They Didn't Like The Cake!!!
Decorating By berryblondeboys Updated 17 Aug 2007 , 2:03am by snarkybaker
Oh my God!
Does anyone else feel that way about the Cake Bible? I just bought from Amazon, I'de hate to have wasted my money!
Should I return it?
Thanks!
I feel the same way as "sweatpants". I returned my copy after making just one of the recipes. It was horrible. I think the book may be quite old. Maybe that's the type of cake made many years ago, but we've come a long way baby!
I actually have gotten free meals from restaurants when I did not like something.
I know you said that you don't think that it's fair to you, however you gave her a cake that was dry. Since you don't like cake, I can tell you a dry cake can ruin the whole cake. I wouldn't eat a bit of it. Replacing a cake with cookies or an extra cake to me would be reasonabe. If she just didn't like the design, then I think a certain percentage off is fair, because you can still eat the cake. If you don't eat the cake because it's dry, well then I think the person deserves something in return.
My good friends would come back if I didn't rectify the problem properly in their eyes, but a friend of a friend wouldn't.
These are just my opinions though so I hope it doesn't offend you.
If it makes you feel any better, I made my daughter's wedding cake using a recipe from the Cake Bible (thinking I was going the extra mile by making it from scratch!) and it was awful and dry. It looked nice but wasn't great to eat. And this was for 200 people. I survived and am still doing cakes. I've also found that people seem to remember the last cake you made, and not the mistakes! Just make her a batch of yummy cupcakes - she'll forget the other one!
I guess it's a matter of opinion of how to handle it, but I am OK with how I handled it. The cake is edible... it's not THAT dry. We are eating it at home now and my son seems to think it's super yummy.
I just think that us cake people tend to be too nice and are willing to be martyrs with pricing, with giving away free stuff, etc because we want to be nice.
This cake cost me $15 to make and took about 5 hours of decorating. For me personally, the only way something completely deserves a full refund is if I messed up on what they wanted - like they wanted chocolate and I gave them strawberry or, the cake fell apart on the way there. A refund or discount is an appropriate "I'm sorry", for soemthing that is mostly Ok, but not perfect...
The most I've ever gotten discounted at a restaurant is drinks or a free dessert and NEVER was the whole bill dismissed.
Actually, making another cake for her is equivalent to a restaurant giving the whole family a refund on a meal.
And, I have to ask myself. if she had gotten it from the grocery store, would the grocery store give her a free cake for her "disappointment?" I don't think so.
Again, it's a matter of what we all feel is right. I'm comfortable iwth the discount becasue that's about 25% off a cake.
Melissa
I think you handled it just right. And, more importantly, you are comfortable with how you dealt with it.
Personally, I didn't like the Cake Bible either. Nothing I tried from there ever turned out right 
I thought it was just me that had issues with the Cake Bible! I have to say that I haven't had much success with some of the cake recipes! The thing is, I'm an experienced baker, so after a while I was like, "what the"... 
Additionally, I don't really like her buttercreams either. I find some of the extra steps for her meringue buttercreams to be difficult and unnecessary. I have a good IMBC that I use now and I really just use the book for science and idea purposes.
I second Melysa's suggestion for Toba's yellow cake. And for white cake, Rebecca Rather's is excellent.
Oh my God!
Does anyone else feel that way about the Cake Bible? I just bought from Amazon, I'de hate to have wasted my money!
Should I return it?
Thanks!
No, don't return it. Like I said before, I like it. Its just a matter of finding the recipe that you like.
I posted before that the Chocolate Fudge Cake is excellent and melt in your mouth kind of cake and another member that I can't remember her name, said that she has made the White Velvet Butter Cake many times because it is delicious and it is the most requested by the brides.
Cakes from scratch, especially butter cakes start to dry up after the 1st day they are made, that's why the author of the books gives you also the recipe for the simple syrup so that you can moist the cake with it and keep it from dyring up.
Well, as you can imagine, "I'm done" with the Cake Bible! LOL
Actually, since I need to go to her house for soemthing else I need to pick up (she's not a close friend btw, but friends through a moms club), I will take a dozen cupcakes in the yellow cake she likes, plus the $10 refund. If I weren't going to see her for something else, I would skip it, but she's a good contact for me!
