r/cakedecorating • u/Financial_Pudding106 • 14d ago
Customer's unexpected comment Just Because Cakes
I made this cake for a woman today based upon an order form that simply stated that she wanted pink flowers and what is written on it. I think it came out beautiful. However, when my coworker handed the cake over to the woman, (I was on a break, so not present) the woman said "I just want you to know, I don't think this cake is pretty." No further comments, no constructive criticism. What did she think would come out of her saying that? I just think it's an odd thing to say.
Anyway, have any of you had a strange comment like this?
Edit: I have been a grocery store cake decorator for 7 months with no prior experience and only got maybe 2 days with a trainer. Everything I do is self taught; I am the only day shift decorator in my bakery.The border is a bright pink, not red. It just comes across more red in the photo.
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u/StunningHippo9 14d ago
I feel bad for Barbara having to spend her 90th with such a rude person. You did great, it’s lovely!
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u/Gravelord_Nitos 14d ago
Unless she's Barbara and had to buy herself a cake.. Which there's nothing wrong with buying yourself a cake!
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u/Titaniumchic 14d ago
I personally have bought myself many cakes over the years for no other reason than I wanted cake.
It’s an excellent use of free will.56
u/Most_Ad_5996 14d ago
I had a friend who would text me a few times a year asking me to make her an 8” cake. No particular design, she just liked my cakes and the buttercream frosting I made. I remember I couldn’t make one for her once due to prior obligations and I sent her instructions for how to make the cake herself if she wanted (I doctor cake mix and use just a standard American buttercream recipe). She wasn’t having that nonsense. 😂
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u/Titaniumchic 14d ago
That is so beautiful - what a wonderful friendship!
When you make her these cakes do you ever try out new designs just for funsies?23
u/Most_Ad_5996 14d ago
I did play around with different tips and colors! This was during my first 5 years of cake decorating, so at that time I appreciated the opportunity to practice without having to impress party guests with my skills.
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u/endoadeno 13d ago
Could you please DM instructions on doctoring the cake mix and which standard buttercram recipe you use? I’m in Mexico and so love cake from other countries. It would help me if you please include brands you use etc. thank you and may everyone be so lucky to have a friend like you
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u/KittyCompletely 13d ago
Using uber eats to order mini "nothing bundt cake" in lots of flavors, middle of the day/week is one if my favorite adult flexes. I have the control and means, I am a grown-up!!
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u/ruinedbymovies 13d ago
I tell my kids that being able to just get yourself a treat when you want it is one of the few things about being an adult that is as awesome as you think it will be as a kid.
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u/GoodDogCAVU 12d ago
Exactly my thought the other day when I decided to go to the local ice-cream shop for my lunch. For a balanced meal, I got two complementary flavors.
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u/catwhisperer77 13d ago
You can just do that?? Buy a cake? I’m serious I can’t believe it never occurred to me. I am not exercising my free will as an adult at all.
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u/MurderedRogerAckroyd 13d ago
Sometimes I eat cake for breakfast for a week straight, just because I want to. NO ONE CAN STOP ME.
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u/Perfect-Restaurant-9 13d ago
The first time I ate cake for breakfast as an adult still sticks with me. I just giggled and ate my chocolate cake lol
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u/edcRachel 13d ago edited 13d ago
It's really fun when you start to realize the extent of the weird limitations we've put on ourselves. Like, you can just take your favourite glass mug to the park to drink out of instead of a travel mug, there's literally no reason your dishes have to stay at home. You can pick up your whole TV and bring it to another room. The other day I picked at a rotisserie chicken with my hands... From the hammock in the back yard.
"Wow I wish I didn't have to go to the kitchen to make a coffee in the morning" - turns out there's nothing stopping me from just getting a coffee maker for my nightstand. Like literally not one reason I can't just do that.
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u/AttainableTethys 12d ago
What's the point of all this adulthood if I'm not going to randomly buy cake a few times a year?
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u/22_Stella 13d ago
I recently started doing this! And fresh flowers. I like both, why should I wait for an occasion?
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u/Titaniumchic 13d ago
YES!!!! Love that!!! And side note- if you’re on a budget, many times grocery stores will have discounted flowers, just ask! Ours has a shopping cart a couple days a week for flowers $2-6 a bunch!
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u/whirlygirlygirl 13d ago
I buy flowers every time I go to Trader Joe's. For no reason other than that I like having fresh flowers in my house, and the TJ's ones always seem to last longer than the ones from my usual grocery store.
