I believe people only treat us the way we allow them to.
I believe people only treat us the way we allow them to.
You're right, of course.
You're also lucky to have friends who don't try to take advantage of you. When I make a new friend, no matter how it seems at the beginning, eventually they try to take advantage of me. Some of it I think is that I, just like my neighbors, don't have much money, but I'm better at making the most of what I have than they are. So they see my apartment full of nice furniture and my kids wearing nice clothes and they see me making real food (instead of frozen dinners), and they think we have a lot.
We're going to move in about six months. Maybe then I'll have better luck making friends who are real friends and not just users.
Well this was one of three friends that I did eventually get rid of. I was tired of people using me and whenever I needed help or just someone to talk to, they were never around. Thank God I have two really good friends now. One is across the world and the other is a half hour away. I met them both on here and glad I did!
I am of the opinion that anyone who says they have more than two really good friends is either naive or lying.
Glad to hear you got rid of the "baggage".
I have more then two good friends and they have done so much for me. We have always been there for each other. And no high school back stabbing or any of that other crazy stuff. And no, I'm not naive. I find it to be sad when feel that way. I say you just haven't met the right people. I know I've been blessed.
Good for you! 
I am a mean, unsharing, evil cake troll.
And proud of it.
And good for you, too!
Wow... I guess I'm in the minority. I always try to help people when asked. I've been PMed on CC about techniques and recipes, and I am always more than happy to lend a hand in what ever capacity I can. I even started a cake club in my area so that local cake decorators (and whoever else that wants to join!) can learn more about baking and decorating.
I can't even count the number of times I've read about people here on CC emailing Marina Sousa/Elisa Strauss/Mary Maher/Bronwen Weber/etc. asking them for advice and the "how tos" of a particular cake. Hello!
Like someone said a page or so back, just because you give someone instructions doesn't mean they can do anything with them. Baking and decorating take a certain level of skill and talent. Yo-Yo Ma can give me all the free cello lessons in the world, but that doesn't mean I'll ever play like him.
What goes around comes around. At least that's what my momma always taught me.
And I am thankful for people like you!!!
Wow... I guess I'm in the minority. I always try to help people when asked. I've been PMed on CC about techniques and recipes, and I am always more than happy to lend a hand in what ever capacity I can. I even started a cake club in my area so that local cake decorators (and whoever else that wants to join!) can learn more about baking and decorating.
I can't even count the number of times I've read about people here on CC emailing Marina Sousa/Elisa Strauss/Mary Maher/Bronwen Weber/etc. asking them for advice and the "how tos" of a particular cake. Hello!
Like someone said a page or so back, just because you give someone instructions doesn't mean they can do anything with them. Baking and decorating take a certain level of skill and talent. Yo-Yo Ma can give me all the free cello lessons in the world, but that doesn't mean I'll ever play like him.
What goes around comes around. At least that's what my momma always taught me.
And I am thankful for people like you!!!
Don't give out your recipes to anyone that is local. I gave my recipe of Tres Leches to a friend because they were going thru a difficult time and could not afford the price. Lord and behold 6 months later I find out they had opened a bakery business and the best selling dessert is my tres leches. Now they have employees and 3 delivery vans!!!
Your "friend" s#cks!I second the sucky friend thought!
Ummm... Can I have the recipe??? it must be devine!!!!!!
One day I got that call too. I gave them the recipe for fondant, where to get the supplies they needed... Everything. EXCEPT for the HOW!!!! BWAHAHAHHAHAAAAA!!!!! Then I stopped answering her phone calls!
I get your point, I just don't believe in hoarding information. That's all I'm sayin'.
I dont think telling the general public that you wont give them help is hourding information. I give away information on here all the time on how I do things. And Ive also talked to Bronwen, and a few others about how they did certain things and they were happy to give me the information. So I dont think telling your husbands boss's wife how to carve a cake and let her borrow your pans is the same. Its one thing for a person that wants to further their career by taking classes and doing clubs from the pro's and another one that wants to pinch pennys and wants a cake for free! And believe me, Ive had so called "friends" that have asked me to help them with making decorated cookies. Said sure and had them come over with enough dough to make about 6 cookies and they need for 25 people. Then after you've used your ingredients, decorated them ALL but one and then have them leave and tell people its THEIR work? Well thats a user. So learning experience thumbs up, users thumbs down!
Yeah, there's a reason that you write "trade secret" on your recipes that you file with the health department. It's called propreitary information. If I called Coca Cola and asked them for their formula because I wanted to make my own soda I don't think I'd get the recipe from them. If I have time I'm happy to tell people how I did certain things, but for the most part I don't have time to give free decorating lessons. It's not hoarding information, it's time management!
I get your point, I just don't believe in hoarding information. That's all I'm sayin'.
I dont think telling the general public that you wont give them help is hourding information. I give away information on here all the time on how I do things. And Ive also talked to Bronwen, and a few others about how they did certain things and they were happy to give me the information. So I dont think telling your husbands boss's wife how to carve a cake and let her borrow your pans is the same. Its one thing for a person that wants to further their career by taking classes and doing clubs from the pro's and another one that wants to pinch pennys and wants a cake for free! And believe me, Ive had so called "friends" that have asked me to help them with making decorated cookies. Said sure and had them come over with enough dough to make about 6 cookies and they need for 25 people. Then after you've used your ingredients, decorated them ALL but one and then have them leave and tell people its THEIR work? Well thats a user. So learning experience thumbs up, users thumbs down!
