Customers And Others Wanting Your Recipe, What Do You Do?
Decorating By CarrieBear Updated 7 Jun 2009 , 3:57am by Cake-Gal
Btw-- I recently gave out a recipe and just got a call from the individual wanting to varify the ingredients because she submitted it for a recipe book!?!
She then informed me that she was using her own name (because people would know her) and then asked if it was OK. Well, what could I say, she already had the recipe and shared it with the publisher. Needless to say, "NO MORE RECIPES FOR YOU!"I would have told her HELL NO! That would infuriate me beyond belief, to the point where I would want to find out who the publisher is
Ok..do you look like the cat in your avatar when you get mad.. 
Sorry...I had to go there..I just love that avatar!
Edna 
I have a recipe of a puertorican almond cake..that is to die for, it was giving to me by a friend Mary ..and till this day she reminds me that she only gave it to me and to never give it out.
And I have another friend Lisa that continues to ask me for it...every other week she calls..and I keep saying how I left it at my house in Atlanta..and then when i'm in ATlanta I tell her I left it at my condo in Miami...she knows by now that I refuse to give it to her, but she continues to ask for it. But I made a promise to my friend Mary, That I won't give it away.
There are just certain recipes you just can't give out..specially the great ones...that nonone has.
There was a lady that would come into my restaurant almost every single day to eat my mushroom soup and everyday I would tell her it's a secret. She would not let up and was starting to get on my nerves. I finally "made" up the ingredients and she wrote them down. I did make the process A LOT harder than it truly was.
About a week later she comes in dressed in her NUN"S HABIT (never did that before) and tells me the soup was good but didn't taste like mine. Holy Crap I thought to myself if I don't give her the real recipe I might as well reserve my cabana-by-the pool-of-fire, so I gave it to her.
I had a lady come up to me at a friends wedding where I provided some of my cheesecakes and ask for my recipe. I said "I am sorry, but I do not give out my recipe". She walked away furious! But I spent years perfecting my cheesecake recipe, and I am not about to give it up! I don't understand some people. I have created other recipes which I do not feel are quite as important to my livlihood, and have given up, just to clarify that I am not a stickler on everything. 
When the Colonel shares his secret 11 herbs and spices, then I'll share my chocolate chip cookie recipe that took me 6 months to create.
chassidyg, I've shared this story before, but my sister is a pain kinda in the same way. Her favorite soup at Applebee's ... she SWORE they made it from scratch which, in her logic, is why it was only offered one day a week. I got so sick of trying to convince her that I finally gave her a frozen container of it for Christmas .... and told her, "Here .... I ordered this on my last truck order from GFS. Now shut the hell up."
Ohhhh...Debi....you do make me giggle! The Colonel thing is great but the story about the sister was hilarious.
And I don't give out my recipes either, no matter how many times they ask!
Btw-- I recently gave out a recipe and just got a call from the individual wanting to varify the ingredients because she submitted it for a recipe book!?!
She then informed me that she was using her own name (because people would know her) and then asked if it was OK. Well, what could I say, she already had the recipe and shared it with the publisher. Needless to say, "NO MORE RECIPES FOR YOU!"
NO way! I'd have told her it is NOT OK to publish YOUR recipe under HER name. That's grounds for a lawsuit there if it's your original recipe and can prove it. I'd give that gal a call and make it clear that you will not agree to her using it and expect the recipe to be left out of the book unless credited to you. Not only is that ethically not right on her part, it's a lie if she is passing it off as her own. I hope you didn't put anything in writing telling her she could use it.
Sorry, but the thought of her potentially making money from YOUR recipe rubs me the wrong way, too.
"NO SOUP FOR HER....NEXT!!!"
Ok so can anybody give me a Mushroom recipe and an almond cake recipe that are to die for???
Well..I have 2 recipes I promise the people that gave them to me that I would not share.. So for those I dont. But any other recipe, Im cool......Of course I must add cooking is not my forte.. ..
And I prefer to decorate than to bake..
Edna
I also have had people tell me that they can't afford my cookie bouquets so they want me to tell them where I get all my materials, the cookie recipe, and how I decorate them. Do they want me to lend them my cutters too or just go over and bake it at their house. Sheesh, its pretty ridiculous.
I had a bride, who was also a personal friend, who was going to order NFSC cookies from me for wedding favors. As she began trimming her budget, she said she was going to do the cookies herself.....have a bridesmaid cookie baking party.
Oh-kaaaaaaaaaaay.
