AI've been making a cake at the restaurant where I work that everyone loves. Several people have asked for the recipe and I've jokingly told them "I'd have to kill you if I told you." Am I wrong for not wanting to give them my recipe? Would you give out your recipes?

AI don't think you are wrong at all. I have a few that I worked very hard on for over a year to get them perfect for me. I am proud of them and folks ask me all the time for the recipes. I like you make a joke and do not share. I have some that I freely share but sounds strange I guess but some of my recipes are personal.

AYou could always just do what my MIL does; give them an entirely different recipe. Then when they make their cake and it doesn't turn out as good as yours you let them believe that they just don't have the knack for baking that you do! ;)

If it's a recipe used in business, then no. I tell people they can have the recipe when I'm no longer selling that item. It also works to direct them to allrecipes.com

Would I give out my recipes? Of course not!  Give any reason you want, but don't give them the recipe.

ALol I fully cracked up when I read this... That is evil, pure evil but all I can do is giggle and giggle thinking about it. Thanks! Perfect for having worked a party till 6:30 a.m and haven't slept yet (have to feed vacationing nieghbour's kitty and such first).

Not to anyone local, that's for sure. :D

Sometimes. But if I don't want to, I just string them along, telling them I'll email it to them. They rarely ask twice. Most of the time, people are asking just as a form of flattery and an have no intention of ever making the item, anyway.

A

Only my Butter cake recipe, and only with you CC folks.  Elcee's right - people only ask for it as a token of courtesy.

A

This is how I feel about this one recipe. Mainly because it's the one thing I'm really good at making.

A

Absolutely not, the recipes are part of the Intellectual Property value of my business.  I don't bother coming up with excuses just say, Sorry No they belong to the business we don't give out our recipes.  Practice saying it in a firm but friendly manner.

I wonder why it seems acceptable to people to be able to ask a cake decorator for her recipes and secrets and  yet one wouldn't think of going into a clothing shop and ask for the pattens and material lay out!

Great analogy, Claire!

Thanks Mimi!

ALol. Tonight a woman came up to me and waved her phone around and told me "Look what I found!" (While another woman was like "look what she found!") It was a picture of a magazine article with a recipe for the type of cake. It was a pretty similar recipe, but who knows if it would taste the same. I told her that it wasn't the recipe I used.

I think it's funny that it was such a big deal to them.

ASome recipes I don't mind giving as they originate in cookbooks or popular magazines. However, since I typically MODIFY those recipes, I don't share the modifications.

AA friend of mine made a birthday cake for a relative, and they took it with them to a restaurant for after dinner. Some of the waistaff was hanging around, oogling over the cake, one lady in particular. Finally the relative cut the nosy staff member a piece to be nice, since she was showing so much interest. Staff member comes back to the table and hands the relative her phone number so that my friend could [B]call her and give her all her recipes.[/B] That person in addition to working at that restaurant, was apparently head baker for a local Whole Foods type of place. My friends relative said "ugh" and refused to pass on the number. True story, we were told about it earlier this week and couldn't believe the nerve.

I have only given out two recipes.  Both are to persons in another state.  One former co-worker and one to a second cousin of mine that I am close to. 

I did however give a version of another recipe to someone that I could not bring myself to say no to.  And when he tried it the recipe did not come out like mine so he asked me to bake the item for him.   OOPS!!!

Cakeymom

That's an excellent point, even when you do give out a recipe to someone, they still can't make it as well as you can.  (Thank goodness)

After sending several batches of peanut butter cookies to a friend, her husband wanted to know why mine were better.  We compared recipes.  We had the same recipe from exactly the same old cookbook. 

Was mine better because of my KA mixer, the pans, the scoops, the parchment paper, the expensive vanilla extract.  Who knows. 

Pretty much word for word. "Have her callme so she can give me all her recipes." Yup.

ACake recipes, no. I've spent too much time working on them to get them the way I wanted. I've had a couple dessert recipes that have been asked for, and it depended on the situation. One was previously published in a magazine when I first did it a few years ago. I put it on the new spring menu at my job now. I had one of the waiters text me that someone wanted it, so I told him to get their email for me. I sent it to them, but the jerks never even replied to say thank you!

I won't even give out the WASC recipe…LOL  

When I want a really good cake recipe I purchase it so the baker who created it will profit!

AMy cake and frosting recipes are on a PDF spreadsheet that I created on my ipad. It lists ingredients down the side, with pan sizes across the top, and then the grams for each item (including eggs) inside. No mixing instructions, since I know how to do that part with my eyes closed! People will sometimes ask for my recipes, and I will pull up the spreadsheet, hand my ipad to them and say, "here you go!" They look at it quizzically, and then hand it back, "I have no idea how to do that!" Exactly.