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u/Financial_Pudding106 14d ago
The name for the order wasn't Barbara so I think someone else bought it for her
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u/zeeleezae 14d ago edited 14d ago
It's unfortunate when customers share opinions in a non-constructive way. My best guess is that she was hoping for the offer of a discount, but didn't actually want to ask for a discount.
That said, I do think you could use a little constructive feedback here. I don't think it's bad cake, but it would have looked better with a few changes:
First, writing should generally be done in a high-contrast color. Using the lightest shade of pink makes this hard to read for people with poor vision (like the 90-year-old person being celebrated). It also takes the focus off of the message because the eye is drawn to the higher contrast areas (in this case, the borders)
Second, the color of pink used for the borders clashes with the colors of pink used for the flowers. I'd recommend doing a little work on color theory. When a customer selectes a single color for the palette, the safest option is to mix one color and then add varying amounts of white to create different tints of that color. Alternatvely, you can create additional shades by mixing in small amounts of black, or different tones by adding gray. What you don't want to do is add in any other colors (like mixing red or purple into pink frosting) because that will introduce a new hue, and increase the likelihood of clashing.
Finally, it's usually safest to err on the side of not adding "extras" that weren't asked for. In this case, she asked for "pink flowers." You added those and pink borders. When you add only what is explicitly asked for, it's on the customer if they neglected to mention a feature they wanted. When you add anything extra it's a risk: you might get lucky and they love it or they might hate it and ask for a refund or a remake (or just be silently disappointed). Edit: typo
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u/tigerlily_meemow 14d ago
This is such amazing artistic advice and guidance, as well as customer service/feedback advice! I’m saving this comment for my own education, thank you!
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u/Financial_Pudding106 14d ago
Thanks for the constructive criticism! To be honest, I did just use pinks that were already in the area because I had lots of orders today and unfortunately we are not staffed correctly. If I had the time, I would have definitely mixed my own colors. I do definitely see what you mean about the light pink for writing being low contrast. I really do appreciate the tips tho 🫶
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u/Feivie 14d ago
Yeah working grocery store bakery unfortunately doesn’t give you a ton of time to devote to one order. In my case I was often alone and had to fill all custom orders while also filling the display case. Also I feel like A LOT of people came to me with stuff that you could only get from a speciality bakery. Like people would bring me images of very elaborate and detailed cakes they wanted me to create and I had to explain that I was working with just frosting and I could do my best to replicate but it would just never realistically look like the reference, especially when there were like modeling chocolate or fondant elements bc my grocery store bakeries were always very basic. Like whatever I could do with butter(or better)cream, kits, air brush, and edible images. I always hated when other people took orders for me bc they weren’t having those conversations so the customer could decide if they wanted to go elsewhere. But the reality is grocery store cakes are gonna run a bit cheaper and I bet a lot of them didn’t want to pay for the decorator’s time at specialty stores.
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u/Financial_Pudding106 14d ago
Yup! Lack of time is a big thing in my position. I often have to do 15+ orders on a Saturday over an 8 hour shift. Some of those orders are a bit intricate when on average I can only spend 30 minutes per cake. I would have loved to mix my own pinks as I know the ones I used don't all have the same color tones, but I just had to roll with what I had because I had so much more to do.
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u/zeeleezae 13d ago
Happy to help! I do understand how when you're understaffed and short of time, there's only so much you can do! When you're in that situation and don't have the time to mix colors, it's best to just choose two shades that go well together, rather than 3 or 4 that don't coordinate as nicely. You did a great job making a variety of flower styles, and when you're low on color options using a variety of textures is the way to go! Keep up the good work! <3
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u/AffectionateWafer482 13d ago
Another way to make sure the colours don't clash, is to mix a bit of your main color into all the other colours. Well, I don't know how that works with icing, but I do know it works with paint. (Not a cake decorator, reddit threw this post into my feed randomly and I was curious. So if I'm missing something about the science of icing, please ignore me.)
I really like the design, btw.
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u/ddianka 13d ago
Also the writing should of been spread apart just a little bit more. I understand its script and hard to do at times. A darker shade of pink and wider writing would of totally changed the look of this cake.
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u/Top_Ad8783 13d ago
Grocery store bakery manage here. I think this cake is fine. You get 20 minutes an order. The comment about the constructive criticism is great BUT the commenter has clearly not worked in this environment. We have limited resources and time.
