I brought a cake to a work X-Mas potluck. I thought it was a creative way to use our logo and show the business we do and I worked really hard on it! I even made the filling green and a red velvet to be extra festive. I made a 1/2 sheet to ensure there was enough. Well, many people didn't even try it and I overheard 2 of my colleagues (across the room) talking about how there must be a ton a dye in it due to the bright color (not positively). I wanted to tell everyone that it was super red so not a ton of color, but what was the point?

The ingredients are expensive, but I like to do it... Well, there was so much left that I was trying to give it away, as I didn't want to take it home. And it was really good cake. I had some people come up and compliment me. Anyway, I just feel resentful that I go to all that trouble and expense and I end up desperately trying to give it away or have rude comments about the color.. Maybe I'm being too sensitive, but it's free for goodness sakes! If I charged for it, then it would be different. It makes me not want to do any volunteer cakes! Anyone else experienced this?

Can't seem to attach but it's in my photos...

I'm sorry this happened to you. I don't know about your place of work, but I do know that sometimes people get jealous when someone can and do whip up a special, anything, and they can't. And I've seen too often that politics can come into play, they can mistake your kindness and generosity as trying to get ahead and they don't want that to happen. Just chalk it up to pettiness, jealousy and maybe they just aren't having the best holiday.

I'm sorry, but my very first thought was jealousy. Some people can be so childish!!!!

Keep your chin UP, Cakesrock! You are the BOMB! These people are obviously of little class or tasteful knowledge. The utter mal-appreciation, not to mention the obvious effort you put in shows that you work with (as we all sometimes do) IDIOTS! Merry Christmas, lovey!

Sorry! Jelously was my first thoguth too.

I had a "friend" (we dont talk anymore) who when I started my business started telling everyone how disgusting my treats were... my response? "You didnt have a problem stuffing your face with it when it was free!"

Dont let it get you down!

Wonderful cake! People just have no clue the work and time involved to do a cake or cookies. Don't let it get you down.

When I say this I do not mean to sound rude, however, you chose to make that cake for a carry-in. It was not requested. Everyone else brought items to share. Did you get a bite of every single dish there? I am sure everyone else felt they put a lot of work or time into making something nice for the party as well. I know making a cake is time consuming and expensive. But we do it because we love it. I have taken cakes and cupcakes to work carry-ins and they haven't always gotten eaten entirely. I don't eat what everyone brings though either. I wouldn't have eaten a red and green cake either.

I am sorry you heard someone make rude comments. That is uncalled for and childish. I hope it turns out better next time.

That's when you say, "Oh, no! Not too much dye at all..." and then tell them how you made it, etc. with a smile on your face. If you meet negativity with positivity, it may generate more interest. And if there were people complimenting you on it, well, they may jump in with more positivity!

Kill 'em with niceness!

This happens where I work too. It doesn't have to be cake, it doesn't really matter what it is. It is seen as being a suck-up. Once I was asked by my boss to help cook some turkeys for a free Thanksgiving dinner for needy families at his church. I said that I would. We cooked like 12 turkeys and they were going to throw out the broth that cooked off the turkeys, but I told my boss that if he would let me save it I would make some homemade noodles that evening. I told him I would bring them in the next day to use the broth to fix for the employees a free lunch. He said he didn't care. I did and you should have heard all the negative comments. The comments weren't about my cooking, but they were about me being a brown noser or suck-up. I wasn't trying to suck-up, I just hated to see all that good broth go to waste when I could do something nice for the people I worked with. I haven't done anything since, but I feel bad because there were those that really do appreciate when I bring stuff in. I hate letting the petty ones ruin it for the ones that did enjoy it, so I will probably do it again sometime. I have taken cookies, cakes, desserts in the past and never any negative comments about the food, always about my trying to suck-up. The funny thing is...my boss is diabetic and doesn't even eat sweets. So I guess the joke is on them.

Do what you like to do...and to heck with the people who always surround themselves with negativity. Do what makes you happy and no cake for them as one of our fellow cc'ers always says. lol.

Their loss!

I can kind of see how the dye thing might bother one or two people. Honestly, I think there are some people who totally "get it" and ooh & ahh over neat cakes, and there are some who just don't even notice or think about complimenting your work.

