Things Not To Ask/say To A Baker!

Decorating By step0nmi Updated 20 Oct 2016 , 2:28pm by ch5964

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cazza1 Posted 12 Jun 2013 , 7:01am
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I was at the supermarket today and out of curiosity stopped and looked at the packet cake mixes, something I never do.  Guess what?  Betty Crocker brand has MOIST written across their boxes.  Are people really that stupid that they think the moistness is dependent on the dry box mix, rather than the cook?

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costumeczar Posted 12 Jun 2013 , 10:20am
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A

Original message sent by hbquikcomjamesl

8" square serving 30 people? That's about a 1" x 2" serving size, with 2 spares. I think we must have radically different concepts of what a serving size is.

A "standard" cake serving is 8 cubic inches, which is 1"x2"x4", or the height of the cake. That's like saying that one serving of soda is 8 ounces, or one serving of cereal is half a cup. If you want a bigger piece than that you're eating more than one serving.

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costumeczar Posted 12 Jun 2013 , 10:21am
post #1353 of 3221

A

Original message sent by cazza1

I was at the supermarket today and out of curiosity stopped and looked at the packet cake mixes, something I never do.  Guess what?  Betty Crocker brand has MOIST written across their boxes.  Are people really that stupid that they think the moistness is dependent on the dry box mix, rather than the cook?

Yes

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hbquikcomjamesl Posted 12 Jun 2013 , 1:34pm
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Ah. 4" high would definitely make a 1" x 2" serving size quite a bit more reasonable than a 1 1/2" height. But by the same token, if they want tiers, with a small number of servings, shorter tiers would accomplish that goal.


And yes, the dry ingredients would affect the moistness of the product. Baking is applied chemistry.

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costumeczar Posted 12 Jun 2013 , 1:53pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hbquikcomjamesl 

Ah. 4" high would definitely make a 1" x 2" serving size quite a bit more reasonable than a 1 1/2" height. But by the same token, if they want tiers, with a small number of servings, shorter tiers would accomplish that goal.


And yes, the dry ingredients would affect the moistness of the product. Baking is applied chemistry.

In the case of cake mixes it's the propylene glycol and gums that are added to the dry ingredients that maintain the "moisture," which is really gumminess, not moistness. But people have been trained to think that gummy texture=moist, so there we are.

 

For a two-tiered square for 30 you could do 4 and 7" squares. It would be dinky, though. Most people don't like anything that small when I give them the option, they just choose to scale it up and pay for more cake.

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Elcee Posted 12 Jun 2013 , 3:23pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hbquikcomjamesl 

8" square serving 30 people? That's about a 1" x 2" serving size, with 2 spares. I think we must have radically different concepts of what a serving size is.

icon_smile.gif My 8" square would be 2 layers, each torted, so 4 layers of cake with 3 layers of filling. So, yes, a 1" x 2" x 4" slice, standard wedding servings.

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Elcee Posted 12 Jun 2013 , 3:29pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by costumeczar 

 

For a two-tiered square for 30 you could do 4 and 7" squares. It would be dinky, though. Most people don't like anything that small when I give them the option, they just choose to scale it up and pay for more cake.

Sorry, I hadn't read the responses before I chimed in about the serving sizes icon_biggrin.gif.

 

Costumeczar, I don't have a 7" square pan (and can't foresee a need for one) so the smallest I'd go would be 4" on 8" and I'd charge them for 48 servings.

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Annabakescakes Posted 12 Jun 2013 , 5:15pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Elcee 

Quote:
Originally Posted by costumeczar 

 

For a two-tiered square for 30 you could do 4 and 7" squares. It would be dinky, though. Most people don't like anything that small when I give them the option, they just choose to scale it up and pay for more cake.

Sorry, I hadn't read the responses before I chimed in about the serving sizes icon_biggrin.gif.

 

Costumeczar, I don't have a 7" square pan (and can't foresee a need for one) so the smallest I'd go would be 4" on 8" and I'd charge them for 48 servings.

I have one! I use it often, but not half as much as I use my 7" round. I actually bought a second set on Monday. I have pans in 1" increments so that I don't have to sell someone way more cake than what they need, I can scale it back for their count. The place I used to work had 9" pans, but that was their only odd size, and they would over shoot the serving count by 50-100 quite often. Which means more money for them, but quite often I hear people talk about how they don't want that much cake, so they chose me over them ;-)

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hbquikcomjamesl Posted 12 Jun 2013 , 5:25pm
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By shorter tiers, I mean, how about two tiers, 10" square and 6" square, each 2" high, with (I think) 34 2" cubes (25 from the bottom, 9 from the top) as servings?

