I got a call from a lady I baked a cake for on Monday. She was at my friends bridal shower that I did the cake for and she LOVED it. So she ordered the same cake flavor and filling. I baked the cakes and thought they looked a little dense but the recipe was butter cake so they are a bit denser then regular cake. I tasted some of the scrapes and they tasted fine. The lady came and picked up the cake and loved how it looked. Later that night she called to tell me the cake was nothing like the bridal shower cake, it was way too dense. I couldn't figure out what went wrong so I thought I'd check my leveling agents even though I just bought new ones.

Sure enough the baking powder says 12/10....I inverted the numbers. I felt horrible, this is my first complaint since I started decorating cakes, I gave the lady her money back. I explained what happened to her and she understood. She told me her niece was at the party and she had ordered a for June and said she would probably be cancelling her order as she thought the cake was gross.

The next day her niece called and cancelled, I explained what went wrong but she felt I should have been more attentive, which I agree I should have, but everyone makes mistakes once in awhile, no one can be perfect all the time...even though I try. Now I feel like all my confidence in my skill is lacking, silly I know but still it's a stratch on my perfect record.
Sorry just needed to get that off my chest!

Curious, what is the difference between "butter" cake and "regular" cake. Cause all my cakes are made with butter. Is there another kind of "regular" cake I have not heard about.

And don't worry about those people, it'll bounce back again. It has nothing to do with your confidence. If you want make them a small cake as a way of saying sorry and let them taste it again. That may turn them around.

Thanks.
The recipe I used is the vanilla butter cake from the mermaid bakery, recipe here on CC, it's denser than my other recipes.

I told the lady I would give her a free cake as I wanted her to know what my cakes are really like but she said she wasn't interested.
I'm trying not to let it bother me but she was a little nasty at first when we spoke...live and learn, live and learn!

It happened to me once. A lady told me the cupcakes i baked for her were RAW on the inside!!! I guess cuz I used to inject espresso into my tiramisu cupcakes she thought it was mushy? I had an extra piece at home which i tried as she was talking to me and I told her it wasnt. She was a bit rude about it. I do take these things personally but I dont act on it. I do cry later haha but I reply with professionalism as much as I can. Anyway when she was returning my stand I gave her a dozen mini cupcakes as a gift. I never heard from her again aside form a msg saying thanks for your good service. I now found out that her sister has become one of my regulars So do try to get a mini cake to her any way you can. You never know what that might do

Tor1985 - you tried to make amends and admitted your error. you also offered to giver her a free cake. there is not much more you can do. she has tasted one of your normal fare but let this incident turn her off. i guess some people are not willing to give second chances. if you had denied that there was something wrong or tried to excuse it, i could understand her attitude. it sucks, but you will move on and keep on making more delicious cakes.

This just happened to me last night. Fortunately, I made a lemon cake (loaf) for my family - not for a customer... just testing out a recipe I found online that got RAVE reviews and called it "fail proof".

Well, it failed... it was dense and gummy. Great flavor, but tasted like it was mixed with lemon jello.

I couldn't figure out why everyone raved about it until I checked the expiration on my B.P. - 10/10. Since I don't bake from home as often, I didn't realize how long it had been since I bought it.

Thanks everyone!