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Do you decorate externally baked cakes?

post #1 of 17
8/20/12 at 5:14pm
Thread Starter 
I got my 2nd request for the year asking if I can decorate a wedding cake baked by the bride. Do you do this for new clients? What has been your experience? If not, what would you politely tell the bride as to why you wouldn't do it for her?
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post #2 of 17
8/20/12 at 5:27pm
I wouldn't dream of doing that for so many reasons. Even if you Only decorate you will be associated with the cake and many people can't seperate that fact. You won't know if the cake is sturdy, tasty or even edible for one! There are just way to many reasons to even consider this proposition. I have never had a client ask such a thing. What is the reasoning behind the request ?
Slowly taking over the world with frosting.....
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Slowly taking over the world with frosting.....
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post #3 of 17
8/20/12 at 5:27pm
I would tell her that for health reasons you cannot decorate a cake that was baked by someone else. Once you put your icing on it you could be held liable for the baked cake because if someone got sick it would be hard to say if it was the cake or the decorations.
Thanks,

Myra
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Thanks,

Myra
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post #4 of 17
8/20/12 at 5:33pm
Thread Starter 
True...
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post #5 of 17
8/20/12 at 5:38pm
No siree Bob!
Fall down 7 times....get up 8
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Fall down 7 times....get up 8
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post #6 of 17
8/20/12 at 5:49pm
Thread Starter 
The 1st request I got for this the bride said no one could make a cake like her. She had many cakes and it never tasted like hers and her family and friends are accustomed to her cakes and like them. In the end, she was convinced to let me bake her whole wedding cake and actually turned out to be a great referral source.

I assume this recent request is for this same reason as well as a bride on a tight budget looking to save money.
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post #7 of 17
8/20/12 at 7:00pm
Once, only once, I made the mistake of agreeing to decorate a wedding cake baked by a woman I knew. She was the director of my daughter's day care center and she told me what a wonderful baker she was. Oy, oy, oy. The layers were totally lopsided. She only made one layer of each tier and every cake was less half an inch on one side and more than an inch on the other. I swore loudly every darn minute while icing that nasty cake. Never again.
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website www.BakingFix.com
blog www.BakingFix.com/thefix
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/MimiFix
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post #8 of 17
8/20/12 at 7:15pm
I would kindly decline and refer her to etsy for her decorations.
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post #9 of 17
8/20/12 at 8:49pm
No, for all of the reasons mentioned above.

I'm either all in..........or completely out. It keeps it simple for everyone.

Rae
I love you, but your emergency is not my crisis!

They say that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it is not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance.--Terry Pratchett (b.194
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I love you, but your emergency is not my crisis!

They say that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it is not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance.--Terry Pratchett (b.194
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post #10 of 17
8/20/12 at 8:57pm
No. Way. No way.
Before you ask- I'm licensed, inspected, insured, and all that jazz.
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Before you ask- I'm licensed, inspected, insured, and all that jazz.
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post #11 of 17
8/20/12 at 9:09pm
I have done it and not really had any problems with it. I Have discussed how I needed the cake to be baked the importance of a level cake , lining the tin properly and the height I needed the tiers to be. I have even supplied tins for them to be baked in.

I charge two thirds of the price I would if I did the lot.
All of this will quite often put them off and I do get to bake the cake. However sometimes Grandma really wants to make the cake.
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post #12 of 17
8/20/12 at 9:43pm
Heck no!
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post #13 of 17
8/20/12 at 9:52pm
You can, but I would structure the transaction as selling your professional services as a decorator at the customer's site for an hourly charge that would result in a price similar to if you had made the cake yourself.

When setting your hourly rate you should assume everything will go perfectly, so if it takes longer than expected to decorate the cake you would be paid more.

The contract with the customer would of course indemnify you from all liability for the cake, so liability would not be an issue.
.
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The Bakery Business Perspective
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Recent Articles: The Magic Pricing Formula • Copyright Law
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post #14 of 17
8/20/12 at 10:21pm
No no no - not from my oven - then its not from me.
To many reasons for it to come back on you...as mentioned in above posts.

Bluehue
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post #15 of 17
8/21/12 at 7:35am
I wouldn't do it from my own kitchen because of health department issues. If someone wanted to buy the decorations for it and put them on themselves, or pay me to go to the reception site and stick flowers on it, sure. The worst that could happen would be the person who baked it taking credit for making the flowers, and they'd then have to pay me to get more if they suddenly have their friends begging for them to make them cakes.
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