Melissa
I will take a dozen cupcakes in the yellow cake she likes, plus the $10 refund. If I weren't going to see her for something else, I would skip it, but she's a good contact for me!
Melissa
there you go, smart thinking.
Well, as you can imagine, "I'm done" with the Cake Bible! LOL
Melissa
Please don't be "done" with the Cake Bible. She does have good recipes in there. For the ones that seem a bit too "dry", use the simple syrup to lock in the moisture for days.
You can do a search on the Cake Bible here and hopefully you will come across a few threads that are great supporters of the Cake Bible.
I think you handled it perfectly. The cupcake gesture is very professional and courteous - giving out "samples" of your work (but not the whole work i.e. cake) is always good business and a great way to let her know you're serious about making things right. A discount because the flavor wasn't perfect, and a bonus gift of cupcakes in the intended flavor. Full refunds should be reserved for more major disasters (like a cake so dry it was inedible, collapsed cake, etc.)
Your experience scares me because in the few cakes I make each year, I strive to make each one 100% delicious and I have a baby shower cake to do next week. My tester was dry but I also had some major oven temp issues, and I can't figure out if it was the recipe or if it was just overbaked. It was the WBH white cake, anyone else find that it's dry?? The spare cupcakes I made were fine but the cake itself was definitely dry. Should I try a different (untested...won't have time to bake a tester) recipe or just stick with it and hope it comes out OK now that my oven is fixed...? I'd try Toba's based on the rave reviews, but I really want to do a white cake, not yellow.
Also Melysa, how do you know if your cupcakes are representative of the recipe, they cook so fast it seems like they are more likely to be "just right" than a cake, where longer cooking time allows more time for problems..?
>>sorry, not to hijack here, just figured I'd ask since it came up<<
Thanks all for the input on the RLB book. It's the only IMBC recipe I've used because I finally figured out how to do it right, but in light of this info maybe it's time to try something different. I DO like it but maybe it's time to explore a little. I don't think anyone is right or wrong if they do or don't like her recipes, everyone has different tastes!
I say you learned your lesson. A $10 credit for the next cake is more than enough. We all get a dry cake here and there if you have to give money everytime you will not have a business. Hey Sh-- happens.
And I wonder, if we were to ask our husbands, what would the recommend? "Maybe" a few would say, "give them a new cake", but my tightwad Dh would probably say, "Well, I told you not to experiment with orders" (Yet he doesn't want me making cakes for home either because he just lost his little extra weight and I still have all mine!) and then he would also say, "Well, don't give her money back, just don't use that recipe again." I can almost GUARANTEE that's what he would say!!!
I guess I've been pretty lucky with cooking/baking in general. Almost every dinner party I've done I made a recipe I hadn't tried before and everything has always turned out fine... but baking is a whole different ball game because you can't really "test" it before it's too late. With a soup, you can taste as you progress and so on...
I'll have to give that yellow cake a try, but not for this gal - I'll make the Better Homes and Garden yellow cake she likes! LOL
Melissa
I guess I'll keep the book and try out the recipes.
I usually use syrup washes anyways...I feel my cakes dry up after a few trips to the fridge (for crusting the icing).
MariaLovesCake: I'll start with the fudge cake you mentioned and try out the rest with syrup washes.
Thanks everyone for posting your opinions! 
Ceshell-
Rebecca Rather's white cake recipe:
http://www.baking911.com/asksarahbb/index.php?showtopic=1210
Try it!
I would feel so bad (we all worry incessantly about the cake not being good!) that I would definitely make her a cake for free. Simple decoration and just to eat. I would want that to be the experience with me that she remembers.
Julie
I recently bought cake bible in ebay...I am scared to use it. Do you think doctoring yellow cake mix will be good. I am doing a full sheet cake need opinion before i do anything.
since i am a new baker...many times i have been in these type of situations. Since i do cake only for my friends its ok.
While we are on the subject of recipes. I also like the Devil's Food, the White cake and the Hot Milk Sponge cake in BHG. I think so many people are used to making their own plain box mixes that they have forgotten how a "real" scratch cake tastes. The last couple of large cakes I have done, I mixed up a box cake and a scratch recipe and folded them together and so far every one has been a hit. They are a little lighter than a straight scratch cake and very moist.
