I just watched the one where Elena had to made the wedding cake for Duff's college freshman roommate (the making up for how awful I was to you cake.)

Did anyone else think when Elena said that she was just going to do her own thing instead of following the bride and grooms sketch idea? I'm assuming that they sat down and agreed to the sketch.

I just took a double take at that because I always try to give people exactly what they want. But then again, they did like it in the end, so does it matter?

Anyone else do this? Or think it odd?

S.

Yeah I thought that was kinda weird too, I'd never not give the customer what they wanted. But if they got the cake for free then they can't totally complain either, I guess. I also thought the sketch was way better then the cake turned out. Happy Baking

yes and that irked me to no end.

How do you react if you walk in to get a cake you asked for and agreed to and are handed something you didn't expect?

Wht do you say? "uh thanks but it's not what I asked for?"

Do you pretend to be happy and love it? Do you stand there and cry from disappointment?

Didn't the couple say they loved it..and had sort of expected a "cartoonish" look (from Duff's sketch) but were very pleased instead with Anna's natural looking birds? That's what I saw anyway.

Duff's big rule is if your his friend you get a cake for free, but only if he has creative liscence. So yeah you can go in and say I want these flowers and these elements but if you want it free than he gets to decide how to use them. I'm sure he understands that's one of the risks of hiring artists. He and Anna have had those little opinion problems in other episodes and I'm willing to bet if he had been really MAD about it, she'd have done it his way. It's reality TV they have to find drama any way they can even if it's to over exaggerate the minor stuff.

I just watched this one again, and the way I interpreted it, was the couple wanted a Maryland theme, and told them what they thought should be incorporated into the design, but Duff is the one that drew up the sketch of how he thought it should look. However, Anna thought it would look better a different way. (this is how I saw it, but who knows what happened behind the scenes)

The college friend said the crabs were better than he expected, and the birds were more life like. He expected something more cartoonish, and he thought this cake was beautiful. He and his wife both seemed very pleased with the finished cake. So, I think Anna was right to go with her gut on this one, and make it her own. I honestly think if Duff had a problem with her doing the design her own way, he would say so. He seems to be the type that is really laid back and easy going, but don't piss him off.. hehe Kind of like a biker.

Again, these are just my opinions.. I truly have no idea what really happened, but I liked the finished cake much better than the sketch. There was too much blue in the sketch.

Holly

I had a sorta friend. you know linked together because we both were cake decorators, but not not shopping/lunch type friends. She called me once in a panic and said that a bride had picked out a cake and she assured her that she could do the cake, but she couldn't so I told her the best thing to do was practice, well several months later I ran into her and asked about the cake and I nearly fell in the floor when she told me that she had decided that she was going to let brides pick out their cake and then she was going to do whatever she wanted because the bride would be so wrapped up in her wedding day that she would not even remember the design she had picked out, well I kept away from her after that and never even mentioned to people that she did cakes, I'm pretty sure that her business died out!
Jibbies

Wow, that's awful, Jibbies.

I don't think this was the case here, but if it was, then that would be really bad. If I had a business, and a bride brought in her own sketch, or a picture, and I was able to duplicate it I would definitely do my best to give them what they want, but if they said.. I want these things on the cake, or in the design, but use your best judgement, then obviously that leaves it open.

Doing what she said she was going to do is just right down dishonest, and wrong. I assure you, the brides do remember what design they picked for their cakes.. heh They just might not be able to complain about it until a week later when all the stress of things have died down. I know I noticed a ton of things that went wrong at my wedding, but weren't mentioned until 3 days later, when I was done getting everything back to normal.. hehe

Holly

sorry, it was Anna, not Elena. Sorry.

Anyway, I was really tired when I watched this (a la DVR), so I can see now that it wasn't going against the bride, but against Duff!

I really love Duff's attitude about the artistic side of the decorators. He knows he can't do what they can, and he trusts them. They, in turn, appreciate and respect him for it and work harder.

S.

I was shocked that Duff didn't deliver the cake. I would have at least said I am sorry and here is a piece offering.

A few weeks ago, Anna was making a biplane cake with a golfer. She actually had Duff call up the client and ask if the design could be changed (placement of the golfer) because she didn't like it. And that was a paid cake!!!

I would never do that to someone unless I let them know what was going on before doing it... I've had people come to me with ideas for a cake and I would completely change their mind so that I could do something that I've been wanting to do for awhile (example: my sister in law wanted a topsy turvy for her daughter's first birthday cake and i talked her into a castle cake)... this is the only thing that I think I may have a problem with doing cakes for people... they always want some stupid thing when it could just be soooo much better!

I got the impression that was a sketch that Duff and the couple had worked on together, but yes, since it's a freebie creative license is reasonable. I liked it better with more blue the way it was in the sketch though.

I'm lucky in that I only do cakes for friends, who generally respect my opinion as to what will and won't work or look good. But I do get their approval for what I want to do. Fortunately, most of them have good taste to begin with.

For example, the last couple I did a cake for originally wanted 4 or 5 stacked round tiers, but shifted off center to give a spiraling effect, decorated with trailing vines and yellow and purple flowers. I played with the idea and decided that to keep under their serving amount, the size difference between the tiers would be too small to really get that effect, and instead they'd just look like I didn't stack them right. I suggested 3 or 4 rotated squares with a corner cascade instead, so I could keep the cakes centered, but still get that spiral effect they wanted and keep it around the right number of servings. I got to try a style of cake I'd been wanting to do, and they loved it and gave me a very generous tip, so it all worked out well. (It's the summer wildflower cake in my photos.)