Doh! I feel for you, hwnhulahands, but I wouldn't let anyone do this again ever. Get the money up front.

On a side note, I have a lot of people (for some strange reason!!) who want "just white cake with butter cream is fine"...??? Isn't that kind of blah? I usually do tell them that the butter cream is not very sweet and the white cake is not very sweet and that together they will have a very mild vanilla flavor. If they want to order it anyway, that is fine. But to me, there's just so many better options. I do know like 3 people in my own family who love white/white cakes the best, though.

[quote="I don't get it. I'm tired of hearing it's too pretty to eat. It's cake, people, eat it!![/quote]


LMAO........

Yikes! I was trying to quote cncgirl00
I guess I haven't figured out how to do just 1 line yet!

metrocakes - for someone who does not want it too sweet, just make your regular frosting and add more salt. the more salt you add the less sweet. My wilton instructor taught us that. And since I dissolve the salt in the water, I know there want be any salty bits!
no salt - sweet icing.
up to 1 quarter tsp salt to a double batch wilton buttercream - hardly sweet at all....

I agree with those who balked at the "too sweet" thing. What did they think it would taste like? Cake is a dessert! I really feel if they wanted something less sweet, or even tart, then they should have requested a cake along those lines. Strawberry is the sweetest cake ever, and white and yellow are pretty sweet, too. Shake it off! Not everyone is as unrealistic as this girl was.

I've had that happen to me a few times too! I think it's mostly cultural. I hate to say it, but most of white folks want our cake to taste like...cake!! My Wife is Filipino and they always complain that my cakes are too sweet because they are used to the more "traditional" practically bland sponge cake that you get from Filipino bakeries with the equally flavorless whipped cream icing (yuck!). I am very specific when I'm dealing with wedding clients about tastes. Plus, they get to try them in advance, so if they don't like it at the tasting, chances are they won't order it!! My advice is to hold tastings for your wedding clients so they know exactly what they're getting.

Thanks yaddie! The thing is I always add about that amount of salt to my buttercream, and it really isn't that sweet. I guess I'll try adding a little more and see what happens. I also may add a little more milk as I experiemented with that today, and it also took away some of the sweetness.

Hwnhula! Honey, honey, no money = no cake!

I had a bride once who was so excited at the tasting that she was nearly jumping up and down in her seat. She oohed and aahed at the little cakes she and her prospective groom were going to taste and began to eat (gorge) herself on the 2 little cakes. She began to sweat a little, mopped her brow, said, "ooh, these are too sweet!" and then headed to the bathroom in a rush.....I was sort of embarrassed because I had never really had that reaction before. In the mean time, her fiance was happily chomping away saying it was the best cake he'd ever tasted!!! You simply can't please everyone!!!!

hwnhulahands, go to shrinkpictures.com to resize your photos. It so simple even I could do it.

I tried the "add pudding thing" some years ago and it was extremely sweet and not tasty at all. Someone once told me thatt they always add a box of pound cake mix to a regular mix plus the extra eggs and water or milk and it make for a firmer, but moist cake. I havent tried it. If you decide to let me know how it turns out.
I never have a problem with Supermoist, Betty Crocker. I use it for vanilla, and chocolate cake orders. Clients always comment on how moist cake is. HTH

I think it sounds to me that the bride just came up with something to complain about to get that extra $40 off that she owes you. I bet she is just waiting for you to offer to take it off, that's why she is not paying you. Oh course I could be completely wrong - but just a thought!

My cakes are very sweet because I use buttercream (no salt usually) and mmf - and everyone has loved them, infact, I am the one always saying its so sweet, no one else seems to mind!

You can't please everyone all the time. This has been my motto, as I used to get so upset when I had a customer tell me they were disapointed in the cake. (sometimes *I* was dispointed in the cake and never heard back from the customer so assumed they were disapointed as well ) You just have to move on. Its hard, but its the only way to keep your sanity. I think we as decorators are artists at heart and are more sensitive then other types...so I think that also makes it harder!

i live in a place where i get alot of different clients (hispanic, american, elderly and young) and sometime the same cake has different effects. i can get the "oh its perfect-while stuffing their face" and then my dad (which always says-its too dry, too stuff, not CRUMBLY enough) but hes the one that pushes me to produce top of the line stuff and never skinp on quality. and then my DH that loves everything i do. My BIL that orders my mayan red velvet (almost every week), and says that its the only cake he will eat (he says its swet, and i dont think its sweet at all). but about the Retard-Bride... yes you should have done a tasting (i always do) but she should be happy that you charged her so cheap for the cake. girl shake it off....