So, being the great friend that I am 
, I "helped" her out. Gave her the NFSC recipe, a couple of icing recipes and I ran the numbers for her. Suggested that for 150 cookies ... if she got 12 on a baking sheet (home oven, ya know!), then it would take about 13 baking sheets x 15 minutes each = 195 minutes = 3.25 hours JUST in baking time. *IF* she could get the icing on there in just 3 minutes per cookie x 150 cookies = 450 minutes = 7.5 hours JUST in decorating time. This doesn't include mixing the dough, rolling the dough, cutting the dough, putting baking pan in and out of oven, figuring out where to store the cookies, clean up, buying supplies, etc.
I guess she didnt want to spend 15-20 hours making these cookies because she just bought some plain ones at Kroger!
BTW, I will share recipes that I've gotten from cookbooks, internet, etc., but as someone else said, odds are slim the person can pull it off.
I agree! On more than one occasion my SIL has called and said, "Such-and-such was so wonderful, I need the recipe!" Even if I make an exact copy and hand it to her (instead of just reading it over the phone) she always calls and says, "It didn't turn out at all like the one you made!"
The worst is when she or another SIL will bring a dish to a family gathering and say, "This is Tiffany's recipe!" and I look at it and think, "It IS?" since it didn't turn out at all like what I'd done. That's fine if they want to make it, but in that case it's ok not to give me credit! 
I'm all for sharing recipes to other bakers, like Fiddle said, because then I know that they are being made correctly and being put to good use. Will I share a recipe with someone that has never baked a cake in their life? Nope! sorry. I don't want to explain every bit and I don't want to take the blame when it flops.
That being said, Most of my recipes are from online or books, and i'm more than happy to share. I just did a blog post with some recipes today that someone had pmed be requesting.
However, I do have a few that I have formulated myself (my coconut cake recipe, which I spent about 3 months on, making a cake or two a week, and it won in the state fair) that I will only share if someone is being VERY, VERY nice and they had better REALLY like coconut, otherwise it just isn't worth it to me. I would never expect to just "get" someone else's recipe after they practically gestated the dang thing!
One of these days, I'll want to publish a cookbook, and no one will buy it because I'm such a pushover...
i've learned the hard way now to not give any recipes away, unless it's to my mother or my best friend, whom i both swore to secrecy, and gave them permission to call it their own secret recipe.
the hard lesson learned came a couple of weeks ago, when i made a bunch of desserts to take to the elementary school as a end of year favor to the staff. 2 dutch apple pies, 2 lemon meringue, 2 lattice top peach pies, and a large 15x10 pan of a special strawberry/cherry/meringe dessert that i consider my signature for special functions. i get a phone call the next day, it's this woman asking me if i'm the person who owns "sugarbabies". i say yes (i'd left a card so they knew who's pans these were), and she identifies herself as the lunchroom supervisor of the elementary school..."and i'm calling to see if i can get the recipe for that strawberry cherry dessert". i'm pretty open, so i blurt out where i found the recipe and how you can get it online, but how it's pretty time consuming. she takes notes, and then i casually mention "please don't share this information with anybody else though, jsut claim it as your special dessert, and be the hit of the party!"...
a long pause....
and then she says "oh!!.......(pause) i was gonna mass email the recipe to all the staff since they were all dying for the recipe!"
@!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i'm thinking WTF??? just because i'm nice enough to generously share a recipe with YOU doesn't mean you have the right to pass the recipe around like it's yours with over a 100 people!!!!!!!! if someone shares a recipe with me, i am thankful, and i ask if they mind if i ever share it...it's called respect, people!!!!!!!!!
still tickes me off, if you can't tell!!!!!!!!!!!!
LOL i had to laugh at the Nun Habit story!
i normally find that the people who ask for recipes never make them anyways!
My mother's rule: If they marry into our nutty family, they can have the recipe (well, some of them!)
I taught high school cooking for 30 years. I would have 5 groups prepare the same recipe and it would result in 5 different products. Just because you give someone a recipe doesn`t mean that they are going to make it as well as you. Change it up a bit. Add a different ingredient. Leave something out. Trick them if you don`t really want to share.
I've been spending about 3 hours a night for a week 
reading a baking sight that was dicussing the best chocolate cake recipe. I'm still not finished reading the information. Do you think I want to give out the recipe (that I finally decide to use from there) after putting in all the time to read through it? I don't think so. There is a lot of time, money and testing envolved in figuring how a certain recipe is going to work for me. I don't feel like explaining the process to someone. 
Although, I could share that I was reading the information on eGullet. 
If they are really serious I guess they will put in the time to read the information.