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mskerrih Posted 12 Jun 2013 , 5:35pm
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AIf the client is willing to pay for extra servings over their guest count in order to have a larger, more impressive cake, what's the harm??? For weddings the top tier won't be served anyway. Some people get their panties all in a bunch over such trivial issues.

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AllaMarie Posted 12 Jun 2013 , 6:29pm
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AI had a lady come up to me and asked if I could make these little cookies for her daughters quineceañera and I said no I didnt know how to.. She then said ok well I'm going to ask around to find the cheapest cake and I'll get back to you. Buahaha... and this was after she asked my Hubby if he would like to "pitch in" $100 for her daughters party (after they already owe us $100 from 2+yrs ago hahaha) Gah! How do people live this way? Lol. There will be nooo discount on her cake.. maybe ill jst raise the price an xtra $100 :).

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costumeczar Posted 12 Jun 2013 , 7:42pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AllaMarie 

I had a lady come up to me and asked if I could make these little cookies for her daughters quineceañera and I said no I didnt know how to.. She then said ok well I'm going to ask around to find the cheapest cake and I'll get back to you. Buahaha... and this was after she asked my Hubby if he would like to "pitch in" $100 for her daughters party (after they already owe us $100 from 2+yrs ago hahaha) Gah! How do people live this way? Lol. There will be nooo discount on her cake.. maybe ill jst raise the price an xtra $100 icon_smile.gif.

For quinces it's traditional for there to be patrons who help pay for the party, but I've heard a lot of stories about how the families sometimes try to get vendors to give things free or at discounts too. Very grabby. Watch out, she'll be back asking for donations!

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AllaMarie Posted 12 Jun 2013 , 8:56pm
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AYes I know. I also had "padrinos" for my quinceañera back in 2005. I was just laughing at the fact they owe us the same amount they asked us for. If she's looking for a "cheap" cake it wont be from me :)

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Annabakescakes Posted 12 Jun 2013 , 9:01pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mskerrih 

If the client is willing to pay for extra servings over their guest count in order to have a larger, more impressive cake, what's the harm??? For weddings the top tier won't be served anyway. Some people get their panties all in a bunch over such trivial issues.

What does this refer to? If it was my post, yes, I have that happen quite often, but I was referring to people who are on a budget, or don't know what to do with a bunch of leftover cake. It wasn't my panties bunching, for sure, it's laundry day, and I haven't got any on!

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costumeczar Posted 12 Jun 2013 , 9:34pm
post #1365 of 3221
Quote:
Originally Posted by mskerrih 

If the client is willing to pay for extra servings over their guest count in order to have a larger, more impressive cake, what's the harm??? For weddings the top tier won't be served anyway. Some people get their panties all in a bunch over such trivial issues.

No harm at all, but they usually don't want to pay for the extra. "But I only have ten people coming, so that's all I want to pay for. But I want it to be bigger than a 6" round."

 

I get people who have smaller weddings all the time, and when I show them the size of a 4-6-8 they generally shoot each other a look that says "What the heck" and then they tell me that they want something bigger, which I am glad to sell them.

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jennicake Posted 12 Jun 2013 , 10:18pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Annabakescakes 

It wasn't my panties bunching, for sure, it's laundry day, and I haven't got any on!

 

LOL

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hbquikcomjamesl Posted 12 Jun 2013 , 10:29pm
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I wear boxers. ("Real men wear boxers")

 

But what is this? UNDERWEAR-L? Let's talk about cakes!

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Elcee Posted 12 Jun 2013 , 10:52pm
post #1368 of 3221
Quote:
Originally Posted by Annabakescakes 

I have one! I use it often, but not half as much as I use my 7" round. I actually bought a second set on Monday. I have pans in 1" increments so that I don't have to sell someone way more cake than what they need, I can scale it back for their count. The place I used to work had 9" pans, but that was their only odd size, and they would over shoot the serving count by 50-100 quite often. Which means more money for them, but quite often I hear people talk about how they don't want that much cake, so they chose me over them ;-)

I have rounds in 1 inch increments from 4" up to 10" and use all of them a lot. They're in a combination of traditional cake pans and springform pans. For some reason, I get very few requests for square cakes.  

