Wal-Mart Is Now Making Wedding Cakes!
Decorating By cupncake1 Updated 27 Feb 2014 , 10:35pm by AZCouture
Wal-Mart bakeries don't bake in store. They order their cakes already made which arive frozen and are kept frozen until time to decorate.
And that's exactly what most other bakeries do, albeit not to the scale WM does. We routinely freeze cakes for several days (sometimes longer) before decorating.
Wal-Mart bakeries don't bake in store. They order their cakes already made which arive frozen and are kept frozen until time to decorate.
And that's exactly what most other bakeries do, albeit not to the scale WM does. We routinely freeze cakes for several days (sometimes longer) before decorating.
True Jason_Kraft....OAN I wonder how old the cakes really? Happy Birthday Wal-Mart cake...lol!
[quote="jason_kraft"]
And that's exactly what most other bakeries do, albeit not to the scale WM does. We routinely freeze cakes for several days (sometimes longer) before decorating.
This is not true for most bakeries, for some sure, but not most. I know a few bakery owners and they woud die first. Some of them are even based in CA and other states. So, no, I know a few very solid bakeries that use real butter and eggs and not mixed base cakes and they do it fresh.
So, no, I know a few very solid bakeries that use real butter and eggs and not mixed base cakes and they do it fresh.
So if (for example) they have three wedding cakes to be delivered on a Sunday, when do they do the baking and decorating?
So, no, I know a few very solid bakeries that use real butter and eggs and not mixed base cakes and they do it fresh.
So if (for example) they have three wedding cakes to be delivered on a Sunday, when do they do the baking and decorating?
There are a ton of places that don't freeze. The place we got my sisters wedding cake doesn't freeze anything. They do however have a larger staff so they have the flexibility to have the cakes coming out of the oven, cool, someone frosts, someone else decorates. So its not 1 person spending 8 hours on 1 cake.
There are a ton of places that don't freeze. The place we got my sisters wedding cake doesn't freeze anything. They do however have a larger staff so they have the flexibility to have the cakes coming out of the oven, cool, someone frosts, someone else decorates. So its not 1 person spending 8 hours on 1 cake.
Makes sense...perhaps the qualifier "most" was overstating things, my premise was that there are high quality bakeries out there that do freeze cakes, and if the freezing process is handled correctly (as I'm sure it is at WM) it should have no impact on the quality of the final product.
[quote="QTCakes1"]
And that's exactly what most other bakeries do, albeit not to the scale WM does. We routinely freeze cakes for several days (sometimes longer) before decorating.
This is not true for most bakeries, for some sure, but not most. I know a few bakery owners and they woud die first. Some of them are even based in CA and other states. So, no, I know a few very solid bakeries that use real butter and eggs and not mixed base cakes and they do it fresh.
I'm gonna respectfully disagree. I bake scratch with top shelf ingredients - and I freeze, as every other large wedding cake maker does. If they tell you they don't, I think they are lying. "Baked fresh daily" is different then "I bake your cake the same day". You cannot tort, fill, buttercream, fondant cover and decorate a cake that was baked the same day. It is impossible. It's not a lack of staff issue, it's a science issue and a time/space impossibility. If you don't allow the gluten to develop your cake will crumble and fall apart if you try and handle it too soon. The fastest way to do this without your cake drying out is to put it in the freezer.
I just had a consultation tell me that another baker they met said they'll make the whole cake the day of the wedding. I flat called that baker a liar. First you have to bake. Then you have to let the gluten set up. Then you have to tort and fill. Then you have to let your layers settle. Then you have to ice and let your buttercream crust and chill through. Then you have to fondant cover and then let your fondant dry. Then you have to stack. Then you have to decorate. And deliver by 2pm?
No way does that ever happen in one day. No way. On average, it's a 3 day process.
Now, I don't freeze for longer then a day or two, which is a major difference between me and Wal Mart, but believe me, freezing improves your product. The notion that it's "bad" or that "high-end bakeries don't do that" is just flat wrong.
But on an LOL note, did ya'all see this?