Someone asked me for a recipe for a snickers cake I made for a church group meeting . I had gotten all of the recipes from here so I didn't feel like I had any claims on it so I sent it to her. There were several recipes involved for this one dessert--2 types of cake, filling, and the icing. After I sent it to her she emailed me back and said "never mind, do you think you could make it for me and I'll pay you for it!" So, that could be the answer--maybe they'll see just how much goes into some of the cakes and will learn to appreciate what cakers do more!!!
I shared the Darn Good Chocolate cake from Cake Dr. with a friend (who eventually ended up buying the book) She served the cake at her house and it wasn't good. Frequently even if you do share a recipe, it won't be as good as when you make it yourself. I wouldn't want someone who hadn't had my cake to know it was my recipe. Not good for my reputation.
I just got asked that question last weekend. I said "Sorry, but that cake recipe is part of the menu I will use if I am ever in business."
Theresa
I taught high school cooking for 30 years. I would have 5 groups prepare the same recipe and it would result in 5 different products. Just because you give someone a recipe doesn`t mean that they are going to make it as well as you. Change it up a bit. Add a different ingredient. Leave something out. Trick them if you don`t really want to share.
I always do this,I leave out an important step or something.I'll definitely be giving out the same information you can find on the internet,so it can NEVER be like mine
I lost a good friend (or what I thought was a good friend) because I refused to give her a recipe for a pastry it took me 6 years to perfect. Seriously, she stomped her foot, yelled, the whole nine, still walked out with no recipe and she stopped speaking to me.
When people realize how long and tedious it is to formulate and perfect a recipe, they'll understand why we're so stingy when asked for it. Just tell them you don't give out your recipes because then no one would need you to bake for them.
This drives me nuts!
I have people ask me if they can come over to my house and watch me so they can take notes. I'm in AWE every single time.
I also have had people tell me that they can't afford my cookie bouquets so they want me to tell them where I get all my materials, the cookie recipe, and how I decorate them. Do they want me to lend them my cutters too or just go over and bake it at their house. Sheesh, its pretty ridiculous.
I cant believe people just think that this is ok to do. its just straight up rude...
I'll share with family, but I'm the only cake baker so it really doesnt matter, they won't bake them anyway, they'll get me to do it
I did have someone email me last week, she said she was a cake decorator in the next state and wanted to know my fondant and buttercream recipes, and what cake recipes I used the most.
I politely emailed back and explained that I had spent too much time testing and tuning to share them, but if she wanted a homemade fondant she could google it!
I'll share with family, but I'm the only cake baker so it really doesnt matter, they won't bake them anyway, they'll get me to do it
I did have someone email me last week, she said she was a cake decorator in the next state and wanted to know my fondant and buttercream recipes, and what cake recipes I used the most.
I politely emailed back and explained that I had spent too much time testing and tuning to share them, but if she wanted a homemade fondant she could google it!
yeah, right in a state near by, how many times do you think a local competitor might try that? haha jk , but really good for you Im with you on that, Im guessing she didnt respond back 
I'll share with family, but I'm the only cake baker so it really doesnt matter, they won't bake them anyway, they'll get me to do it
I did have someone email me last week, she said she was a cake decorator in the next state and wanted to know my fondant and buttercream recipes, and what cake recipes I used the most.
I politely emailed back and explained that I had spent too much time testing and tuning to share them, but if she wanted a homemade fondant she could google it!
yeah, right in a state near by, how many times do you think a local competitor might try that? haha jk , but really good for you Im with you on that, Im guessing she didnt respond back
No she sure didnt... I figured it was someone nearby just fishing, I almost didnt respond to her but thought I'd at least let her know that I wasnt about to share.
My friends are always asking for my recipes. And I feel like I have to tell them because their my friends...but I hate it. Because I don't want to tell them. I don't mind to share recipes on here, because we are a network of cake and cookie people, helping each other along. But I can tell you for sure, if I owned a business, there is no way that I would give out my recipes to my customers!
My friends are always asking for my recipes. And I feel like I have to tell them because their my friends...but I hate it. Because I don't want to tell them.
Here comes my mom finger at 'cha!! Think about what you are teaching your children. "No, I dont' WANT to drink that beer but it's my friend offering it to me so I have to do what they want." "No, I don't WANT to try that marijuana cigarette, but it's my friend who's asking, so I have to."
Is that really what you want them to see YOU doing? Because you are, ya know. You're doing something you don't want to do just so your friends will LIKE you and think you're a great friend.
But you're not being a great mom .. which is much more important.
I don't mind sharing recipes. I'm not threatened by giving out one of my recipes...even originals. I do want something to pass down to my children, when I have them, but if it can make someone else happy, thats ok with me 
The success of a baked good is not only in the recipe but in the hands of the baker.
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