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vgcea Posted 13 Jun 2013 , 3:55am
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AJust ordered a bunch of odd numbered pans so I now have all sizes from 5 to 12 (I REFUSE to make 4 inch rounds. REFUSE). I've found that lately, folks are so into 'tiered' cakes for even super small gatherings (e.g. 24 servings) and often don't want to pay for the extra servings from a bigger cake. Now I can offer them a 5/7 and call it a day. They don't look so dinky if they're at least 4 inches tall. My avatar's 5/6/7, looks like a good size to me.

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mskerrih Posted 13 Jun 2013 , 4:17am
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AI wasn't referring to anybody on here. Lol. When people tell me they want a 2 tier cake for 6 people (and not expect to pay for additional servings) I actually laugh in their face, then say Now SERIOUSLY, what's your budget. I'll tell u what I can do. I'm tired of talking to people for an hour about a cake they KNOW they can't afford. I cut straight to the chase. I had a lady call me today. TODAY!!! She wanted a 3d boat cake for tomorrow. I told her the price. Of course, then she didn't "need that much cake". I suggested a small simple cake for $35. She didn't wanna spend that much. Like. Seriously. U really thought you were gonna get a last minute 3D carved detailed cake UNDER $35???!!!! I'm glad she called and didn't come in. I would have told her she owed me a consultation fee. Lol. The nerve! They. Just. Don't. Get. It.

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vgcea Posted 13 Jun 2013 , 9:38am
post #1371 of 3221

A

Original message sent by mskerrih

I wasn't referring to anybody on here. Lol. When people tell me they want a 2 tier cake for 6 people (and not expect to pay for additional servings) I actually laugh in their face, then say Now SERIOUSLY, what's your budget. I'll tell u what I can do. I'm tired of talking to people for an hour about a cake they KNOW they can't afford. I cut straight to the chase. I had a lady call me today. TODAY!!! She wanted a 3d boat cake for tomorrow. I told her the price. Of course, then she didn't "need that much cake". I suggested a small simple cake for $35. She didn't wanna spend that much. Like. Seriously. U really thought you were gonna get a last minute 3D carved detailed cake UNDER $35???!!!! I'm glad she called and didn't come in. [B] I would have told her she owed me a consultation fee. [/B] Lol. The nerve! They. Just. Don't. Get. It.

LOL. Reminds me of a friend who had a tummy ache and went to the doctor's office. They had him in the waiting room for so long that he started to feel better and went home. A week or so later he got a bill from the doctor's office for that visit. I guess sitting in the waiting room was taking up space and he needed to pay $200 for the oxygen he used up breathing in their air. LOLOL!!!

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Peanut-Butter Posted 13 Jun 2013 , 9:50am
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AEveryone wants something for nothing and in some of these instances when people ask for discounts I wouldn't mind as I live under the philosophy "If you don't ask then you don't get.." But some of the asking that gets done is just plain RUDE! Fair enough you may want discount, who doesn't but in no way are you entitled to any and insulting me by EXPECTING discount usually knocks my stubbornness into gear and I refuse to give anywhere!

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Sweet_Cakes Posted 13 Jun 2013 , 10:44am
post #1373 of 3221
Quote:
Originally Posted by Annabakescakes 

What does this refer to? If it was my post, yes, I have that happen quite often, but I was referring to people who are on a budget, or don't know what to do with a bunch of leftover cake. It wasn't my panties bunching, for sure, it's laundry day, and I haven't got any on!

icon_surprised.gif ... you made me laugh so hard just now that I coughed!!!!

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johannap_73 Posted 14 Jun 2013 , 12:38pm
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there is an icing that is not tooo sweet....i have been using this for quite a while now....i even had a gentleman come up to me and give me the biggest hug because he hadnt had cupcakes for years because they were always tooooo sweet...most butter cream recipes use up to 6 cups of powdered sugar.....my butter cream uses 1 cup of caster sugar....it is an old fashioned butter cream...its base is a cooked base with milk and flour then you have the butter and sugar component....it is fantastic no where near as clawingly sweet as the regular buttercream frosting....it is smooth and not grainy like some buttercream can be...... it is on the internet floating around 

i found it under    not too sweet frosting.....it isnt the easiest to make if you dont know what your doing as i found in a lot of forums about it people saying it has gone all liquid what have i done wrong......if your base is hot it will um melt the butter .....everything must be cold cold cold even the butter comes straight from the fridge...but i must warn if you dont have a decent kitchen machine do not attempt this recipe as it is heavy on the machines....so there is a buttercream that is not too sweet....i have people saying to me forget the cake just give me the frosting...i added chocolate to it one time and it tasted like chocolate mousse.....i even tricked my hubby who thought i was using real chocolate mousse in my latest batch of tripple chock cupcakes

