I hate worrying IF & WHEN I have a DISASTER!! The biggest disasters seem to be in my baking! I hate the baking part of caking!! I have been fighting all week with my baking. Trying to figure out reasons why the cake is baking wrong. I know why cakes do certain things but finding the exact reason if & when the cakes turn out wrong is a pain in the butt! I still haven't figured any of it out! It's very frustrating! I love fondant, I love gumpaste, I love BCI. I just HATE baking!!!!!! Anyone live close by that likes to bake??

No direct hit to anyone (please don't take it wrong) but I don't like
cake boards covered in tinfoil. It's ok for your class cakes but a beautiful cake that you've spent so much time that is for a wedding, bday, shower etc shouldn't be covered in tinfoil. It's not very pretty. JMHO please don't anyone take that as a personal hit. Just think about it. It's not pretty.

OK, my biggest pet peeve is when I am baking and someone is talking to me as I am trying to count out cups of what ever!. Normally, I can multitask, but I guess I am a little OCD about my measurements and hate that! It also doesn't help that I work out of a rented kitchen and the only person that is normally there with me at the same time is an older Korean gentleman with a really bad accent, so you really have to concentrate to understand him to begin with. O well. Besides that it's the standard ones, cleaning up, mixing color etc.

My biggest pet peeve is myself. I am the worlds worst procrastinator. I never have trouble coming up with ideas for cakes, there is always a new technique or tool that I can use. I am a compulsive cake toy buyer so have tons of tools I have not even tried yet. All because I wait until the last minute to start a cake and as a result never have time to take the cake to where I had imagined it.

I also get fiercely grumpy when I am in mid cake flow, so have to grovel and apologize to my husband and kids after I am done. My family now know to avoid me when I have that "cake" look.

This is a wonderful thread! I can totally relate to most of the pet peeves you've all mentioned.

I hate when my cake is baking perfectly then all of a sudden develops a big crack..arghhh

It drives me batty how many times i have cut a piping bag too far to accomodate the coupler. I have sooo many bags that the coupler just falls out of. I try to make it stay in by putting the coupler overtop of some of the bag..works for awhile and then..the dreaded leaking of buttercream out the side of the coupler. I generally notice this as it's spilling onto my cake. argh..

I hate when i go to put ribbon around a cake board and realize as i'm approaching the final turn i don't have enough ribbon..argh (I know i should've measured first)

Mixing not enough of a color..or..too much

Writing out a message on a cake only to find afterwards you have left the H out of birthday.

YES>>.the dreaded blow out...always at the front of the cake.;0(

Its funny i know there is more but my mind is drawing a blank...ask me again on Saturday (my next cake is due)...i'm sure i'll remember then.

Oh and too the newbies..you can ask me anything! I still have a lot to learn but am willing to help anyway i can. Honestly i am self taught and have learned everything i know from forums like this and the wonderful people within them. I really do owe it all to them. So never feel afraid to approach me. I encourage you to post your cakes too...just because you are new at this doesnt' make you any less proud of your work.

suzanne

I was always taugth that the only dumb question is the one that is not asked. How can we learn without asking? (I quit a job cause everytime I asked a question, I got eye-rolling, and every time I made a mistake, they wanted to know why I didn't ask. Huh???)

I also hate when cc is down, especially when I'm in the middle of baking and I have a question, or when I'm trying to think of an idea or want to look at something in my fav's....

My biggest pet peeves come from me having blonde moments! Like putting the parchment paper and the cake release in the pan, remembering flower nails if needed, filling the pan perfectly only to look over and see my bake-strips still sitting in their bowl of water!
Or when I get frustrated trying to smooth my buttercream covered cake (which happens more often than I'd like to admit ) I just take the cake board, and toss the whole cake into the freezer, and slam the door. My hubby comes into the kitchen to see the look on my face and he asks "you not speaking to your cake again?" It usually makes me laugh and it helps.

I agree with the others that my cakes never turn out as wonderful as the design in my head.

I also take to long to get started and then I have to rush through the decorating instead of taking my time and enjoying the process.

I also have a huge issue with colour...I want to see a traditional Thanksgiving themed cake iced in oranges, yellows and browns not florescent pink and purple or a Halloween cake done in red and green.