Yeah, there's a reason that you write "trade secret" on your recipes that you file with the health department. It's called propreitary information. If I called Coca Cola and asked them for their formula because I wanted to make my own soda I don't think I'd get the recipe from them. If I have time I'm happy to tell people how I did certain things, but for the most part I don't have time to give free decorating lessons. It's not hoarding information, it's time management!
Well, everyone obviously feels differently here. So you keep rockin' your trade secrets, and I'll keep posting free tutorials on my blog. It's all good!
I find the more confident and successful the cake decorating business - the more likely they are to give away their 'secrets'
Planet Cake in Sydney Australia in probably one of the best cake decorating places in Australia ... they also have MANY followers world-wide.
Their classes are fantastic !! they do not hide ANYTHING and I can say from personal experience that everybody that attends a course will walk away with a cake that is of NEARLY the same standard as one that Planet Cake themselves would sell.
Sydney has a small population (4 million) compared to most cities in the US for example. There are probably half a dozen major players in the "high end" cake market - lots more cake decorating businesses that will appeal to people for many many reasons.
Planet Cake are not scared they will lose ANY business by sharing EVERYTHING they do... their business is so secure they know they will continue unaffected!
PS..... HINT HINT - for all you Planet Cake junkies - Book 2 will be out soon!
How many of you are 'self-taught'? if you are really honest with yourselves - you will admit that SOMEBODY gave you some sort of assistance at some point in your cake decorating learning curve.
Whether it be a cake buddy or just somebody wanting to create a great cake for their kid - I've found if I offer assistance 'of a fashion' then they normally come back to me anyway. For example I had a young couple that wanted a lot of cupcakes for a baptism and they baulked at the price - she wanted to make them herself - I said ..... if you are prepared to make the cakes and ice them I will sell you the toppers. She was estatic at the time ... and I sold her the toppers for 75% of what I would have charged for the complete cupcake! the toppers were punched out of a sculpy mould! the EASY PART!!
She rang me after the event and said.... WOW - I didn't realise how REASONABLY priced your cakes were ... till I had to make them myself!! she found it so difficult and when she wanted 1st birthday cupcakes - she came back to me!!
I am a mean, unsharing, evil cake troll.
And proud of it.
I'm with you. I have worked really hard to build the skill level I have now and it really gets my goat when people PM me or emailing me asking me how to do something that I stayed up til 4 in the morning working out. Alot of my cakes are original designs too so its not like I could say to people "oh its from the Collette Peters book"!
GOOGLE is your friend! Use it! Other people put their information on the web for you to use so be creative and search it!
I guess I'm a little bitter because I have just found one of my cakes has been copied for the first time. I didnt sleep to finish that cake on time and dammit some chick has gone and copied it directly and has not credited it!
And the other thing that makes me 
is when you do help people and THEY DONT SAY THANKYOU!!!
Me? bitter? no.... I'm a happy person. Just dont ask me for instructions.
I think everyone is willing to share, it just depends on the circumstances. And correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought Planet Cakes charges a pretty penny for their classes. They are not exactly giving away trade secrets for free. I mean you do have to pay to get one of their books. So how is that better then someone on here who wants to be compensated for their time of teaching?
Dont worry...Ill just google it for you!
Follow the link..
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=How+to+ice+a+cake
Edna
I don't mind in sharing with other cake central members. I have learned so much on this site.
Now I have a question, if I see a cake from the site that I want to make, do I need to ask permission to the person who posted the picture? Will the majority be offended if I ask for insteuctions?
I have Nike philosophy: Just Do It.
lol that's what i say to alot of people that ask my how i do cakes. I have had lots of people message me on facebook asking for instruction's and i have told them that i taught myself with help from CC and google.
However I do find that most people that ask you how to do cakes, once you start explaining it , their eyes kinda glaze over and they have no idea what your talking about! ..at that point i just say..."i just do it "
I don't mind in sharing with other cake central members. I have learned so much on this site.
Now I have a question, if I see a cake from the site that I want to make, do I need to ask permission to the person who posted the picture? Will the majority be offended if I ask for insteuctions?
I think that most people here take "copying" a cake as a form of flattery, they just like to be credited with a wee "Thanks to..." in the description. Now, if you have taken a bunch of ideas and thrown them together, I personally don't name EVERYONE who thought of that idea, KWIM?????
Well ladies when I wanted to learn to decorate cakes all the pros I knew turned their backs and gave a lot of excuses. This expert moved to my are and started giving classes at reasonable prices. She beginners, intermediate and advanced. I thank her for doing this.
If someone needs help I will be glad to assist. If you want my tres leches send me a pm and I will give it to you.
Its in storage because I moved from Florida to NY (my hubby was diagnosed with Leukemia and he needed to be treated in NY). Also closing on a house in about a week, so you will probably get a recipe the first of November.