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onceuponacake Posted 14 Jun 2013 , 10:23pm
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This is the question I hate the most!!!  Do you go to the supermarket and ask for a discount? Don't think so.  But you want to come into a CUSTOM cake shop and ask for one?  OR you expect us to be LESS than Walmart or supermarket?

 

Had a person come in wanting 2 dz cupcakes with a letter on each cupcake spelling out birthday message.  We told her it would be $15/dz.  Just a simple swirl and the piped letter.  She said, WOW I can't imagine paying 30.00 for 2 dz cupcakes.  Told her, Really?  .  You can always go to LOCAL supermarket and they see what they can do.  PERSON:  But I don't like their cupcakes.  They are crumbly and dry.

 

"Well, let me know."

 

"I have to ask my husband."  (Hmmmm, that's the line I use when I don't want to buy something lol)

 

GET OUT!

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jennicake Posted 14 Jun 2013 , 11:00pm
post #1376 of 3221
Quote:
Originally Posted by onceuponacake 

This is the question I hate the most!!!  Do you go to the supermarket and ask for a discount? Don't think so.  But you want to come into a CUSTOM cake shop and ask for one?  OR you expect us to be LESS than Walmart or supermarket?

 

Had a person come in wanting 2 dz cupcakes with a letter on each cupcake spelling out birthday message.  We told her it would be $15/dz.  Just a simple swirl and the piped letter.  She said, WOW I can't imagine paying 30.00 for 2 dz cupcakes.  Told her, Really?  .  You can always go to LOCAL supermarket and they see what they can do.  PERSON:  But I don't like their cupcakes.  They are crumbly and dry.

 

"Well, let me know."

 

"I have to ask my husband."  (Hmmmm, that's the line I use when I don't want to buy something lol)

 

GET OUT!

If I came across GOOD cupcakes for $15/dozen I would take them and run!  The cupcake shops around here charge over $30 per dozen and I still think mine taste better :p 

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Lanila Posted 16 Jun 2013 , 2:20am
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Or how about.."I mean, Walmart sells their cupcakes cheap!" Uhhh, SO! I'm not Walmart!

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Lanila Posted 16 Jun 2013 , 2:22am
post #1378 of 3221
Quote:
Originally Posted by onceuponacake 

This is the question I hate the most!!!  Do you go to the supermarket and ask for a discount? Don't think so.  But you want to come into a CUSTOM cake shop and ask for one?  OR you expect us to be LESS than Walmart or supermarket?

 

Had a person come in wanting 2 dz cupcakes with a letter on each cupcake spelling out birthday message.  We told her it would be $15/dz.  Just a simple swirl and the piped letter.  She said, WOW I can't imagine paying 30.00 for 2 dz cupcakes.  Told her, Really?  .  You can always go to LOCAL supermarket and they see what they can do.  PERSON:  But I don't like their cupcakes.  They are crumbly and dry.

 

"Well, let me know."

 

"I have to ask my husband."  (Hmmmm, that's the line I use when I don't want to buy something lol)

 

GET OUT!

LOL! I use that line as well, when I don't want to buy something.

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Lanila Posted 16 Jun 2013 , 2:28am
post #1379 of 3221
Quote:
Originally Posted by wildflowercakes 

I had a lady ask me if I could do fondant- are you ready for this- she searched the web and found it doesn't take as much frosting if you do fondant so wouldn't that lower the price of her wedding cake?   

Woooow, seriously?!

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Lanila Posted 16 Jun 2013 , 2:49am
post #1380 of 3221
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nixs247 

lol.. this is what happened a few weeks ago.

 

Customer: I need a 2-3 Tier Wedding Cake

Me: So will that be a 2 Tier or 3 Tier Cake?

Customer: hmmm....3 Tier 

Me: Ok, so can you advise me of the Bride & Grooms Colour Theme

Customer: The Groom is Black and his Bride is White!!!

AAAAHHHAAAAHAHAH!!!! No they didn't, lol.

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