I have just gotten back into decorating and have been on this site almost everyday for a month and now I find myself critizing cakes I see and taste!!! My sister has worked in floral design and always critiques others work...I used to tease her about it. Now I'm doing it. My other sis had a wedding shower at our church and the cute little church ladies bought a store bought cake that had their brand CANNED frosting on it!!! I know because I had just bought some for kids to decorate last minute cookies at a slumber party. ANYWAY, I couldn't eat it. I almost feel guilty by thinking such critical thoughts...Does this happen to anyone else???? 
Every grocery store I go to, I check out their cakes and prices - my son even thinks I can do better than some of them (bless his little heart)! Do this mostly because of the pricing thing, but from now on all my family cakes are made by me! LOL!!!
yep!! im a server at a local well know restraunt and when some customers come in with their store bought cakes i have to check them out and im never impressed! once a cake came in that was actually from a place that is not a grocery store but specialized in custom cakes and goodies and i could not believe it! im in no way a colette peters, but i do have a certain "snobbishness" now. the other servers laugh at me but they have also started getting me to look at their customers cakes now!! hahaha 
so yes this is completely normal!!
Yes, I've had some store bought cakes the past several weeks and one yesterday for some occasions at work. I'm always like oh, let me see, oh its pretty, and as I'm looking at the decorations I'm thinking...oh I could have done better by doing this or that, then when tasting...LOL, I feel like those wine tasters, I take a bite and then kinda chew slowly trying get a feel for the texture and flavor...LOL, they're not bad but I know mine would have a much better flavor, decorations, etc. But, the cake from yesterday, oh yuck, I couldn't finish the slice. It wasn't that bad but the texture seemed kinda rubbery, I don't know, I can't explain it. I'm thinking it might have been a pre-frozen cake. Anyway, you're not alone. Every so often when I'm in the grocery store, I walk by the bakery to check their designs and prices.
I must admit, I find myself doing the same thing. But when you take a 5 year old to the store, beware. When my son was little and it was my daughter's 1st b-day, I went to the store and was looking at cakes. I showed my son one that I liked and he almost starting crying. He said, and not quietly, MOMMY NO! YOU CAN'T BUY A CAKE AT THE STORE!! YOU HAVE TO MAKE IT!! I will say his heart was in the right place, and I did make her cake, but it was a little embarassing! Did I mention that ALL the bakery workers stopped what they were doing and looked up? By the way the cake I did make is the Pooh one in my photos! 
Well, for the prices they charge, you can't expect a masterpiece can you? I do the same thing but try not express my opinion to others (unless they ask of course). I hate being at an event where the cake is made by someone else for fear that they will think I did it!
Yep....we've had this topic before on CC....I think that's when we coined the term "cake snob".
I'm totally guilty.(silently of course)....the funny thing is that my family and friends have also become cake snobs. They say that I have spoiled them and they always compare party cakes to mine. Oops!
Yes, I think it's pretty normal. Seems like everyone here is in agreement. I know I do it, it my head! The two friends I took classes with dropped out after the first course, and really haven't done anything with their skills. They might make a cake once every couple of months, (if that), and It's very hard for me to praise their cakes because I see all of the mistakes. (But I'm usually the first one to criticize my own cakes as well!!!) Sometimes I think it's a curse!
Sherry
My friend and I call ourselves the cake snobs. We decorate together and we're always checking out cakes and critiquing them. A big part of this, for me anyway, is that subconciously I'm looking at other people's mistakes to learn what to avoid. I think it's only natural.
I think it is something that comes with having experience in a particular field. In a former life, I coordinated large conferences and trade shows. To this day, I can not walk into an exhibit hall or conference registration area without imediately taking note of all the things that I would have done differently.
I think that the best part about taking extra note of someone else's work is either learning from their mistakes or getting ideas from the things that others do really well.
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