Jen
However, to throw a wrench in things. Even if you are buying frozen sheets of cake and it is frozen on site, just after baking. As long as it is handled it should be fine. Commercial freezers are SUB-freezing, usually around a negative 40-degrees. So as long as that product is handled well it will be fresh tasting once it's thawed. Provided it's handled properly.
I recently worked in a different in-store bakery. A global corporation that is mostly found in the East. AND, it was very poorly run. The manager is the single worst whiner that I have ever met and no one working there was happy, and it showed. Everyone thought is was someone elses job to clean, do inventory, organize etc. No nothing got done. The place was a STY!!
Sure, the cakes came in frozen (everything did!!), but it was the way they were handled from there that was shameful. The cases were opened and the boxes with the half-sheet sized cakes were put on the rolling rack with boxes of opened 7-inch rounds and cupcakes. On busy days the cakes were rotated quickly, but cakes like red velvet, that didn't sell as fast were sometimes opened and LEFT OPEN for the whole day out to the air. At the end of the shift the whole rack was pushed into the cooler. Great, but some of the cakes weren't used, even inside of a week. I remember putting an X on the side of a box, just to see how long it would stay on the rack. Instead of being wrapped and put back into the freezer immediately it would go from the cooler, out for a 8 hour shift, back to the cooler. Back and forth for more than two weeks. You can NOT tell me that was quality product after a day or so let alone two weeks.
Before you ask, I didn't do anything because I wasn't a cake decorator in this store. I was there for 2 days a week as the back up night baker/donut maker. So that wasn't my place. The even sadder thing is that the bakery manager was the other main cake decorator!!! She was one of the people pushing these dried out nasty cakes back and forth. This bakery also saw a LOT of complaints about poor decoration and poor cake quality. It goes to show you that a store is only as good as its management. This manager had NO clue how to deal with people, employees or customers. She always complained about her job etc. I was so glad to be rid of the place.
Anyway, grocery stores can do well with frozen product by staying on top of quality at the level they work at, but if they don't care, it really shows in the end.
Tami 
.................after a very loud verbal blow out with said manager I left. After calming down I did have a sit down with the store manager and very professionally told him what was happening back there. I actually shop at that store a lot and there are a lot of new faces, but the manager is still there with three of her largest whiners. I pity the new-bies.
I typically bake Wednesday, fill Thursday, decorate Friday, and deliver Saturday.
Exactly. This is what I do and even for 3 weddings on the same weekend and I am solo act. And no the bakers are NOT lyng, they have staff like someone else mentioned. Maye some have not worked in a full running bakery, but you have people that just bake and you have people that just decorate. So fresh in a high volume bakery is done.
I typically bake Wednesday, fill Thursday, decorate Friday, and deliver Saturday.
Exactly. This is what I do and even for 3 weddings on the same weekend and I am solo act. And no the bakers are NOT lyng, they have staff like someone else mentioned. Maye some have not worked in a full running bakery, but you have people that just bake and you have people that just decorate. So fresh in a high volume bakery is done.
When I called the other baker a liar I was referring to them saying they make a full wedding cake the day-of or the day before the wedding. No bakery, I don't care if you are Ben Ron Israel, a mom and pop shop, or a solo baker, bakes and decorates a full 3 tiered wedding cake the day of a wedding. I don't know anyone that does it the day before the wedding, no matter how many people they have as staff. We all agree it's at least a 3 day process.
My scratch cake is baked fresh. Just because it's in a freezer overnight as opposed to drying out on a counter top does not mean it's not fresh. It just means it's easier to tort, handle, fill, and settle because I used science to make sure it is. 
Which is totally different then the Wal Mart super factory making crappy cake by the thousands to be shipped to stores frozen for 6 months or more. I guess what I'm trying to say is there is a difference between freezing a cake and frozen cake.
Oh yeah, I don't agree a same day wedding cake can be done the day of the wedding...even though I have heard people on here say they've done that. But all bakeries still don't freeze and that is a personal preference thing, not a right or wrong thing. And yes, the Wal-Mart and most groceries stores mass produce their cakes in a factory, freezed 6 months out, waiting to be shipped. I don't want that for a cake, but to each his own on that as well. And though my cakes is sitting on a counter top waiting for me to frost, I have never had a dry cake.
And yes, the Wal-Mart and most groceries stores mass produce their cakes in a factory, freezed 6 months out, waiting to be shipped.