My pet peeve has got to be using tappits for lettering (basically coz i'm a dumb newbie who can't pipe ) I hate the way they get stuck or twist out of shape when you finally manage to release them. This is only made worse if it is black fondant going on top of white coz it always leaves marks and looks horrid by the time you have positioned and stuck them down

As for the undercurrent on this thread (not the OP intention) I too have learned so much from the true professionals on here and by that i mean the decorators who have used techniques etc. and are willing to share their experience, good or bad, regardless of how long they have been decorating, how many wedding cakes they make in one week or how good they pride themselves on being or think they are! When i joined here i at no time saw any notice saying ' if your cake is not perfect enough then don't post photos in case they offend members who were born gifted decorators, who never make mistakes nor ever had to practice.' I believe the majority of people who post their photos do so with pride knowing they are better than some other photos but also not anywhere near to being as good as others but they want to share their joy in their own efforts and celebrate the fact that this cake was a little better/straighter/fancier than their last attempt. Also the members who are willing to offer advice - no matter how simple (it's only simple if you know the answer/technique) do so because of their love of decorating and enjoyment of sharing the love of their hobby with likeminded members - which as far as i was aware is the whole point of this site - no? For those members who are offended by inferior cakes or stupid questions - why exactly do you come on here? To showcase how great you are?

My cakes are nowhere near perfect and i usually have some offending object in the background ( usually coz i'm so excited that i've finished and have to take that photo NOW and not once i've cleaned up!) I'm also a proud member of the pointy spots gang usually coz i can't get the consistency of RI correct - while they cause offence to the perfect people they were part of the surprise cake that made my neighbour cry coz she could see the time, effort and sentiment that went into the cake and was touched that i had baked a cake for her. That is why i do cakes - coz i enjoy it and make them for special people who do not judge me or my efforts. Perhaps some members ought to consider why they do cakes and if they have lost that sparkle of excitement and enjoyment of trying something new or trying to improve then maybe they should try a different hobby/career.

This is a great site when it is allowed to be what it is supposed to be - a site to share ideas, friendship and on occasion disaster stories where support is readily available and advice offered because members have a love of decorating - it is such a pity that lately some members do their best to overshadow the freindship, support etc that the majority of members enjoy, learn from and appreciate. Such a shame that the minority spoil it for the majority.

And this is why I normally lurk - because people are starving for drama and take things the wrong way or take it personally.
I think I'll stick to lurking.

a side note on "inferior" cakes: even if it is not exactly a nice cake, someone can sometimes take the idea and improve on it. I love looking at perfect cakes, but when I'm looking for ideas, I don't care what the original cake looks like (I have to admit, mine usually looks alot worse than the original, I'm talking about ppl who are better than me)

. . . "one" of my pet peeves is not getting a great photo of your creation . . . and having to make due with the one with all the clutter in the background/foreground . . . . . . oh you had a plan to get that perfect pic . . . the road to H377 is paved with good intentions . . .

I hate having greasy hands, bags, bowls, I hate handling these things and having to wash my hands every minute, and still have them feel greasy.

i'm guessing here, but i think maybe a few of the posters were trying to say that there are cakes that exist on the internet that do stand out as a bit sloppy, even for an amateur level. writing going at a 45 degree angle, words spelled wrong, huge spatula marks...all of those things are stuff that can be corrected with little to no effort. icing can easily be taken off, once crusted, to help make a lettering even, words can be written out ahead of time on paper to make sure of spacing and spelling, and spatula marks can be smoothed out mostly, even by complete beginners. there is a website that has been discussed and beaten to death here on cc...cakewrecks...which comes to mind!! some of those just make me cringe...while still almost peeing my pants cause i'm laughing so hard!!

my pet peeve is also the requests for information, but only when the request is something that could have easily been researched on their own first. doesn't make it wrong, just makes it MY pet peeve. i love to help, but only those who are willing to also help themselves.

Flat iced cakes with FRESH flowers. I wish that look would die a slow, agonizing death.

Another HUGE pet peeve is when I get an email that states the following and nothing more:

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How much do your cakes cost?
-Jane Doe


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Short question... LONG answer lol