There will always be people like this everywhere! I take cakes to church on a regular basis for potluck, and there is always one person who makes it a point to come up to where I am cutting the cake to share to give me some positive yet negative comments. He'll say things like "It's not one of your best, but its good." Last week he asked me if my gumpaste was edible... I said it was just it didn't taste good. So he picked up a piece of fondant (White chocolate fondant that I make myself, so I know it tastes really good), put it in his mouth and said... "does it taste like this? Because this doesn't taste all that great." But of course when he got married (someone actually agreed to marry him!!), he asked me about making the wedding cake! I told him that it is my policy never to make a wedding cake for someone who has been displeased with at least two cakes I have made because a wedding cake is very important and its very risky for me to make such a cake for someone who hasn't always had what they considered to be the best from me.

I see people like him as people who are jealous and insecure and who manifest that insecurity by insisting upon saying something that is negative to give the appearance of knowing more about something they are actually clueless about. To put is bluntly, in my opinion, he's just a stupid, arrogant person. Sounds like some of those people at your work are just as stupid.

Thanks for your support, guys! I recognize that bringing the cake in was my choice and people will eat what they want. And I risked sounding self-pitying by posting this. I just wanted to point out that most people do not recognize the work that goes into it. If I do it again, it will be a smaller cake, that's for sure! Then they can fight over it!
But I am conscious of trying everything at at a potluck in order to not hurt feelings (unless I'm revolted by the specific food used - like parsnips or something). But I have to say, I really doubt people spend 8 - 20 hours making chili or dip like we do our cakes... I dont' expect 'ooohs' and 'ahhhs ' (though appreciated) but I would not negatively comment on the fat or sugar or color of someone else's dish right there within ear shot at the party.
The strange part is that I had actually made paid b-day cakes for the kids of the two people making the comments (when I was trying to see if I could realistically do a side business). And I do consider them work 'friends'. I think I may say something to them....

I never, ever take something amazing to a potluck. It is a complete waste of time and effort, IMO. I'll make cupcakes with a swirl or something like that, but nothing decorated. It's never appreciated, no one knows who made it anyway (usually), and it's just not worth it.

Sorry your co-workers made you feel bad, but as Eleanor Roosevelt said, "No one can make you feel bad without your permission"!

I 100% agree with everything mombabytiger and mbark said. Don't waste your time decorating something for a potluck.

I don't think the people making comments meant anything by it, I don't think they were even jealous. I just think we all have different preferences and tastes. I assure you, even when you make a cake for a party or wedding there are people who choose not to eat cake... I usually won't eat cake at a potluck, I always go for the gooey desserts!!

Another thing to realize is every person who contributed to the potluck invested time and money into what they brought. That is the whole point of a potluck.

Look at the bright side... hopefully those who saw your cake, know you made it and tried it will order one from you.

I have to agree about doing a cake for a potluck, and I hadn't even thought about it until reading these comments. I offered to do a special cake for the local church during the holidays. I was asked to do the stained glass window cake in my photos. When I got there to drop it off I found out it was a potluck. I wasn't staying and was there early, but some people did arrive and wouldn't you know it, each and every one of them brought a dessert item. I remember feeling like it would have been better if they had chosen something other than this type of event for me to do a special cake. And now after reading everyone's comments, I realize I knew then that it wasn't the right time for a special cake. I'm glad I didn't stay because I'm sure I would have likely felt unappreciated for my efforts.

when I got my first real job in an office full of women (400 women in one building! ), we found lots of reasons to have pitch ins in our depts. I quickly learned that I didn't have to bring a dish big enough to serve all 50 people because all 50 people are not going to take a serving of every single food dish on the table.

Plus it just looks better if you run out of your food dish! ("Wow! That's gone already! It must have been really good!") I worked in a dept of about 75 people and unless I was making "THE" celebration cake (i.e. someone's 25th company anniversary, where the whole building would meander to our dept throughout the day for the celebration), the biggest cake I ever brought to a pitch in was the 11x15 which served 35.

And there are just too many people in the world who think they only way to make themselves feel better is by trying to put down everyone else around them. Somehow, it seems to make them feel a little superior.

The two people in a corner didn't exclaim it to the room as a whole, or tell you to your face, they were speaking to each other.

I just make enough for between 24 and 35 people.

I too am starting to get alot of Mom's who are quite conerned about the dye's/coloring in the icings etc....and some even alter their cake designs/flavors but I figure..What ever floats your boat!!!I'll cut back if they want and change designs etc...

It could just be as simple as the colour of the cake putting a few people off, not that they couldn't see you put a lot of effort in. Looking at the picture, the cake IS great - it does look good, BUT if someone offered me a piece of cake that was red with bright green filling I wouldn't want any. Coloured frosting on the top of a cake is all I can handle - you go putting colour all the way through and to me it just doesn't look appetising...that doesn't excuse their rude comments though, that's just bad manners on their part.