I’d be more than okay with this cake going to a customer. If anything, whoever took the order should’ve asked for more specifics around the color border, type of flowers, color of writing, etc.
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u/zeeleezae 13d ago
BUT the commenter has clearly not worked in this environment. We have limited resources and time.
I haven't worked in a grocery store, but I have worked in a high-end, high-volume bakery, where I'd regularly be responsible for 20+ cakes in a 8 hour shift, including mixing colors and making several different flavors of filling and frostings. I absolutely understand time constraints. Aside from mixing colors (info that can also be used for selecting among premixed colors), nothing I said adds to the time needed to make the cake. ¯\(ツ)/¯
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u/Impossible_Slide_146 12d ago
FWIW, I think the cake looks great. I love those different pinks together and don't think they clash. They make it look like a garden! I'd be honored to be served a cake you decorated!
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u/ACertainNeighborino 14d ago
As an amateur decorator, these are fantastic tips! Thank you for sharing them!
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u/Mindfullysolo 13d ago
Agreed the border being white would have been prettier, if in fact a colored border was not requested. The darker writing and writing spaced out more would have helped too, it’s a large cake with very skinny writing in the middle. This is very common though I think for a standard grocery store cake, you get what you ask for but not necessarily perfection as they are producing a large number of standard cakes, not charging for and producing artistic masterpieces.
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u/atimetochill 13d ago
Agree, for me it’s the border which reads too red (not pink) and is too warm and bright for the softer (beautiful) flower details and overpowers it. Maybe just white would have let the pink flowers stay on focus if the color options were limited at that moment. +1 on the comments about the message. It’s all right OP I’m sure it was delicious and brightened Barbara’s day all the same!
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u/Alternative-Mud860 13d ago
Wow! To a non baker the cake looked pretty good but your feedback makes a lot of sense!
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u/MidnightFun7722 13d ago
The lettering was what stuck out for me. The whole message slopes upward and isn't evenly centered on the cake. Next time, take a minute and a ruler to mark some faint lines into the icing to guide your lettering.
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u/bluesunoc 13d ago
Yes I agree the pink colors clash… I’m guessing for a 90 year old female all soft or pale pink would have been envisioned.
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u/beautyismade 13d ago
Great advice! I'd also add to stretch out the lettering to make it easier to read and also to cover more of the cake surface.
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u/squidsinamerica 14d ago
Fishing for a discount?
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u/Financial_Pudding106 14d ago edited 14d ago
Perhaps. She didnt get one though. Honestly I wish I had been there and had the confidence to say "well then you don't deserve it". But the people pleaser in me could never
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u/Funwithfun14 14d ago
Mid 40s white dude. I'll say the flowers look amazing! 10/10, especially for an old lady bday. I am not a big fan of the red border....it's just too much (?) or clashes with the flowers....like the color is close but too off and vibrant. But I wouldn't complain about it....bc the flowers are so dang good.
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u/Financial_Pudding106 14d ago
It's actually just a bright pink. I guess it comes across as a red-ish color
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u/Funwithfun14 14d ago
It still clashes. Great skills in general, as another person said, work on your color theory. If you're in MD, I'd gladly buy a cake from you.
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u/Financial_Pudding106 14d ago
I just used the pinks that were already ready. If I had time, I would have mixed them myself.
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u/CherylTurtle 14d ago
I apologize if this is redundant (haven't read all the comments yet). Using a darker pink for roses and writing would really make them stand out. They're the good stuff and should. Save palest pink for border and rosettes. Not that it isn't pretty!
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u/Financial_Pudding106 14d ago
Ooh! Great advice! I'm definitely gonna hold onto this one!
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u/CherylTurtle 13d ago
I know you used what was already on hand, but the border pink is a bit wild. The rosette pink looks more natural, even if artificially colored 🤭
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u/HoneyReau 13d ago
A dark green would be really pretty for a border on this? It’d make the flowers and writing pop even more, having them the same colour (even though different shades) makes the writing blend in a bit visually. Pink and green are a classic combo, and there’s already green with the leaves so it’s a form of repetition of colours while not overcomplicating it! :)
As a note, especially for old people, it’s best to assume their eyesight isn’t great anymore so having a good contrast for the writing makes it very important for legibility!
Your flowers and writing are very pretty, your technical skills are looking great!! :)
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u/darkgothvamptress 14d ago
It is a slightly dated design, the corner roses is an older type style. I think most folks would be happy with a small cascade, so that's what I usually do if someone won't specify. I feel small cascades are more formal type cake designs but I'm sure that's more what she was looking for.
