great recipes, come up with a business plan, decide where I wanted to open up a shop etc. etc., so just kept it between DH & myself. But I had been getting the "you should do this as a business" from many people right from the beginning and would always reply, "yes, one day!".
Well, I have now made it known to my close friends & family that I am actively in the process of making it a business so I can get some practice cakes in and build my portfolio. And wouldn't you know it - one family member is telling everyone else that it was THEIR idea LOL! I heard from another, that this person said, "I've been telling her right from the beginning to start a business - I'm glad she finally listened to me".
All I can do is shrug...after all it's family and so not worth the battle!
If allways give my customers a cutting guide. I think they really appreciate it. If I am at the party, I offer to cut the cake. I think the hostess appreciates it and that way I know I can show my work in its best light not to mention make a few contacts while passing it out. I just consider it a win win for me 
What's bad is not being asked to cut a cake you made yourself. What's bad, is attending a party where they got a questionably made grocery store bakery cake...and then nobody knows how to cut it...so they nab the "cake lady" (me) to cut it...so now everybody thinks since I'm cutting it, I MADE it!
Cornstarch is ok. I hate shortening though. EWWWW. I don't like making icing, period.
wow that sucks!! Then it taste like funk and everyone thinks you made it, as well as looking like crap... sorry that bites....
Couple things here....
I made a castle cake for my bosses daughter. We were at a party place and all the kids were out playing while we were waiting for everyone to arrive. The birthday girl came running out of the party room crying because some little boy who was not part of her party came in and STUCK HIS HANDS INTO THE CAKE!!!!!!! Luckily I had brought some extra icing, just in case, and was able to at least make it presentable. She was crushed. I was mad! They asked me to cut the cake, and I don't mind at all.
Second...I made a baby shower cake this last weekend and she had my cake and another cheap sheet cake there. I didn't stay, but I heard from a friend that was there that she wouldn't serve my cake. She cut up the sheet cake and refused to let them eat mine and then took it home for themselves. I don't understand that, but oh well, it is their cake.
[ "That kid starts sticking their hands in the cake and all I am thinking is, do we have to eat that now? I don't want a piece of cake that has had a 2 year olds hands all over it. That is just gross to me."
Once for a birthday party, I had a little extra cake left over, so I made a little cake for the Birthday Girl. I cut it with a heart cookie cutter. It was so cute! I'd give this to the two year old and let everyone else have a clean cake.
My pet peeve is cake muggles who just plain don't like cake. Or how are expecting to see your average white wedding cake with roses on top when theres a masterpiece of a carved cake at the wedding. One woman came and sat down at our table at a wedding where I had mad an unusual cake as per the B&G request and she says in that @itchy tone "THAT'S thier wedding cake?!?!? Well, I guess it's different..."
I just wnated to stab her....
I totally identify with hacking the cake whilst I stand there dumb founded feeling with the op. Most often it happens to me at church-whenever I take over a cake for a celebration, they are very sweet and always thank me and the family for our contribution and we just kind of squirm in our seats and really at that point I would hate to get up and start cutting the cake lest someone thinks this is all a publicity gimmick on my part (and trust me there are those who would.) Hence I just sit and look the other way and smile when I get a dollop of cake on my plate and see some other lady cut the cake with a small knife and use her hand(in a glove) to scoop it out and dump it on the plate!!!
I actually hate having to cut the cake, I never know how big a slice to give someone. I dont want to look chinchy, but want to take home the left overs too. Usually its my kids birthdays, and my family expects to eat cake for at least a week after... LOL
I also dont like hearing- when someone sees the picture or the cake "gee it must be nice to have all that time- I wish I didnt have to work"
Yep, its a blast to stay up until 3am working on the cake, doing laundry, clipping the hundreds of coupons I clip ( I hear it about my coupons too) -- doing the PTA, and volunteering for a few other committees. I concider my coupons, and kids (all 4 of them), their laundry, and cooking for 6 a full time job. Plus the PTA, when there are 2 of us for a 500 kid school, and the other committees- I do it because I enjoy it, but get tired of hearing how 'it must be nice to have NOTHING to do'....
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