A friend of mine contacted me the other day for a last minute Superbowl cake. I said no problem, have nothing else to do this weekend. She didn't give any specifics, just something to do with the Bears, and wanted white cake. I tried contacting her yesterday via Myspace (that's where we know each other from) to see how many people the cake needed to feed, and have not heard back from her.
I just made a 9x13 and cut the football shape out of it, but the cake is falling apart, and I'm having to do major repairs with BC. Not to mention, the cake is very small.... feeding maybe 8-10 people if they like pieces that aren't tiny. I have no other supplies to make another cake.
Just called my husband and he said- don't make the cake. Send her a message and tell her, you never got back to me and it's the night before and I don't know what you need. Part of me wants to do that, but part of me thinks I should go ahead and try to salvage this cake and hope it's big enough.
What would you do?
I'd finish the cake I started just to do it and if she shows up and then complains about it point out that you asked how many people it needed to feed and she never let you know.
If she doesn't show then eat the cake or find someone to give it to after you take a picture for your album.
My husband would have suggested the same thing. Dont finish the cake. She did not give you all the information you needed and yes your name is attached to the creation. You dont want to have your name on anything that is not displayable. You are trying to get orders, not shun them. The other option is to give it to her and as said before wait to see if she has something to say about the size.She can either go get other sweets to go with it and use it to display or leave it with you and your family enjoy it. But a tip that I have learned, NEVER do a cake until you hear from the person to finalize details...whether they are friend or foe.
I would go ahead & make it also, at least you'll have the experience. If she complains about the serving size then tell her just what you told us--she never got back to you so you didn't know how big to make it. Another thing you might consider...maybe she didn't intend for it to serve everyone but just a cake to have the Bears look on it and she'll be serving other snacks as well. Let us know how it turns out!
Let us know how it turns out!
Well, the picture is in my pics! I went ahead and finished the cake, and it actually didn't turn out too bad. I patched up the cracking part of the cake with BC, and it held really well. She picked it up from me at work on Sunday, and LOVED it. So much that she's putting more orders in for me, and a friend of hers wants to as well! I'm so excited. She apologized about not getting back to me, too, she mostly checks her myspace when she's at work and didn't get the message until late. Thanks, everybody!
I would never go ahead and make a cake without adequate details and a pre-arranged price. In this business you will find that people will expect a lot of you, without giving you anything to work with. We're not mind-readers, nor are we doormats. I also wouldn't stress myself out about it. If people want to order something, they will provide enough information for you to do your job correctly. Would they go to the corner bakery and say I want a cake and just walk about and expect the baker to know what they want? No. Would that bakery then prepare a cake for them? No. The hardest thing to learn is how to separate the business from the personal. The only way to never, ever get taken advantage of is to learn how to make your business just that - a business.
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