I've only read through half of this, but had to recall the episode of Friends where Phoebe's grandmother died leaving behind everyone to wonder what her secret chocolate chip cookie recipe could have been... Monica works to duplicate the recipe only in the end to have come to the realization that it was Nestle Toll House all along!

I love to compete in my State Fair and have been blessed to have won a few ribbons and awards along the way. Unfortunately, once you win, the recipe becomes the property of the company for whom you created it or is published in the official State Fair Cookbook --so much for secrets. Last year, I won in the Hidden Valley contest and had to turn over my recipe to them.

Some of the most recognizable faces in the industry share their recipes for their cakes and frostings, but I'm willing to bet they don't share what has made them most famous! That being said, I don't think there is anything wrong with having a few you are willing to divulge and a few you keep close to your heart (and locked away in your safe which reminds me of the 'Soup Nazi' episode of Seinfeld...)

lol I remember that episode of friends too, I thought of that too when I posted this qustion, thats classic.

It really depends on who is asking me for my recipe. If it is a close friend I will share although most of them are not mine anyway. I figure the rest of them can get online and research just like I did. I will tell them it is a doctored mix and they can go from there.

I used to bake from scratch all the time until finding this site. Now I do both and my biggest selling cake is my pineapple/coconut WASC cake minus the almond with my own touches. I use DH white cake mix. I have at least three orders for this cake a week. I get asked for the recipe all the time. I don't want them to think it's from a box because everyone thinks it's from scratch. I know a seasoned baker can tell a scratch from a box so I switch up and do scratch then do the DH. So what I do when they ask for the recipe, I google a pineapple coconut cake recipe and give it to them. I just can't bring my self to tell people that some of my cakes that they think are homemade are from a mix.

Some of the celebrity chef recipes that are published are not really the real recipes they use. They change them a little.

If you are going into business don't give out your recipes. You have to differentiate yourself from the competition not play Mr Nice Guy.

Your delicious cakes are your selling point. Restaurants don't give out their specialty dish recipes.

I say, ' I am glad you find my cake so delicious that you would like the recipe. I am sorry but my business cannot give out its secret recipes, they are very special and have taken me a long time to perfect. I can however recommend this recipe that gives a good cake'


Then I tell them about a recipe that they can easily google, that everyone knows about.

Some of the last few posts raise an issue I've wondered about. I have seen recipes (Toba's glace, for example) on CC that are from cookbooks I have purchased. Did the cookbook authors give consent for their recipes to be printed here? If I wrote a cookbook, I wouldn't want people printing my recipes for others to obtain for free.