I don't mind in sharing with other cake central members. I have learned so much on this site.
Now I have a question, if I see a cake from the site that I want to make, do I need to ask permission to the person who posted the picture? Will the majority be offended if I ask for insteuctions?
I don't think anyone would be offended if you ask... remember to say "please", credit the person whose cake inspired yours and do not get offended if they choose not to pm instructions.
All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.
Hmmm... as in all people interested in caking are equal, but the ones on Cake Central are more equal than others?
Oh don't get me started defending Planet Cake - it is one of those things... all the people that haven't done a course there - have NOTHING GOOD TO SAY and think their courses, cakes etc are WAY over-priced.
I say .... ask anybody that has completed a course there - if they felt they got value for money? Most would have gladly paid TWICE the cost of the course because they felt they had learnt so much. It isn't like they just show you how to make the one thing, or it takes 3months to learn how to make 1 cake. In a 2-3 day course you can cover things such as carving, torting, ganaching, stacking, fondant work, gumpaste flowers (more than 1) board covering, most courses have a figurine of some sort..... AND the more entreprenurial types have already SOLD the cake that they walk away with - to pay for their next course.
Oh and the added bonus is that you just walk in with your handbag!! everything is provided, tools included.
I think Nati (boonenati) sums it up perfectly on her website when she compares a 8 week term college course to a PC class
http://www.how2cakes.com/classes.html
I don't think that anyone is saying that people shouldn't be paid for teaching classes, everyone seems to be in agreement about that. It's the people who email you with a message like "Give me your chocolate cake recipe." or "Tell me how to make a rose" (I get that one a lot for some reason) that are irritating. I've taught classes before, and I've given people instructions on how to do things, it's just that there isn't enough time in the day to respond to every demand for information. (Requesting is one thing, demanding is another)
Of course Planet Cake has every right to charge for classes, nobody's disputing that. I doubt that they'd spend a lot of time going over directions for things that they teach for free, though, that's not how you run a business if you run classes. They probably direct people to the class list and suggest they they sign up for one when they get the "how do you make..." questions, and rightly so.
Oh I get it - but what people don't realise is that they do give away more than they 'have' to - like there is no trade secrets for them.
Anyway - guess we have digressed.
What irritates me more than the request for help are those people that are too darn lazy to go look for the answer (especially here on CC) The question may have been asked a gazillion times and people have gone to great lengths to answer fully and in lots of detail (I have lost count of the number of questions I have answered on ganache, Pm's as well)
People even post ..... I can't be bothered reading 17 pages!!
oh yeah????? I am more than happy to part with any knowledge I have, recipes included - but it really irks me when you have to do it over and over again.
that SEARCH button is located just under the CC logo.... and surprisingly dishes up a lot of results - I think it is the most under-used function on this forum 
What irritates me more than the request for help are those people that are too darn lazy to go look for the answer ...
that SEARCH button is located just under the CC logo.... and surprisingly dishes up a lot of results
- I think it is the most under-used function on this forum
Yessssssss!!
Edna - you are a jem!! (and thank you so very much for all you share with everyone!!)
The SEARCH button - I cannot tell you how many times I have used that darling little button - only for it to return NOTHING. IMO - it has never served me when I needed it. Things I KNOW are there will not show up. I can only imagine how fun that is for a new person on here. (It may be better now since the upgrade, I gave up trying to use it months ago)
I guess we all have our opinions on whether to share or not. I am still on side of treating others the way I would like to be treated......and I am VERY thankful to those who feel the same way.
If you don't get any results from the CC search - the as previous poster suggested an Advanced Google Search within the CC domain will yield massive results.
As an example - here is a search I did for 'ganache'
take your pick from the 16,600 results (all on CC)
http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&as_q=ganache&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&num=10&lr=&as_filetype=&ft=i&as_sitesearch=www.cakecentral.com&as_qdr=all&as_rights=&as_occt=any&cr=&as_nlo=&as_nhi=&safe=images
For everyone please read EVERYTHING I write, not just pieces of it, which is what I keep seeing happening with some poeple posting on here.
1) My point on Planet Cake was that the charge for their books & classes. Period. That's it. People were saying they would also charge, but not just waste time telling their trade secrets. Why is it okay for some to charge for lesseons and not people on here. There is nothing wrong with being compensated for teaching.
2) I think everyone agrees that they have no problem helping someone who really wants to learn & is willing to put in true effort & research into learning, not just asking for head to toe directions with no trying.
3) And I think the OP's point was it was insulting for a customer to call and ask her how to make one of her cakes, casue she didn't want to pay for it. This is not somone wanting to learn our craft, this is someone who wants a cheap cake. So you can teach her if you want, but your not paying it forward, and ain't nothing postive coming around for teaching her. Not only was that insulting of the person, it was a ridiculous request.
I think we have ALL shared on here. I can't tell how many times I've PM'd instructions and recipes. But am I going to teach someone how to make a cake, cause they think I'm too high and want a cheap cake. No. I know even if I did, it wouldn't come out right, but NO. I'm not. How stupid would that be of me to waist my time like that...time I could be using with my family or providing for them.
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