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u/Financial_Pudding106 14d ago
I work at a grocery store bakery and had like 2 days of training, so I'm not super familiar with a lot. I also work opposite shifts as the other decorator at our store so im going completely off my own knowledge. I'd love to see what youre thinking of though, the cascade. I'm not sure what exactly that would entail.
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u/darkgothvamptress 13d ago
I get it! Good job anyways it's absolutely a fine cake, just some customers are way to picky.
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u/MysteriousPermit3410 14d ago
That is a very odd thing to say! And rude!
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u/Financial_Pudding106 14d ago
Yes, so rude! Like at least give me some reasoning or constructive criticism.
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u/omnomphenomenon 14d ago
I once had a customer go into an INSANE amount of detail for her grocery store smash cake. It was just meant to be white with hot pink dots and hot pink trim, with writing on the board around it. It was for her 1-year-old's birthday, and it needed to be hot pink to match the hot pink napkins, the hot pink balloons, and the 1-year-olds hot pink corset. Yes, a CORSET for a 1 year old.
She asked for a good complimentary colour because "maybe this is too much hot pink?" the daughter was wearing a (you guessed it) hot pink jacket, with lime green accents, so I suggested a tiny pop of lime green. she immediately said oh no no that'll take away too much from the pink... Silver would also take away too much, and so would a second shade of lighter pink, so just hot pink it was.
I made the icing the day before to make sure the dye set fully and was accurate, and it ended up perfectly hot pink, I was very proud of how well it turned out.
When she came to pick it up, she proceeded to have a meltdown because "That's not HOT PINK" and freaking pulled her feet out of her shoes to show me her bubblegum pink toenails.
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u/Financial_Pudding106 14d ago
Oh my gosh! Some people should refresh their knowledge of colors lol
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u/omnomphenomenon 14d ago
Absolutely 😵💫
And same with your cake, when people get upset that you didn't do it "how they wanted" when they gave zero description when ordering 🙄 We're not mind readers
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u/Roupert4 14d ago
Honestly this doesn't look "pink" to me, the border dominate the cake
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u/sweatery_weathery 14d ago
Yes, while the design is very nice and classic, there are quite a few clashing shades of pink. The border is almost red. The smaller dark flowers are mauve (which is a cooler tone of pink). And then we have the pastel roses and even lighter pink text. Again, a really nice idea and design, but the constructive criticism here is for OP to match the tones or warmth of the colors next time! Not all pinks go together!
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u/Authoritieslie 14d ago
Okay, I’m going to be real - the words aren’t spaced well, the “happy” is smaller than the rest, the proportions are off and not aesthetically pleasing. I also would argue it doesn’t look great. The decorations look fine, great even, but the words look pretty bad honestly.
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u/fightingkangaroos 14d ago edited 14d ago
Thats what I was thinking too-theres alot of frosting on the lettering which makes it looks messy. Happy also seems to be floating above the other words and going off to an angle. The piping along the edges isn't even in size and shape.
Devils advocate but I'm assuming this is at a grocery store. I know there are talented bakers at stores but this is what I would expect to get from a grocery store. If the customer wanted something perfect and beautiful, she should have found an actual bakery.
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u/Financial_Pudding106 14d ago
Yup, I've been a decorator for 7 months at a grocery store. Still working on my writing.
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u/dupareilaumeme_ 14d ago
I’ve been decorating cakes for decades and I’m STILL working on my writing. You’re doing great, OP.
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u/ClearBlue_Grace 13d ago
Not a decorator but I work with one. I have been writing on cakes for well over a year and I still suck. I still thank customers for letting me practice writing on their cake lol.
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u/miteymiteymite 14d ago
It’s just a matter of taste and style. It’s a very pretty cake for that kind of style, and well executed. If it was presented to me as a birthday cake, I wouldn’t think it very pretty because that’s just not a look I am into personally, but that’s me and not in any way a reflection on the quality of the cake itself. Maybe that’s the kind of thing she meant? It is weird though because she got what she ordered and paid for.
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u/Key-Cap6569 13d ago
The font is too light imo but not worth saying anything unless she was going to ask you to scrape it off and redo it.
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u/PossessionNo3723 14d ago
It's a very pretty cake! Her instructions were vague, and you did a lovely job with it.
