There is a bakery by me in MI that has in their contract that they can do fondant cakes but all of it must be peeled off before cut and serve. They told this to a Chef who worked at the Ritz Carleton. She asked why and they said all fondant tastes horrid. She then said "You obviously are buying the cheap or you don't have the skill to make your own." She then went on to say if you did all buttercream and no fondant that's fine, but if I'm paying for fondant I want to be able to eat it. She tore them a new one and set them straight.

HAd a bride in today who had been doing some good comparison shopping. They had been to a local bakery in town that is very good, very prestigeous, lotsa clout, great reputation. This bakery told bride that "....you get the same number of servings from a round cake as you do a square cake. People will tell you there are more in a square cake, but there's not."

I said, "Sit right there." I went to the kitchen, picked up a 10" round and a 10" square pan. Brought them back to the couple. Laid the round pan over the square pan and said, "See those corners sticking out? That's where ALL THE EXTRA CAKE WOULD BE!!!" They laughed and said it was just common sense to them, too!

HA HA! That's funny Indy. If there is the same # of serving in a square cake as a round than someone needs to tell my cake batter that. I have to use more batter for any square cake compared to a round. (Either that or cake fairies are steeling the batter magically and I just have not caught them yet.)

I've got two - the first one was my own experience when I was shopping for a baker for my wedding cake. I wanted the Wilton "Black Tie" cake (the one with the diagonal icing swags, and the 2 champagne glasses sitting on a separator plate between the tiers). Anyhow, we made an appointment with one of the more popular bakeries in town. The woman was a psychopath! When I showed her the cake I wanted, she went wacko on us - said she would NEVER make a cake like that because the champagne would spill! WTH? I wasn't even a cake decorator back then, but even I knew that the glasses wouldn't be placed until set-up. What, was she planning on delivering it with them filled? Needless to say, she did NOT get hired.

The next one was a comment from one of my brides when I had my shop. She had already been to a couple other tastings, and was shocked that none of the cakes in my portfolio had top borders. She said she had been told by another decorator that a cake cannot be iced WITHOUT a top border, and that only inexperienced decorators make cakes without top borders. HUH???

"only inexperienced decorators make cakes without top borders"???????

Huh? Sounds like that baker doesn't know how to ice a cake!

Sorry but I am going off subject because I was looking on AOC and he now charges a minimum of 1000 per cake....

I had a bride in who was told by another baker that they wouldn't do buttercream cakes without a top border.

Weird.

When I get a bride who requests no top border, I always joke about "Oh you're going to make me work harder for this one, aren't you?" When they look at me weird, I explain that many people think "no border" is simpler and less work, and explain how the border covers the 'seam' between the top and sides of the cake.

"When you ask me to do no border, then I have to work harder to make that transition really smooth and pretty for you."

Sorry but when I was inexperienced, I couldn't do that! It took lots and lots of practice!!

As for the frozen Wal-Mart cakes... I work with a guy who used to manage a Wal-Mart and he used to supervise incoming shipments. He said that every cake and almost all the donuts that the bakery sells comes frozen and ready made. Why do they even have ovens back there anyway? It should just be a big ass freezer stacked to the ceiling with cakes and a folding table out front with the "bakers" sitting there twiddling their thumbs.

There is one cake decorator in my town that tells brides that all the other cake decorators have dry cake. Some of the brides actually believe this. I find it interesting that they would actually believe that only one cake decorator out of 20 or more would have moist cake and that the rest taste horrible. Recently, I had a bride ask me what brand of strawberries I use. She said she was told by a decorator only a certain brand was suitable for wedding cakes, and if I wasn't using that paricular brand, then I wasn't doing things the right way. I think my favorite is when brides are told that cakes cannot be iced smooth with buttercream, and the only way to get a smooth finish is by using fondant. And last but not least, I came across a couple of brides recently that were told by a decorator that each tier of a wedding cake had to be the same flavor and that they could not have each tier a different flavor. I hope that was just a personal preference or for brides on a budget. However, the brides were convinced when they came to my testings that they couldn't have multiple flavors.

I haven't read through this thread, but we have a baker here in Toronto that is so irritating! She tells customers that the bottom tier of wedding cakes can't contain any filling at all, or they would collapse. WTF??

She's been doing cakes for decades, but honestly believes this idiotic theory.

Her bottom tiers of wedding cakes are 4" tall SOLID CAKES??!!

Whenever I get clients inquiring with me after having had a consultation with her, they are both confused and delighted that their cake can indeed be filled.

How bizarre is that? Such stupid information.

Dry Cakes: I also had brides tell me that they were told that a wedding cake has to be a dry cake to hold it up against fondant and decorations. That a moist cake would just colaspe. They also were told that you cannot cut a moist cake into wedding size pieces, so you have to ORDER MORE CAKE! I almost died the first time I heard that one..so I grabbed a knife and cut my samples into nice thin slices.

I wonder if those bakeries that want the fondant peeled have a logo like:

Sale! Peel and Eat Cake!

Here's one I always liked:

A bride came to me wanting a cake with black stringwork..... she talked to another baker and they told her that there was no such thing as a true "black" icing, that you had to mix a bunch of colors together to make it and it just looked ikky.

Ummmm....what planet are these people from? Can you can black food coloring?

I also want to add that I have heard that squares and other shapes cost more per serving than rounds. Really limited choice of cake and tier sizes I am guessing the bakery does not own odd size pans.
Then there are the fondant strippers, the brides are not told about this, a couple of venues and caterers strip the fondant of the cakes before cutting. Two reasons: Fondant can be so gross that the venue/caterer does not want to be associated with it (I can understand this..thank you Wilton). And then there is it is hard to cut quickly. I have asked a couple of the offending business why am I paying lots of money for good quality fondant that ends up in the bin, and I get the shoulder shrug.