A very good friend of mine called me on behalf of her best friend 2 weeks ago Wednesday asking me about pricing for a cake for her bff's daughter's birthday. The party was to be this past weekend. I heard nothing else from her until this past Friday morning. She called to order the cake and needed it by Sunday.

I made her a 10 inch round with a fondant bow, and fondant stripes and dots (in my pics) I charged her $35 which I normally would have charged $45 but I know they are having a difficult time financially.

My friend calls me yesterday and tells me that the cake was very, very dry. This is so out of character for me because my cakes are usually super moist and my friend knows that and told her BFF that. The Bff said she wasn't going to complain because it was such short notice (as you can tell from the cake itself).

The only thing I can figure must have happened is after I mixed one cake mix (doctored) I was afraid that the layers wouldn't be tall enough so I decided to do another mix. I must not have added in the additional liquid to balance that out. I know I left out the sour cream I usuallly use because I ran out but I thought it would be ok.

My question is should I offer her any refund for the dryness of the cake?

I was thinking maybe $10.

What do you think?

I would just give her like a 10% off her next purchase coupon ( I made some with blank recipe cards from Avery and went to Avery.com and designed it myself to match my business cards) that way she'll know you tried to make amends but it doesn't take any money out of your pocket and it gives her the option to save even 40 dollars (even though that means she'll have to order a $400 cake ...hehe)

I think everyone realizes that I'm more a baker than a decorator, so I must say that if the cake doesn't taste good - the most elaborate decorations are meaningless....

Omitting the liquid and the sour cream DEFINITELY would result in a dry, heavy cake with a coarse grain:

http://tinyurl.com/2p5bdu

http://tinyurl.com/6c745g

http://tinyurl.com/32goqe

This isn't about someone trying to get over - this is a legitimate complaint which requires conscientious customer service. (Your baking reputation is at stake.)

If it were me, I would offer to replace the cake for free. (Same size, etc. or else offer a $35.00 discount on a future cake and let the customer decide.)

HTH

I just had a similar situation today on a cake I did a month ago. I just told her I would work something out with her on her next cake since she said she would be ordering another in the near future. When she does order I will probably discount her on something on that cake.