My peeve? Those who critique my skills (or lack thereof) when they are enjoying mass quanitities of free cake!
I decided to take all of the Wilton classes pretty much back to back. That means there are lots of practice cakes flying out of my kitchen, virtually one each week. So I thought I would share with my co-workers. Well, after feasting on weeks and weeks of lovely and delicious free cakes, they now have granted themselves permission to provide me with their personal opinions on design and taste. While I am open to constructive criticism, some comments are hard to swallow when they come from a full mouth.
Only a couple of weeks left and I think I am going to take my cakes to a new audience.
AMEN!!! I am in the exact same spot as you. (Yay I'm almost done). But I got so mad last week when I took in my course 2 grand finale, the one with all the darn RI flowers. Someone told me that the "colors were too bright..." Mine looked almost exactly like the one on the front of the book. Yes it was a bit bright because I had too many flowers. Then she said I needed to try other cake flavors because I do the same ones. Um hello, I've done five different flavors of cake and made um....five cakes. Seriously?
I am just doing this for fun and maybe some extra money on the side from my bill paying job. But when I take all these freebies into work they can at least say "thank you sarah, we really appreciate you bringing all these caks." My instructor has told us to bring in dummies she doesn't care. I figured I would do a nice thing and spend the extra money and time on my days off to bake and decorate a free cake for my coworkers. Is it too much to think they should appreciate it.
my husband does that same kind of thing! he can't compliment, he's just gotta find some kind of fault ...and then say's "im just tryin to be helpful!
for example: after 10 hours of working on a cake, and i'm getting ready to walk out the door for delivery "you really should have done that a little differently, or that color is really too bright for that, or did you notice one of the tiers is crooked, or.....on and on and on? i'm like WTF!! why do you feel the need to tell me this when it's too late to do a damn thing about it...how about this..."KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT, UNLESS IT'S BEING HELPFUL"..AND THAT MEANS REALLY HELPFUL, NOT YOUR VERSION OF IT!
SHEWWWWW, glad i got that out of my system.
Just wanted to apologize for what I realize now were out-of-line remarks. But I really didn't mean to cause a ruckus. I'm just a b*tchy perfectionist that usually keeps her mouth shut but for some reason didn't this time (probably pms). I hope I didn't seriously scar anyone out there (txcupcake, forgive me?)
since i was one that responded earlier to this i just want to add:
Water under the bridge 
i always tell my kids and family when some one's had a disagreement; even the best of friends have disagreements; the better the friend - the tougher things seem.
no worries, cake central is family!
my husband does that same kind of thing! he can't compliment, he's just gotta find some kind of fault ...and then say's "im just tryin to be helpful!
Oh that's gotta be a man-thing!! The ex-husband would do that ... it's like he couldn't feel that he was "contributing" unless HE found something that could be done better. God forbid he find something I did that was ok as is .... oh no ... it wasn't ok unless HE added something to make it REALLY ok! 
Just wanted to apologize for what I realize now were out-of-line remarks. But I really didn't mean to cause a ruckus. I'm just a b*tchy perfectionist that usually keeps her mouth shut but for some reason didn't this time (probably pms). I hope I didn't seriously scar anyone out there (txcupcake, forgive me?)
since i was one that responded earlier to this i just want to add:
Water under the bridge
i always tell my kids and family when some one's had a disagreement; even the best of friends have disagreements; the better the friend - the tougher things seem. no worries, cake central is family!
I also wanted to say that's great that you came back and apologized tufstuff, you're a class act. (I had forgotten about this post til I just saw it pop up again.) I can definitely relate to the PMS thing
my husband does that same kind of thing! he can't compliment, he's just gotta find some kind of fault ...and then say's "im just tryin to be helpful!
for example: after 10 hours of working on a cake, and i'm getting ready to walk out the door for delivery "you really should have done that a little differently, or that color is really too bright for that, or did you notice one of the tiers is crooked, or.....on and on and on? i'm like WTF!! why do you feel the need to tell me this when it's too late to do a damn thing about it...how about this..."KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT, UNLESS IT'S BEING HELPFUL"..AND THAT MEANS REALLY HELPFUL, NOT YOUR VERSION OF IT!
SHEWWWWW, glad i got that out of my system.
