how to handle this question correctly... - Page 6

I think "baking from scratch" is a great and motivating and inviting tagline. Marketing genius--good stuff.

However the tagline, "I bake from boxes" not so much.

Helloo-ooo

When in hard honest fact Leah might open a box or two to make her scratch cakes. She mighta got a bad bag of lumpy cake flour & hubby had to pick up a box of Softasilk--

There's more to a business than brutal black & white honesty.
My business, my trade secrets are worth protecting.

well said

Just had to add that in the end does it really MATTER HOW WE GET THERE??? The customer is buying our final product! You could debate ALL DAY what is scratch???!!!
Love ya CC
Mike

I am in retail sales. There is so much psychology to selling it's nutso.

Indy sells herself that's why she's successful.

Me, as you might can tell, I'd get lost in minutiae so I don't go there when I do a consult. I constantly have to reign myself in--I'm designing--I'm pricing--I only got so many brain cells anyhow. Can't tie up too many answering stupid divisive potentially deal breaker questions--I ain't proposing any extreme thinking here--I'm saying I know myself--

We all gotta develop our own schtick.

Leading with the fact that the way you bake may or may not inflame your client is risky.

People from other countries have difficulty understanding how impassioned we get with this issue. It's psychological.

If it works for you to say I bake from a box --do it.
If it doesn't work for you don't--nobody can make you hurt your business.

edited to say--then say it softer--yes I use pre-measured ingredients--yes I use both kinds of cake. Merchandising and marketing are as important as your ingredients. Yes!

Now the more important thing is. ANY misleading info on your food product will get you in a heap of trouble w/ the AG. Every once in a while you hear of someone trying to pass off pork tenderloin as veal. You can also do it with quite a few of the fishes also. Tell the lady maybe she just got a crappy cake. Be proud of the method you use, but be truthful in what you tell them.

Mike

Oh my gosh, that's hilarious. And that isn't too far from me

[quote="K8memphis-"]
When in hard honest fact Leah might open a box or two to make her scratch cakes. She mighta got a bad bag of lumpy cake flour & hubby had to pick up a [i]box[/i] of Softasilk--
[/quote]

I have a sifter.

Yeah but what liquid spilled on there to make the lumps? I got some nasty flour last year & I was so upset-- it was unusable--hope you don't get any of that stuff.

i think that sums it up perfectly.

Maybe the customer is not asking because she thinks scratch cakes taste better, but because she doesn't like the preservatives or additives that box mixes may have in them, or because of allergy reasons, or religious reasons (some emulsifiers are of animal origin, which may be a problem with some religious faiths eg Jewish and Muslim) ?? Could be any number of reasons. thats just my 2 cents!

Tell her that you start with a cake mix and add other ingredients to it.

I can make a scratch cake with all the ingredients that are found in a cake mix and honestly call it scratch--'cause I measured out every ingredient. The emulsifier I have doesn't have a detectable flavor or taste.

It's kinda like unsweetened piping gel meets shortening.

I always just say:
I use cake mixes as an ingredient NOt as a recipe. It's more like 1/2 scratch 1/2 mix. I find that using the box cake mix in my regular scratch recipes makes my cakes come out more consistently the same, whereas if I use JUST my scratch recipe it would be dependant on the weather conditions and not all of my cakes would come out exactlly the same every time. I've tried 100's of recipes and this is what came out to be the best flavor and texture and was pretty close in consistency everytime I bake it regardless of the weather.


DEFINITELY don't lie if you use a mix! Some people could be asking for allergy reasons.

You know what are funny? Penguins in hawaiian shirts. I think everyone just needs to picture some penguins in hawaiian shirts and be happy.

A variation on this one: tell her "Like most every other bakery in town, I start with a mix and add to it."

Yes, these people come in with their "10 Questions to Ask (any vendor)" and those just piss me off. Not because they're asking but because they don't know WHY they're asking and they don't know what the right answer is! How do I know they dont' know the right answer? Because I've perfected the art of NOT answering their question and then sitting back to see if they realize I haven't answered their question. So far, no one has noticed.

I keep my sample cakes in the freezer. Sometimes I'll run out and have to bake one up real quick. Invariably, I'm asked "Do you freeze your cakes?" I reply: "You tell me. 2 of these cakes have been in my freezer for 3 weeks ... one was baked this morning. You tell me which is which." They always pick the wrong one. Twice. Always. So in their simple taste test, the frozen one tasted "more fresh".

When I get the do you do scratch question, I swear I'm going to start asking, "Oh, was your mom a scratch baker?" I'm just curious to see if they actually grew up and are used to scratch baking ... or if it's just one of the 10 Questions!

But as long as this debate has been on here, it still amazes me that it's a debate. Are you proud of your cakes? Do your friends, family, customers like them? Rave about them? Then what's the problem? As Mike said, who cares HOW we got there .... the point is we created a cake that is beautiful and the client loves eating it!

Duncan Hines white cake mix does not have preservatives.

Twinkies are made from scratch.

Y'all'll be glad I'm going to work now--see y'all later, no lying!!!