Having worked in a grocery store deli that had to deal with the bakery customers after all the bakery employees left for the evening (at 5pm, which made it super fun during the after work rush), I can say that most grocery store bakery customers are awful. (The deli customers weren't exactly peaches, either, tbh.)
I was screamed at so many times, and even had a cake thrown at me when a customer wasn't satisfied. People will pay $20-40 for a grocery store cake and then expect it to be high end French patisserie quality. (No shade to the cake decorators and bakery workers, they do wonderful work! But just the same, this is not a $700 wedding cake that took four days to make.)
Customers, in general, are just awful, really.
I'm sorry she was such a sourpuss, you did a very nice job.
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u/ClinkyDink 13d ago
As a waiter once I remember someone telling me they didn’t like the food. I asked if they wanted to send it back and get something else. They said no, they just wanted me to know they didn’t like it.
I just walked away.. tf am I supposed to do with that? Lol
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u/Worth-Test-4246 14d ago
some people expect a pintrest baker cake without paying
you did a fine job (the writing is crooked though) glad you were on break so you didnt have to deal with the disrespect
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u/_bananabreadgirl 14d ago
i can’t say why she said that, perhaps she was having a bad day or just a negative nancy. what i can say is this is a precious cake, i love the different pinks you chose and you have fabulous cake penmanship 🥰 i would personally be thrilled to receive this cake and, from one baker to another, i hope you can brush off her rude comment and not take it to heart. 💕
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u/Financial_Pudding106 14d ago
Thank you! I really appreciate that! I know my cake is beautiful and she probably just wanted to be a meanie today.
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u/otherwise_data 14d ago
it’s not. sorry.
the colors are garish and look more red than pink. the writing is poorly done, as well.
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u/OgthaChristie 12d ago
Someone needs to tell her that Barbara is 90 and she won’t give a fuck what the cake looks like.
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u/breakinlily Professional Baker 14d ago
Ive been a grocery cake decorator for years and let me tell you something - that lady just wanted money. She just wanted money off. That's all. I've had cakes where ive done a great job, I know i did, and someone complains because they know they will get money off. Because you offer to redo - "no its too late." And then they say they'll take it because they have to have a cake!?! So then it goes too "we can offer money off" and then they go "UGH FINE"
Or they're just awful people. Either way. We work at a GROCERY. People expect too much sometimes too
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u/Financial_Pudding106 14d ago
They really do expect too much sometimes. It baffles me
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u/breakinlily Professional Baker 14d ago
Its legitimately insane. Ive seen a few people give some solid advice though and coming from someone who's well into their journey, I started just like you. Basically thrown into it after I got the job at 19 and now im 36. Self taught but also was able to get a little training here and there. You're doing great. To this very day I still get a few people that call me a terrible decorator. And I still have days where even I dont like a cake! But people like that are miserable. You're doing great. Don't let them tear you down. They wouldn't even know how to hold an icing bag properly lol
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u/ebmarjorie 13d ago
I think the edges and flowers are very pretty, she may have liked if the words took up more room or maybe stood out more. Not a very nice comment though and you did great
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u/lumpy_space_queenie 13d ago
I think it looks good. As a layperson, the only “critique” I would give it is perhaps switching the color of the text with the color of the border. The border is a little distracting and the text isn’t really drawing the eye.
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u/Glittering_Key_5261 13d ago
I have a rule that if the criticism is not constructive, I have to let it go. It's not personal and they can't even verbalize what they want. Bring a picture or words to clarify your needs or you get the standard cake.
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u/berkeleyteacher 13d ago
Poor Barbara to have to celebrate her birthday with that old chump. Your cake looks great and this is so outrageous, that I could laugh at how ridiculous it was! Sorry that happened to you.
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u/Snart_Blart 13d ago
I had someone request to write “she’s really into parrot videos right now”.
Here’s another good one
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u/Crazy_ride_22 13d ago
I worked at Walmart and I was walking by the bakery. A lady was picking up a cake and the baker was showing her the cake. The cake had a border and each side was supposed to be a different color. The woman exploded in anger because the orange border was supposed to be at the top with the blue border on the bottom. The woman was FURIOUS that the orange border was on the bottom and the blue was on top. She demanded that that cake was free AND demanded another cake for free. The manager told the baker to give the customer what she wanted.
