any cake for today would be an outright.... AHHHHHHHHHH No!
i made that mistake once, i made a gift box cake for a friend... and she asked me at 1pm and she wantd the cake for 8 pm... i pulled it out of my A$$ but t worked...
i was so glad that the gumpaste curly q's dried on time... but i dont think that i will ever ever do it again...
Come on, it's just cake...!! 
LOL!!!!
Seriously, tell her that her best bet for a cake today is the grocery store down the road. 
Nope, sorry. Some people procrastinate a bit too much, and then try to pull it together at the very last second.
Did you call her back? If so, what did you say? Or were you speechless?
Well, she called after 11am and since I'm working 3rd shift, I didn't get the message until 4:30pm. I did call back and tell her I had no availability for today, please keep me in mind for later, etc.
Can you imagine??? A novelty cake. For today. I keep those decorated in my freezer just waiting on you to call!
"Can you imagine??? A novelty cake. For today. I keep those decorated in my freezer just waiting on you to call
I had a lady that wanted a wedding cake for the next day. I told her it was impossible especially since she called me at 5pm and wanted it by noon the next day and 2 hours away! I told her she should go to a grocery store!
I actually have laughed and said to people, "Do you know how many DAYS it takes to make a wedding cake?"......
Seriously, tell her that her best bet for a cake today is the grocery store down the road.
....And then I tell them, "If you need a last minute cake like that, your best bet will be to call a walmart and see IF they can do one last minute like that."
You have no idea how many people call Kroger (where I work).
"yeah, I forgot to get a cake for my son's birthday - can you make one for 5 tonite?"
C'mon, seriously..... you forgot your kid's birthday? Were you not there or were you so drugged out that you don't remember? Sure, you are more than welcome to come on in and pick a cake out of the freezer and I will happily write "Happy Birthday" on it. But you better get here before 5 because I leave then and the kid who works tonite has horrible handwriting.
People truly amaze me sometimes. I guess if wasn't for their laziness and stupidity I wouldn't have a job!!
Barb
You have no idea how many people call Kroger (where I work).
" But you better get here before 5 because I leave then and the kid who works tonite has horrible handwriting.
LOL... I don't even want to ADMIT the number of times I've been at our local grocery store and there'll be someone who comes in after 5 and all of the bakery staff have left... And they want "Happy Birthday" written on the cake... One night there were two groups of guys in a row that were asking the staff if they had any frozen cakes with "Happy Birthday just written on them. The evening staff point them to the gels and tell them they can use that because NONE of them will even touch the cake (which I can't blame them for, they'd be doing it all night long taking away from their primary job there of stocking).. There was one guy I felt so bad for I "ALMOST" told him I'd write it on there for him... Then I realized, (at the time), I don't work for the store, I'm licensed, right now it'd be MY liability if anything happened with that thing, not gunna chance it, and besides, I get PAID to work, and they ain't pay'n me...
Of course, then there was the day that *I* was the schmuck going to the grocery store two hours before the party was set to begin to get something for a cake for DD because I had burned the gluten free cake (so SIL could eat it), and my nerves were literally fried beyond belief because there was a fire at my parent's business that morning (burned two structures down) so we all were in organize ourselves and figure out what all was in there mode.. I managed to get some sympathy from the staff there who were fantastic about helping me out because of how I presented the situation in a somewhat humerous yet they knew I wasn't joking I'm a schmuck, I'm a pro baker, I burned my kid's cake, parents' family business had a fire, nerves fried, party in two hours, and HELP!!! (I think I had them at I'm a pro and messed what should have been something I could do in my sleep up) 
method.. But man, I cannot even look at the type of strawberry shortcake cake that I got because it represents such a failure now to me even though I successfully turned 3x3 hunks of strawberry shortcake cake into a onesie-twosie Dora the Explorer cake (had I not been a pro chances are there's no way they would have sold me the edible image on its own without being placed onto the cake)... Man, that was one BAD day!!!!
Yep, people dont have a clue how long it takes to make some of these cakes. And I think the more they have the do-it yourself things out there (like the other thread with the cupcake tops) they think that you waive a magic wand and presto you have a fully decorated cake in an hour!
I have so many last minute brides calling me, it isnt even funny. They have the venue and florist set for a year but their wedding cake is a last minute thing like they forgot about it or they think that its the annual clearance on wedding cakes and if they shop at the last minute they will get a better deal! DUHHHHH!
And then you got the people that want a four tiered sculpted cake and look at you like you have two heads when you tell them you charge $4 a serving! Do they really not shop around? Because maybe in a small town out in nowhereland it might be expensive but over here that is super cheap! Most places charge extra for fondant and fillings and even the cake board its on and they think $4 is expensive? I swear, people really need to get a clue!
50% of my business is last minute frantic procrastinators.
i love em...they are always so grateful.
i have a huge freezer and i bake a week ahead, so i'm ready for em.
many of the peeps who pre plan months ahead of time tend to be micro managers....ugh....after calling me about every last detail and changing their minds 100 times...ya end up being on the phone for hours.
yeah i'll make you a wedding cake the next day, you pick the colors...and i pick the design....i got some i've done so often i can do em with my eyes closed.
I can relate. A guy that used to work for us showed up one morning and said it's my wife's birthday can you make a cake for tonight? Can you cut it into the shape of a rose (like carve the whole thing)...ummm....less then 10 hours...NO!! I ended up making a round cake with a single rose and rose petals all over the top. I screwed up the stem like 5 times but the final was alright. He didn't care just lucky his wife wouldn't kill him! WE NEED TIME PEOPLE!! Ugh!
