AI just had a couple of cake orders this weekend. One full sheet and one quarter sheet. Both were marble cake. The lady that ordered the full sheet just texted me that the cake was dry and rubbery! I don't understand what I could have done wrong? The scraps I and my family ate from said cake tasted completely fine. Is that normal? Shouldn't the cake scraps have tasted dry as well? I am so disappointed! I told her I would refund her money to her. This is almost enough to make me quit caking altogether! What could have happened? Suggestions, anything please.
Yes it can happen. Rubbery usually is a result of too much leavening (baking soda or powder) and as the cake bakes there's too many air pockets of batter and not enough structure of baked batter to support the weight of the collapsing batter. So you get dense rubbery center. The center of the cake will be more dense and rubbery than the edges of the cake (so the crumbs you ate could be better than the center of the cake). It also will take along time before the cake tests done. Once it's cold the dome is concave instead of the usual cake dome and usually theirs an inner ring about 1" from the sides of the pan. So the first inch of cake next to the pan will bake better than the center of it. It's dry to eat as in you need liquid to swallow it but it shouldn't be a crumbly type of dry, like you think of with an over-baked cake.
Did it seem like it took forever for you cake to bake?
ANot longer than usual for two half sheet cakes. I am so frustrated! I have made this recipie countless times and never was it "rubbery or dry"! Now this lady texted me that her friends cake was also like this!
AI didn't notice anything different when I made these. Both cakes were made exactly the same! It is actually a thick batter. It really seems to me they just want free cake. I am soo done making cake for anyone but my family! This NEVER happens when I bake for them!
AWould icing the cake when it's still cold be the problem? I know I have done this before with no problems. Maybe it was because of the size of the cake? I used flower nails for both of them when I baked so I don't think that was the problem. The big thing is, what little profit I had gotten, I just used today for a few groceries. I don't know how I am going to give them both their money back!
I don't think icing the cake when it's cold should have caused this problem...I'm not sure I even understand how cake can taste like rubber! Keep your head up though, this hopefully is just a one time issue.
Quote:
Would icing the cake when it's still cold be the problem? I know I have done this before with no problems. Maybe it was because of the size of the cake? I used flower nails for both of them when I baked so I don't think that was the problem. The big thing is, what little profit I had gotten, I just used today for a few groceries. I don't know how I am going to give them both their money back!
Icing a cold cake won't cause that to happen. I do it all the time. It sounds really strange that both cakes would have had the same thing happen to them. Did the first lady who said the cake was rubbery tell you her friend's cake was rubbery too AFTER you offered a refund? If that happened, I would definitely think something was up.
I would ask them for their home addresses so you can mail them their refund. Tell them it will take X amount of days to mail it. That way it will give you time to get it together and you won't be starving your family for the refund.
Customers who complain can be very disheartening. I had my first complaint this year after doing this for longer than 10 years. It really bothered me for days, and I didn't do anything wrong. I made the lady's cupcakes exactly the way we discussed on the phone. I always repeat back 2-3 times what the order is to make sure I have all the details correct. She loved them when I dropped them off, but after they devoured all of them, she called to complain that's not what she ordered.
I didn't offer a refund because she had nothing to return to me and loved them at delivery. They are in clear cupcake containers, so she had an opportunity to tell me they weren't correct when she paid for them. She even ordered a cake from me for the following weekend. It was really strange! I DO think she was in the market for free or discounted, but I stood my ground and didn't offer anything. If she really didn't like what I did, then she wouldn't have ordered another cake for the next weekend.
Keep your head up and keep moving along. I know how you feel! All I can say is feel out the people before you accept an order from them. If they seem like they don't want to pay what you are charging when they order, then you can probably expect a complaint. I really learned my lesson from crazy complainer lady! She didn't like my prices when I told her how much the cupcakes and cake would be when she ordered. Asked if I could "do any better". That should have been a red flag right there!
I really do feel for you! Sorry you are going through this!
AShe did tell me after I offered her the refund, hours later. I should have known better, they ordered through a friend of mine from work. This lady is her neighbor and best friend, so I will find out tomorrow at work what really happened. My oldest son was really mad I offered her the refund, especially when she texted me 4 hours later that her friends cake was also rubbery and dry! I never replied to her last message, I will have to call her tomorrow and let her know that I cannot refund them both their money back until my next paycheck, which is two weeks from now. Thanks for the advice mfeagan!
To offer any kind of refund you should have had her wrap any leftovers up and bring them over to you for you to try and make sure she is legit or just making it up. You should never just offer up a refund without first doing a little research on your product. People will make any kind of excuse in the book just to get free product. Also, if you got very little profit it may be time to raise your prices. Sorry this happened to you though.
Quote:
To offer any kind of refund you should have had her wrap any leftovers up and bring them over to you for you to try and make sure she is legit or just making it up. You should never just offer up a refund without first doing a little research on your product. People will make any kind of excuse in the book just to get free product. Also, if you got very little profit it may be time to raise your prices. Sorry this happened to you though.
I completely agree about raising your prices! I have come to realize if people want to pay for a good product, they will! If they don't like what I charge, I'm fine with it if they want to go somewhere else. People have no idea how much time and money goes into making cakes, cupcakes, cookies, etc. They think because they go to a grocery store and see 25-30 cakes in the "bakery" that cost $10-$25 that custom bakers should charge that much. What they don't realize is those cakes come shipped frozen to the stores. All they do is decorate them with crappy frosting and stick them in their cases.
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%