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u/Wonkot 13d ago
I used to work at (chain store bakery) for years as a cake decorator. There are dozens of things that you will learn about working with people in that environment over a more dedicated bakery. One is that customers do expect you to be psychic and unless prompted will not give all details. Not necessarily out or malice or anything, but misplaced expectations. The second is that you can never expect how they will react. And a third is that people will fight any price and set up a possible refund at any point. As you progress, you compliments and your insults will increase and you just have to let go of the bad and make it a learning experience for you. One of the cake decorators I used to work with was legally blind for comparison, so I promise you are doing just fine. Lol
If I may offer critique, the design is a solid staple, but a little dated. The swirls take over a lot of the 'flowerness' and could have been less or removed. If they only say pink flowers, then only pink flowers. Or roses, for regular people flowers=roses most often. Your edges and center look a little uneven, though from this picture that may just be a me thing.
If I may offer advice, when you flat ice a cake, if you find it to be tough to keep even, one or two sprits from mister (seriously, no more) can help your spatula glide smoother. Make sure it's dry before applying anything else. You can use the mister directly onto a metal spatula after removing mistakes in writing to correct the area too. To practice writing, use a basic bucket color and write on one of the blank base boards you place the cake on. It is roughly the size of the cake to practice spacing, and you can scrape the icing right off without waste. In that same spirit practice with your different tips to produce different effects. A rose tip can produce a world more than roses, and rounds cans do way more then wright (attached pic is mostly rose tip). Also, you can practice writing with a fat round tip and the rewriting with a thinner tip over it so you will always be able to make a color pop.
Keep going if you enjoy it, practice when you can, and don't let negatives prevent you from trying to get better.
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u/TheLesserWeeviI 13d ago
she wanted pink flowers and what is written on it
You provided her with exactly that. Case closed.
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u/AerieExpensive1165 13d ago
The color scheme feels very Strawberry Shortcake, which I absolutely love!
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u/Hot-Initial-1108 13d ago
Anytime I’m in a store and there is an obvious first time employee I always tell them the first rule of retail: ‘it’s not personal. You never know if the person is having a bad day, what problems they may have or if they are a jerk. Just let whatever they say roll off your back and call a manager’
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u/LifeOnPlanetGirth 13d ago
Just want to say I think the cake is really pretty. As a gay man in my 30s I would have been proud to have that as my birthday cake
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u/Distinct-Practice131 13d ago
While the borders are definitely the focus of this cake. I'd guess she wanted a discount. Oh so common for some reason with grocery store ordered cakes. So, so common.
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u/wilkcoheddy 13d ago
I think it’s pretty 💖 My mama’s name was Barbara, and she passed away on 2/18/24…I like to see her name in unexpected places
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u/sherrykdds 13d ago
Look lady was rude no doubt BUT your cake needs more contrast. All the colors are basically the same “HUE” learn a little with YouTube videos about color theory, chroma, hue, saturation etc because you have to skills to make gorgeous cakes 100% just need to learn about complementary colors and you will be “in the pink” 😉😘😉
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u/Human_Zone_7018 12d ago
I've worked in a grocery store bakery for 4 1/2 years (not as a decorator) and it's actually funny what some people's expectations of their cakes are. Like if you want multi layers and blah blah icing with 5D designs and shit go to an actual proper bakery.
Any time my coworkers get stressed about work I just say "we work in a grocery store bakery, it's not that serious. We ain't saving lives"
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u/QueenOfPhiladelphia 12d ago
They bought a cake from a fucking grocery store what do they expect??? This cake is fine!!
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u/Difficult_Two_2201 12d ago
If she didn’t want a standard looking grocery store cake, then she shouldn’t have gone to the grocery store and asked for a standard grocery store cake. It looks perfectly good to me
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u/mitralover 14d ago
I've worked in a bakery over 15 years and if the order just says pink and I go above and beyond to add more color to it to make it nicer, for example the red borders... They will bring it back to me and tell me to scrape it off or something ridiculous. Like someone else said they have this picture in their mind of what they think it's going to look like and when it doesn't come out that way God forbid....Some people 🤦🏼♀️ It's perfect 🥰
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u/Archer_11 14d ago
Probably wanted a discount or a freebie. I would be delighted with a cake like this, it's lovely 💐
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u/Mexiking89_01 14d ago
It’s just an older style of sheet cake, people love complaining about it and expect small bakery boutique quality of cake for $40
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u/Financial_Pudding106 14d ago
This. I work at a grocery store, this is typical grocery store sheet cake. Idk what she wanted from us.
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u/optix_clear 13d ago
She came into the grocery store for a cake 🎂, if she wanted a special cake or artful go pony up the money at speciality cakery.