I ended up getting the rest of my money. Yeah, I was thinking she was hoping I would say forget about the $40 but there is no way I'm gonna do a wedding cake for $60----crazy!!!! I made a pizza cake for my sons class today using buttercream and marshmallow fondant and she and other parents and teachers just raved on how good the cake was. I too agree it's a culture thing. Hispanic.....like filipinos......like the bland, not so sweet stuff and I think that's what she was expecting.....something like tres leche.............she should've just gone to a mexican bakery if she wanted that!!!!! But whatever, I've learned one thing out of this-do tastings before they order.....no matter what! Thanks you guys for your support and suggestions!

Sorry but I'm Hispanic from the Caribbean and that is really not true, we love sweets, in fact you can't get sweeter then Dulce de leche. My husband is also Hispanic (Peruvian) and he has a major sweet tooth as well as his family. It really bugs me when people generalize like that, like if you look Hispanic you must be Mexican I'm sure your cake was wonderful, but I would not generalize about all Hispanic for one unhappy bride. Everyone no matter the culture has a different pallet.

Anyway that's the business some people are going to rave and some will hate, that's the business we are in. Sorry for your experience
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I'm sorry if I offended anyone, I really didn't mean it. I meant as in Mexican hispanics. I have tried their sweets, even dulce de leche, and it isn't sweet at all. American sweets are very very sweet and I guess she wasn't used to it because their sweet is different from our sweet. But you are right, there are some mexican hispanics that do like the american sweet too. I guess it's your own taste.

I am not offended just wanted to clarify that it is not true that all hispanics don't have a sweet tooth. I have never tasted Dulce de leche made in Mexico, so I can't speak for them. Flavors varies from country to counrty in South America & the Caribbean, Mexico is not a South American Country and I really don't know much about the country, as many American don't know much about the "Other South" and often mistake us for Mexican.

But in my country we have stuff that is like pure sugar example sugar cakes, which is made up of coconut and sugar... very sweet and very traditional.

Let me know if anyone would like the recipe

I just made a cake for Hispanic first Communion for 65 people. I made White cake not yellow, used fresh strawberry's and Mandarin oranges in the center and stabilized fresh whipped cream to cover the cake also the border, roses,cross and rosary... They loved it.. The only mistake was.. I should have made more cake, cause some people came back for seconds before others ever got to have firsts, and she ran out of cake

Before I started making cakes, I had a student ( I teach second grade) bring in a birthday cake. It was gorgeous. Tons of fresh fruit and I couldn't wait to try it out. I knew it was from a mexican bakery nearby as many of my students are from Mexico, and the mom was really excited to share the cake with us. The cake was so different. It was very spongy and saturated to the point that liquid was running off as I cut the cake. My little sweeties from Mexico loved it, but none of the white kids would finish it. I tried it and was very surprised by the difference. It was not very sweet and very liquidy. I think it's just a difference in cooking style from culture to culture. It's a shame we require so much sugar to stimulate our taste buds. I know when I visit Mexico the desserts at the resorts are always very bland to my taste buds. I guess that's a long story to speculate that they may just be used to a different type of cake... don't be discouraged.

Maria-trust me, i know the difference between the two. My husband is from Mexico and I have plenty of friends from Venezuela, Colombia, Dominican Republic.....I know the difference. I just never tasted the sweets from south america, just mexico. Yes, the "sweet bread" from mexico isn't very sweet, quite bland. They like to eat tres leches with also quite bland and can't stand it. It's a cake thats on the moist side usually with fresh fruit......I hate it. I think that's what they bride was expecting was a tres leches cake. Oh well, if that's what she wanted she should have said something. Thanks for everyones support.