Oh, I have had people call me for wedding shower or baby shower cookies ON THE WAY to the shower.
I explain to them that I am a specialty baker and not a storefront and the cookies need AT LEAST 8 hours to dry. I don't carry extra cookies (except for 1 or 2) and DH gets those.
I think it is appropriate that we charge more for last minute orders. I had a woman who called me on a thurs. for a carve cake of a car for sat. So i nicely told her that it would not be possible and that it would better for her to go get a plain sheet cake from walmart and put a toy car on it. Also if in the future she would like something like this I would be happy to do a cake for her, just call a little sooner. Like at least 3 weeks, but i also told her if she did it earlier the chances were better that i would have an opening. She was ok with what i suggested and said she would.
I had a lady that wanted a wedding cake for the next day. I told her it was impossible especially since she called me at 5pm and wanted it by noon the next day and 2 hours away! I told her she should go to a grocery store!
This is what comes to my mind lol......."Let me get this straight!!!.....You can't pull a cake out of your a@$ in that short of a time......Soooo, you think I can?!?!?!? Let me know when you figure out how to make it happen!!!"
Like my husband always says..."I hate stupid people!" And yet you have to love the ones that ask for a cake in a 1/2 hour!! I don't know of a cake that I can bake in that short of a time...let alone decorate it!!!
a grocery store can't do a wedding cake by the next day, since they don't bake anymore, they have to order a wedding cake kit....10 days to 2 weeks notice.
I agree, I don't so much mind last minute orders (aka at least a week's notice) as long as they pay right away up front.. in cash (otherwise I seriously won't take the order)... I kind of like having complete design control using their theme and colors. Of course, it all depends on what I have time to do. 
Well, since she used the term "novelty cake", I assume she's watched Food Network and saw cake decorators make an amazing 4" tall carved cake with pyrotechnics and they spin and they've got all kinds of neat decorations so surely it would be easy to just me a little carved cake in a few hours.......
Okay, I love these shows and they reignited my love of cake decorating. I also think that they have given cake muggles (love that term ) and unrealistic view of what it takes to make a cake. My other favorite channel is HGTV and now everyone thinks they can buy a house that is falling down, do a few renovation and resell it for tons of money.
"Hi, my name is "Blah Blah" and I was calling to ask about availability for a novelty cake for today. I know it's short notice, but I thought I would ask anyway. Please give me a call at 555-5555"
HUH????
Novelty cake. For TODAY. Riiiiiiggght.
I get those all the time. I always want to ask them if the birthday suddenly change or something...hahaha!
I don't even think the grocery stores in our area will do a novelty cake the same day. (They will put happy birthday sucka on a sheet cake, but thats about it) Most of them require a couple of days notice.
I always want to ask them if they ever baked a cake...and then try to put just icing on a cake that is warm....and see if that answers their question. But I am polite and tell them no..sorry, and try not to burst out laughing.
I actually had wedding cake requests on Wednesday for the wedding on Saturday.
50% of my business is last minute frantic procrastinators.
i love em...they are always so grateful.
i have a huge freezer and i bake a week ahead, so i'm ready for em.
many of the peeps who pre plan months ahead of time tend to be micro managers....ugh....after calling me about every last detail and changing their minds 100 times...ya end up being on the phone for hours.
yeah i'll make you a wedding cake the next day, you pick the colors...and i pick the design....i got some i've done so often i can do em with my eyes closed.
I guess they have to do whatever flavor you have? Do you have like a set number of cakes you will bake ahead of time? How long do they stay in the freezer?
I have often wondered about doing this, but I am too afraid my freezer would get too full of cakes nobody buys...
OH my DH just reminded me...besides wanting it TODAY, they will say the want something "simple" and it will turn out to be this complicated cake wiht all kinds of decorations on it...
Ahhhh .... my famous/favorite 5-tier volcano with a monkey band climbing up the side cake!! 
OH my DH just reminded me...besides wanting it TODAY, they will say the want something "simple" and it will turn out to be this complicated cake wiht all kinds of decorations on it...
Ahhhh .... my famous/favorite 5-tier volcano with a monkey band climbing up the side cake!!
hahahaha! Ok, a MONKEY band??? This story I gotta hear!
hahahaha! Ok, a MONKEY band??? This story I gotta hear!
Oh, it's the example I use when someone starts out with "...nothing extravagant ... just a SIMPLE cake.....
....A 5-tier cake with 6 cake flavors, with a volcano with lava coming out of the top. And a monkey band climbing up the side. But you don't have to make all the instruments ... just the drums, you know ... simple. BUt since you don't have to make ALL the instruments, I get a discount on that, right?"
You know ..... a SIMPLE cake!
hahahaha! Ok, a MONKEY band??? This story I gotta hear!
Oh, it's the example I use when someone starts out with "...nothing extravagant ... just a SIMPLE cake.....
....A 5-tier cake with 6 cake flavors, with a volcano with lava coming out of the top. And a monkey band climbing up the side. But you don't have to make all the instruments ... just the drums, you know ... simple. BUt since you don't have to make ALL the instruments, I get a discount on that, right?"
You know ..... a SIMPLE cake!
We should all have Indydebi's sense of humor!
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