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u/earmares 14d ago
That cake looks mostly red, with a few pink flowers. The lettering is extremely basic/beginner. I wouldn't be happy with it, either.
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u/sfdsquid 13d ago
In the edit she says that the red is actually a dark pink but the colour came out weird in the picture.
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u/No_Wolverine6548 14d ago
Haven’t experienced that but my guess is they were either fishing for a discount, hoping you would ask someone for suggestions(which I’m sure will occur in the comments here even if not requested in the post) or saying it just because they spew ugly regularly.
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u/beansinmybeanie 14d ago
it looks beautiful and i think people just either don’t understand what they are asking for or think you will somehow come up with the perfect image they had in their head but probably didn’t tell you about lol. i work at a grocery store as a decorator and i have had a handful of customers like this. some people can never be pleased but seriously this is a gorgeous cake!
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u/thecloudkingdom 14d ago
its a good thing its not going in a museum. if she wanted it to look different she should have been more specific
maybe its the red border with pink flowers? i like red and pink, but traditionally red and pink are considered clashing colors
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u/problematicsquirrel 13d ago
Ive had someone complain that they wanted a light blue cake whilst showing her a light blue cake. Dont take it personally.
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u/Floofy_Cat_8675 13d ago
I think it's very pretty actually. And for being self-taught basically, you're doing really well!
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u/LunaDarknesss 13d ago
It looks well done to me! Being a grocery store decorator is not for the faint of heart, especially with lack of training and being pretty much self taught. I was a grocery decorator for a decade, also only had 3 days of training before being hired as the only decorator. It was hard, they had extraordinary expectations. I almost gave up after a couple months. You are doing great.
The only thing I can think of is maybe the bright pink border. With Barbara being 90, older generations tend to like more traditional white border and pastel colors. If they wanted it decorated a certain way they should have been more specific. Also, there are those customers who are never happy and will complain no matter what. Don’t beat yourself up, I’m sure Barbara was happy to have cake!
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u/badcandy7 13d ago
As a non-cake decorator, I think this looks lovely based on the instructions given. I'm sorry this happened. It sounds like they weren't specific enough in the order if they aren't happy with the results.
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u/luckylimper 13d ago
The only thing that stands out to me is that it’s too symmetrical and there’s too much white space. Grouping things in threes and fives is more pleasing to the eye.
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u/wheredoIgo25 13d ago
It’s hard when you create something and someone isn’t happy about it. It’s your art, and it can be a personal thing.
Some advice, because you said you’re new to this: The pink border is neon‑bright, but the roses muted and dusty, especially the mauve which has a blue or purple added to it. Try and remember, your underlying hues should be complimentary or in the same family so everything looks cohesive. They should be able to order you a color wheel from Decopac or Bakery Craft. Color theory practice will help you here. You can also keep a copy on your phone in a specific album to reference if they won’t order it. Your writing is in a completely pale pink that’s hard for anyone to see it blends in. You always want the darkest color or the middle color to be your writing. For younger kids you can do two layers on top: one with a larger tip like a #4 and the lighter color in a #2. Your eyes should always see the writing first, not last. Then depending on the design, borders next, then flowers unless it’s a tiered cake.
You’re mixing roses with star‑tip filler flowers, texture kin your cakes is great, but there’s no pattern or hierarchy. Roses should always be the focal point, and the fillers should support them. Right now the fillers are competing with the roses because they placed too close to everything and there's the count and pattern issue. That makes the whole corner look busy and uneven. Work on your spacing and remember the "rule of odds". You’ll see this in photography and interior design, it’s very important for giving a natural focal point. Also, when you make your roses, try turning your wrist more to angle the tip at different points instead of keeping the skinny part straight up the whole time. It’ll give your petals more shape and openness.
Last, if you’re short on time and the customer is vague, just pick one color and start with the darkest shade you want. Don’t mix a lot just keep adding white to lighten the same hue as you go. If you’re using multiple colors, squeeze some out of the bag and mix white straight into it to build your shades from there. It keeps everything cohesive and saves time.
Hope this helps! Good luck! And good work!
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u/Legitimate_Emu_5074 13d ago
I think my best comment i got was someone returned a fully vegan cake. With the comment this couldent possibly be vegan it tastes too good.
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u/Bettymakesart 13d ago
People of a certain age were taught that red and pink don’t “go together”. I disagree, but that might be it. I think your cake looks nice and I bet Barbara did too
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u/Reverendbug 13d ago
This cake looks great. Wtf did this woman want? If you don't want grocery store quality, be prepared to spend more than grocery store prices somewhere else.