Hey, I think your DH may be a clone of my DH....I swear....I tell him to just not say a WORD about my cakes anymore unless I ASK him to!!
Geez, I really don't get where they think that is helpful at all!!!!
My pet peeves are mostly directed at my dh:
He's the one who encouraged me to take my hobby to the next level - setting myself up as a PT business out of the home. He's the one who said "you keep spending all this money to make cakes, they might as well pay you." So now, all I get is flack from him about spending so many late nights decorating (I also work a FT office job), how the kitchen is constantly cluttered with decorating supplies, and how much more electricity is used when I keep the oven on for a whole day of cake baking 
. Enough already, DEAREST. I love doing this, and I can't grow my business without some small sacrifices.
While we're on the subject, I would appreciate if he gave me a compliment towards a cake that goes beyond "that's very nice" 
. I work my butt off for 10-14 hours on a cake order and that's all he can say? Sheesh!
As to all of you who complain about washing decorator bags, I highly, HIGHLY recommend investing in the Kee-Seal disposable bags. Best thing I ever did, and I'll never, ever wash another bag again 
. I literally threw all of my nylon and vinyl bags away.
As to all of you who complain about washing decorator bags, I highly, HIGHLY recommend investing in the Kee-Seal disposable bags. Best thing I ever did, and I'll never, ever wash another bag again
. I literally threw all of my nylon and vinyl bags away.
I second that recommendation 
Kee-Seal..I wouldn't use anything else.. never... ever...
your DHs sound like my mother! After working my butt off on 2 wedding cakes I left them out so she could see them when she came to pick up the kids (watched them while I did deliveries)...all she could comment about was how my house needed cleaned and "I don't know how you do it.." meaning how can I have a home business she thinks isn't worth doing(had a successful business for 18yrs)- especially when her grandchildren are so little, and I can't obviously get my housework done! Not a stinkin' word about my fantastic wedding cakes!!
ok...'nuff of that....dealt with that enough of years now.
These days, as a teacher, judge and hobbyist my pet peeves are:
-messy/too thin/too big/too small cake boards
-dots with points left on!
-cake photos with messy backgrounds
-stupid/ungrateful customers
-coming home from the store only to realize that you forgot an important ingredient you needed!
-coming home from the store only to realize that you forgot an important ingredient you needed!
oh now that ticks me off, too! Especially since I dont' carry cash, so when I go back I have to use a debit card for a $3 item!
let me add to my list...
-writing a 3.00 check after returning to the grocery store
-wedding cakes on a dance floor
-wedding cakes in front of the kitchen door or the fire extinquisher
-and the moron employee who thinks he can carry the 4 tiered cake into the kitchen by himself without first taking off the GLASS ornament, then looks shocked when it falls off and breaks!
biggest pet peeve, state/county laws that all but make it impossible to have a "home" based cake business.Most of the home bakers ,that I know,have cleaner kitchens than just about any restarant I have ever been in.Plus most of all of you here use fresher, hand picked,top quality ingredients than most of the comercial kitchens do.
(i'm sure i'll draw flack for this so please forgive me if i offend)
mine is lack of compassion and understanding. we're all here to learn and many are beginners; of course their going to post pics just like any of the rest of us who are better or worse and are proud of what we've/they've accomplished. don't like it, don't look at it.
i think one cake peeve i have that may not have been mentioned yet (i tried to read everything lol) is that when i'm working on piping on a cake- and people are walking back and forth behind me.. for one, its a big distraction and two the floor moves a bit as they walk behind me; which in turn ruins my work especially if i'm trying to pipe wording.. i'm one of those who aren't that great with piping words so i really have to work hard at it or try again... and again... and again....
You are so right! Everone on here are at different skill levels. I think that if you are proud of your cake you should display it for the world to see!!! And...if you feel taken advantage of by all the questions... Don't answer them. This is what a message board is for. To help and give tips. I like the easy questions... I am actually able to answer some of them! 
AMEN to blow outs, rogue coupers, foil on boards, running out of BC and especially forgetting one item at the grocery store.
An oldie but goodie for me - there's always someone that pipes up (pun intended) with something like "you should take a picture of this". Wow, I never thought about doing that.