I don't doubt that WM does their baking in bulk in centralized locations, but how do you know they keep their cakes frozen for 6 months? WM has very sophisticated logistics that are specifically meant to reduce inventory and enable closer to JIT (just-in-time) fulfillment across their product lines, I don't see why this sophistication wouldn't extend to their bakeries. I would be very surprised if cakes were kept frozen longer than a few weeks.
what does walmart making cakes have to do with poor people getting married?? how offensive!
.....did you not know that poor people get married too?
I actually find this very rude. Just last year I got my wedding cake from Wal-Mart for about $200 or so (I don't remember the exact price). I was on a budget and that is part of the reason I went to Wal-Mart, but also because the only real bakery around here is a friend's aunt, who's cakes are worse than Wal-Mart and not worth the money she charges. Our wedding cake actually tasted very good (I thought), but my Husband complained he thought it was too sweet.
Also, I personally think that they decorated it very well.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.421326648475.197698.774868475
^^Is a link to my wedding album on FB, there are a couple pics of the cake in there if anyone would like to see.
I certainly don't look down on anyone buying a cake at walmart....the thing that bugs me about businesses like walmart is how they want it all....they put business after business out of business like stationary, card stores, meat markets, clothing, groceries, bakeries, gas stati0ns, tire garages, .......well you get the idea...........I mean they put everyone out of business....no more mom and pop stores or stations....just food for thought
I just hate when people waste my time asking for a specific design and then ask why Wal-mart is so much cheaper, anyway it was to offend no one, I guess It just irratates me because I know a few people who will spend $300.00 at a restaurant once or twice a week and turn their nose up at spending a little over $100.00 on a nice custom cake thats for a special occasion
I'm with ya Sista. That's peeves me too. But Wal-mart is not just for the poor, but the cheap as well. Soem people just don't care about the cake.
The other problem that i'm running in to around here is (and forgive me in advance if i offend anyone) that walmart and giant eagle and other GROCERY STORE bakeries take foodstamp cards. i lose alot of business because of that 
I guess your the only one who gets to quote "standards" seeing as how you said most bakeries freeze their cakes. Let me differ to your know-it-all genius.
I wasn't quoting "standards", I was sharing my own experience that most (not all) bakeries do freeze their cakes, since it is usually not convenient to bake and decorate on the same day.
The issue is with the 6-month figure for how long WM freezes their cakes...it has been thrown around this thread as a fact, and I'm not so sure that it is actually true. I wasn't able to find any source for the 6-month figure online, and it is at odds with what I know about how WM handles logistics (mostly drawn from case studies when I was in business school).
I bake scratch with top shelf ingredients - and I freeze, as every other large wedding cake maker does. If they tell you they don't, I think they are lying.
I bake solely from scratch and I never freeze, even overnight.
So when I tell my client that I don't freeze ever...I'm not "lying"
When I called the other baker a liar I was referring to them saying they make a full wedding cake the day-of or the day before the wedding.
Actually you were calling them a liar about saying they don't freeze their cakes....see your above quoted post.
My scratch cake is baked fresh. Just because it's in a freezer overnight as opposed to drying out on a counter top does not mean it's not fresh. It just means it's easier to tort, handle, fill, and settle because I used science to make sure it is.
So because you think it's wonderful to freeze your cakes overnight, all of us who don't must have dry cakes because they've been "drying out on a counter top".
That's just plain rude.
It's ok to disagree, but why do you have to slam people's methods if they dare to differ from your own?
Choosing our words carefully goes a long way. Seems like a few of the members on this site have forgotten how to do that lately.
I bake scratch with top shelf ingredients - and I freeze, as every other large wedding cake maker does. If they tell you they don't, I think they are lying.
I bake solely from scratch and I never freeze, even overnight.
So when I tell my client that I don't freeze ever...I'm not "lying"
When I called the other baker a liar I was referring to them saying they make a full wedding cake the day-of or the day before the wedding.
Actually you were calling them a liar about saying they don't freeze their cakes....see your above quoted post.
My scratch cake is baked fresh. Just because it's in a freezer overnight as opposed to drying out on a counter top does not mean it's not fresh. It just means it's easier to tort, handle, fill, and settle because I used science to make sure it is.