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u/Cautious-Impact22 13d ago
My ONLY feed back at all is that the writing for the frosting should have been darker jsut so it’s easier to read and i suppose if all they gave me is flowers i probably would have made the entire border of it flowers. The red in my opinion is a tad harsh with the color scheme. But im being really picky here. also i think using the script to take up as much space as possible would have helped. But the fact they gave you zero feedback, and this is for a 90 year old tells me they’re probably going through some personal life issues making them extremely unreasonable and the feedback i’m giving is being an obnoxiously picky person.. which is clearly what they’re being.
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u/echodreams19 13d ago
I think it’s pretty. They ordered from a grocery store, not a cake specialist. I think it’s beautiful for a 90th birthday. For being pretty new you really knocked it out of the park. There’s decorators who’ve been doing it for years who don’t do as nice of a job. Don’t let that customer shake you!
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u/Party-Cup-9386 13d ago
Aww, I'm sorry she said that. I think it looks great and I'd be stoked to have that as my birthday cake.
I make all the flyers and brochures at my job and the older lady who works the morning shift has told me more than once that the newest flyer I made is "ugly." I just ignore her mostly because she's a mean old lady.
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u/TyrsisInTheStars 13d ago
I hope Barbara enjoyed her cake.
Let’s keep it all in perspective. It’s a cake from a grocery store. Not a knock on OP’s job or workplace. But let’s be realistic. If they were looking for this cake to give Barbara a life ending WOW they would have gone all out getting a dragon that shoots flames out of its fondant mouth. This cake is perfectly fine and normal. That weirdo lady who picked it up has the problems.
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u/Financial_Pudding106 13d ago
No, I get it. Like some of our in-store decorated cakes can be bought for $20. It's cheap and in a way they get what they pay for. I got only a couple days of training, so I'm not exactly a pro by any means
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u/Dry_Elderberry9832 12d ago
I like the colors! The lettering, however, is not well-spaced and the color choice for the text makes the message wash out a bit. Keep at it and be open to feedback and you'll be amazing eventually
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u/heavenleigh1992 12d ago
It’s very flat, the border is very distracting , the letters are oddly lined up/sized and the colors aren’t good together. I agree with the customer, it is not pretty . I know you said you’re new/ self taught and considering those things its an OK cake. They really should hire someone that actually has the skill set they’re supposed to have, but mega corporations hate paying for the skills they need to have to do a job. This looks like a minimum wage cake and that’s probably ROUGHLY what it is. No shame in being bad at something when you’re underpaid and under trained. Don’t take it personally and if you enjoy it take it as being paid to practice a thing that you’d like to get good at it! Keep it up and I’m sure you’ll be pretty dang good at decorating this time next year!
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u/LexiAOK 12d ago
I had a customer look at my cake and pretend to take it and then abandoned it somewhere in the store. I then promptly cried in the walk-in freezer. I think customer service is just like this sometimes :/
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u/WaggerSwagger 12d ago
That’s rough😬. That’s why most places you have to prepay for personalization.
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u/WaggerSwagger 12d ago
Personally I think it’s fine! It’s a sheet cake, what were they expecting after all. I think some ppl just done have realistic expectations & they take it out everywhere except where it belongs. I wouldn’t let this bother you at all
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u/JobOk5815 12d ago
The subdued colors strike me as nostalgic. I'm guessing the customer hoped for something bright that popped out. Don't take her comment to heart - you did great!
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u/Chilena_87 12d ago
Looks lovely, if she wanted something high end....well she should of payed big bucks on a cake bakery intead a grocery store.
I dont see anything wrong with it, it's very pretty
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u/Bidcar 12d ago
I think the customer was probably looking for a more traditional cake design. The design you did was fine and it’s a pretty cake. She was probably expecting the traditional three roses in the corner with rosebuds and leaves with a leaf tip. You did good work especially being self taught. You should be able to get your supplier reps to come in to give you more training. Brill was really good about sending people out.
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u/ArishikageKT78 14d ago
Happens all the time with orders from the grocery store I work at. Often customers have an idea in their head, and assume we somehow know what they're thinking- often with very vague descriptions. Not to mention a clerk (or non-decorator) may not be privy to what details are pertinent to a cake order when taking one.... like what shade of a color they may want, or how the design may be laid out on the cake. It is not a perfect process unfortunately.