Decorating away from my home. Can't do it. I have to be in my element with everything at my disposal. I've visited friends and they just want me to bust something out right there. You'll get a cake, maybe, but not decorated. And even a cake is pushing it. A friend of mine in Chicago didn't even own a hand mixer - she was using a fork to mix things. I didn't even know what to say to her.
[quote="KeltoKel"]Goodness, sometimes I think this is snob central and not cake central. When I first read the question, I interpreted it as "things that bug us while decorating a cake..." i.e. - icing, clean up, roses, borders, bags, etc.
The thread is turning into, "things that bug us about people on CC..." Not the same thing! Putting people down for simple cakes is just rude. You have no idea who the person is who made that cake.
Very well said and I agree with you, wholeheartedly.
I have learned so much here in the last year or so it's amazing. I don't ask questions but I learn from everyone's b'cuz most of the time it was something I was wondering about also.
Tuffstuff - I'm sure it took a lot to apologize, so hats off to you for that.
Great thread! Amen to the frustration of 'coupler pop'.
My pet peeve is my own impatience. When I have plenty of time, but choose to crash on anyway - before the icing has crusted, before the fondant decoration is dry enough, before the ganache is cool. I swear, the next time I do an order, I will make a time-plan and STICK TO IT!
I'm sure the results will be better.
I guess my pet peeve is blue roses, or any other flowers done in un-natural colors, but especially blue roses. Cutesey, fantasy flowers are one thing, but if you're doing an actual flower that exists in nature, then do them in naturally found colors. And I hate sheet cakes; too thin and too much negative space to try to fill.
On the Wilipedia site, if you look up "blue roses" you will find this explaination:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_rose
Blue rose
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Blue roses created by artificially colouring white roses.
For other uses, see Blue Rose (disambiguation).
Blue roses were traditionally created by dyeing white roses, since roses lack a gene to produce delphinidin, the primary plant pigment that produces true blue flowers. So-called "blue roses" have been bred by conventional hybridization methods, but the results, such as "Blue Moon" are more accurately described as lilac in color. However, after thirteen years of joint research by an Australian company Florigene, and Japanese company Suntory, a blue rose was created in 2004 using genetic engineering. The delphinidin gene was cloned from the petunia and inserted into a mauve-blend rose, the Old Garden Rose 'Cardinal de Richelieu' (a Rosa gallica). However, since the pigment cyanidin was still present, the rose was more dark burgundy than true blue. Further work on the rose using RNAi technology to depress the production of cyanidin produced a mauve colored flower, with only trace amounts of cyanidin.
Blue roses traditionally signify mystery or attaining the impossible. They are believed to be able to grant the owner youth or grant wishes. This symbolism derives from the rose's meaning in the language of flowers common in Victorian times.
Suntory Ltd. is presently growing test batches of the genetically-modified blue roses in the United States and Australia, according to company spokesman Atsuhito Osaka, but plans to start marketing them in Japan in 2009. [1]
I recently had a customer request for a wedding cake with "blue roses". I immediately went into the Internet, florists and the library to do research on this . . . thinking like you, I was certain there were no real blue roses. After finding they do exist, I found an online florist (http://flower.order-flowers-delivery.com/order1.asp?id=46067&productcode=1025) advertising that they sold blue roses. Since the cost was really high for the real blue roses, the requesting customer for a wedding cake with blue roses settled for my doing them in gumpaste. You can view them on one of my wedding cake photos. However, I still don't LIKE and hope I never again have another order for blue roses!
Many many people will not agree with me on this....but....I hate body parts cakes! I can't stand the thought of cutting into a belly, or a baby butt...
along the same lines I hate to see someone's photo on a cake that is going to be cut up.
I can not stand body part cakes either and they are awkward to make! I made a cake that was a female chest, only cause it was for a REALLY good friend and I felt soooo weird smoothing the fondant! LOL! It was quite funny but I will not make anymore!
Whew.....for a while there I thought I was going to have to delete ALL my pics from the gallery 
My pet peeve is not giving myself enough time to do it right. And with each cake I tell myself "Start earlier, give yourself more time", but I never do, then I find myself in such a hurry that my cakes aren't very good. I go in with good intentions, but the results are a little sloppy. I guess the 4 kids, well 5 if you count my DH, don't help much either. They always seem to need something right when I'm in the middle of doing a cake .
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