So because you think it's wonderful to freeze your cakes overnight, all of us who don't must have dry cakes because they've been "drying out on a counter top".
That's just plain rude.
It's ok to disagree, but why do you have to slam people's methods if they dare to differ from your own?
Choosing our words carefully goes a long way. Seems like a few of the members on this site have forgotten how to do that lately.
Aw jeeze, take a chill pill. It's an internet fourm, people sometimes type 110 WPM with a newborn on their lap. When they make a follow-up correction post, it's to do just that - make a correction or clarify what they meant. Does it make you feel better picking and choosing sentences from several posts so you can call someone rude? How am I slamming anyone's methods other then someone saying they can bake and decorate a fondant-covered 4 tiered all in the same day of a wedding as a liar? OK, you know what, maybe they can, but the cake will probably be ugly, bulge, fall over or taste like sawdust. But you know what? Sure, you are right. It CAN be done. Feel better? Need a hug?
Why are your panties in a wad here? Actually, I don't care. You wanted rude? You got it.
I'm gonna respectfully disagree. I bake scratch with top shelf ingredients - and I freeze, as every other large wedding cake maker does. If they tell you they don't, I think they are lying. "Baked fresh daily" is different then "I bake your cake the same day". You cannot tort, fill, buttercream, fondant cover and decorate a cake that was baked the same day. It is impossible. It's not a lack of staff issue, it's a science issue and a time/space impossibility. If you don't allow the gluten to develop your cake will crumble and fall apart if you try and handle it too soon. The fastest way to do this without your cake drying out is to put it in the freezer.
Jen
I am not scientist have done reading on the science of baking and have never seen a reference to "gluten development" post the oven. The only reference to gluten development I have seen is through mixing/needing.
Have torted, filled, dirty iced cakes as soon as they have cooled and never had them crumble--and it does not take that long for them to cool in a 70-80 degree kitchen. So I don't know about the science stating this is an impossibility, seems more of a time thing than anything else.
How am I slamming anyone's methods other then someone saying they can bake and decorate a fondant-covered 4 tiered all in the same day of a wedding as a liar?
Why are your panties in a wad here? Actually, I don't care. You wanted rude? You got it.
How are you slamming anyone's methods? By saying that while your cake is in the freezer overnight, our cakes are drying out on the counter top.
That's slamming others methods.
I suppose sleep deprivation leads to rudeness...i.e. the infant. Totally understand now. Been there.
I consider the walmart bakery a place to look and never make my cakes to be anything like theirs. Cakes baked in a cardboard box? In a factory? I don't think so.
The way I look at it is that those who are content with a Wal-mart cake are simply not my customer. Doesn't mean anything bad about the person, just that they are not in the market for a custom cake. No big deal. There are plenty of people out there who are.
I don't think my local Audi dealership loses sleep over some people going to the car dealership down the road selling cars for cheaper. Totally different product. Totally not their target market.
Who cares? Fresh cr@p or frozen cr@p is still cr@p! I like WalMart for a lot of things, but not their cakes!
Amen! lol!
WEIRD!!!! I had a double post 22 minutes apart! How the heck did that happen?
The only time Ive ever heard how long a Wal-Mart cake stays sitting in the freezer was here. I kind of always assumed the person who first said it probably didnt know that for a fact but the 6 month things has stuck and has been repeated forever since Ive been here.
Two of my BILs work for two different food distribution companies here in my state. I get all kinds of fun stuff from them anytime some guy drops a pallet and the boxes are damaged. Ill gladly take a billion pounds of butter just because the top of the box has a dent in it One time one of them offered me a bunch of chocolate sheet cakes that were supposed to go to one of the grocery stores around here but the box they were in got smashed up so they were giving them away to the guys as the warehouse. None of them knew what to do with them since they werent iced. I didnt want them either and from what I heard they threw them out. But they did sit in the warehouse for a long time while the guys up top tried to get someone to get rid of them.
From what Ive heard from my BILs sometimes the food will sit around in their warehouses for a while. I dont know exactly how long though. I can't imagine something sitting around in a freezer for 6 months before getting shipped out though.
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