.... My tester was dry but I also had some major oven temp issues, and I can't figure out if it was the recipe or if it was just overbaked. It was the WBH white cake, anyone else find that it's dry?? ....I'd try Toba's based on the rave reviews, but I really want to do a white cake, not yellow.
Also Melysa, how do you know if your cupcakes are representative of the recipe, they cook so fast it seems like they are more likely to be "just right" than a cake, where longer cooking time allows more time for problems..?
i've tried that recipe, its tasty but a TAD bit on the dry side. i'd recommend using a simple syrup over each torted layer. or perhaps you can look for a white cake recipe using buttermilk. it makes the cake incredibly moist and gives it a nice zing.
as far as the cupcakes, representing the recipe...well, yes they do cook faster, but you still can tell adequately what it will taste like as well as the texture (dry, spongy, light, moist, dense etc.) . baking is hard work...the more you practice, the more you learn what works and what doesnt, and i think after you use a recipe over and over, you come to understand the timing of baking that certain recipe with different sized pans, cupcakes or whatever. i use thick professional grade alluminum pans , or use bake even strips with the thinner pans and test with toothpicks until its just right.
Melysa, thank you for posting the chocolate cake recipe. I am trying it as we speak because of your rave reviews. I am having a bunco party tomorrow night. I am icing it with buttercream though and making it as a 9x11 sheet. I'll let you know how it turns out. Thanks for the recipe. I always use the cake mix extender with great ease and success, but sometimes I just really want a scratch cake. I tried the moistest, most yummy chocolate cake last weekend and the lady would not budge with the recipe, so I'm hoping this comes close.
By the way, when you mean room temp for the buttermilk and eggs, do you mean a "cold" room? 
Also, how hot should the coffee stay?
Thanks again.
By the way, when you mean room temp for the buttermilk and eggs, do you mean a "cold" room?
Also, how hot should the coffee stay?
Thanks again.
thats what the recipe says, i just pull those ingredients out as i'm prepping everything else. an hour is probably good, but i dont always give it that much time. and with the coffee...it usually is lukewarm, or sometimes i'll mix up instant coffee with lukewarm water and its fine for me. one thing i should mention since you are close to sea level is you'll want to reduce (sorry if this is too late) the baking soda and baking powder to 1 tsp each rather than 1 tb each or the cake will sink in the middle. it'll still taste amazing, but it'll sink. the recipe must have originated at a higher sea level. i did it several times before deciding to figure out why and then came across info in a cookbook regarding leavening agents /acids and elevation. i'm in north texas, and came up with those measurements after re trying it over and over till i came up with the right amounts that worked for me.
i think the secret to this recipe is the buttermilk, for sure (and the coffee is a nice touch too!)
Melysa,
Thank you so much for the info. You ARE awesome. I hope it's good. It's looking good in the oven, not sinking yet. I'm hoping that maybe because I'm in the hill country, that helps a little. My Mom's family is rooted in Paris (actually Blossom, if you know where that is). Anyway, thank you fellow Texan. Have you seen the thread about the Texas Bakers? Anyway, I'll let you know how it turns out. Thanks again.
Also, Rajinarin, if you're undecided about what recipe to use for your sheet cake, I would definitely recommend the Cake Mix extender recipe from this site. It is so easy and so good. It really took a lot of hassle out of my full sheet. Also, they freeze beautifully, so you can make ahead of time.
Sorry BerryBlondeBoys about going off-thread, but I think your idea about the cupcakes is a great one. Sorry you had the experience. Best of luck.
I have only tried a couple recipes from the Cake Bible (Fresh Orange Cake, Chocolate Chip Cake) and I added an extra box of pudding to them - the recipe just says use cake mix with pudding in it. Those two were fantastic! In fact, my husband, the I-won't-eat-cake-unless-it's-chocolate guy, told me the orange cake was the best cake he's ever had!
I have only tried a couple recipes from the Cake Bible (Fresh Orange Cake, Chocolate Chip Cake) and I added an extra box of pudding to them - the recipe just says use cake mix with pudding in it. Those two were fantastic! In fact, my husband, the I-won't-eat-cake-unless-it's-chocolate guy, told me the orange cake was the best cake he's ever had!
I think you are confused. The cake bible is all scratch recipes. Do you mean the "Cake Mix Bible" maybe ?
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