I have been in contact with a lady who found my information from my facebook page. She was needing a cake for a birthday party on a Sunday. Well that weekend I was going out of town and told her I could make the cake Thursday and drop it off to her Friday before we leave town. (I thought this was pretty generous considering I really should be packing Thursday night.)

She kind of hesitated when she thought about not have a fresh baked cake on Sunday. I told her the cake would be fine. Once the icing got on the cake this will keep it moist and the cake will be covered in a box. So the cake should not be dry at all. So I emailed her some options and prices of cakes.

I just received an e-mail back saying she has decided to go a different route because she has reservations about a 3 day old cake.

What do I say to that??
1 - "Ma'am do you realize a lot of cakes are frozen and thawed"
2 - "Ma'am not too many people bake and decorate a cake all in one day"
3 - "ARE YOU SERIOUS? Do you realize cakes at Walmart, etc are 2-3+ old, not including frozen period."

I would love to hear what your response would be!!! PLEASE!

I wouldn't even bother to write her back. She's going a different route, no problem.

I would thank her for her inquiry and encourage her to go another route, so you can pack and enjoy yourself and not worry about the hysterical reservations of a person who is already showing signs of PITA-ishness.

Ditto to the other ladies.

I'd tell her to enjoy her Walmart masterpiece.....................

Dear CLient:
Thanks for letting me know. Since you are looking for a cake that will be baked same day, you might want to be aware that most grocery store bakeries don't bake their cakes on site ... they are pre-baked, frozen and shipped in from across the country. Many large bakeries also bake ahead, as a good baker knows that a cake needs to settle between baking and decorating.

If I had the name of a bakery that did last minute rush orders and baked same-day, I'd be happy to share that with you, but I wanted you to be be aware of what is industry-normal so you'd know what questions to ask as you shop for a cake.

Let me know how I can help in the future, and good luck in your search for a same-day baked cake!

On the other side of the fence about this one.....I would personally prefer not to have a cake sit out for 3+ days before serving, either.

When someone needs a cake and I can't deliver it on the day of the event, I tell them that I will provide the cake if they can find the freezer space to store it. I promise a cake that can be frozen and defrosted without anyone ever having known that it was frozen and defrosted.

If freezing isn't an option, then I don't do the cake BECAUSE I don't want to hear later that after the cake sat out for 3 days , someone was unhappy. No, that wouldn't really be my fault, but they'd probably believe that it was my fault.

I have several people who don't even hesitate when I tell them that they'll have to freeze the cake and others who just say no thanks. Either way, it's OK with me.

I'd just thank her for her inquiry and tell her that I hoped that we could work together some other time.

She was actually better than most, having had the courtesy to tell you thanks, but no thanks. You can't expect to win 'em all--and you won't.

Rae

I routinely do a cake on Thursday (with some finishing details on Friday, maybe) for a Saturday wedding. It sits on my counter or it sits on their's .... it makes no difference to the cake.

Told that to a lady once. Baby shower cake. I'm writing up the order. I ask them what time on Sat do they want to pick it up. She says, "Oh, it's not until Sunday!" I said, "I'm not open on Sunday .... what time on Saturday do you want to pick it up?" She and friend look at each other. I said, "It sits on my counter or it sits on yours ... makes no difference to the cake. what time on Saturday?"

They picked it up on Saturday.

I prep the cake on Thursday, let it settle overnight, decorate on Friday and deliver on Saturday. Every week, week in and week out. It's normal.

oh Debi! I just want to spend a day with you!!!! You crack me up, as I was reading that I could just picture you sitting there in a chair with your legs crossed holding a clip board writing stuff down and looking up and saying " sits on my counter or yours makes no difference to the cake" You kill me sometimes!! Well.................MOST of the time!

People are so dumb! I would just say 3 days is the normal turn around time for a cake.

Debi you should do what a bakery does here...they charge $125 for a day with the cake decorator!!! I'd pay money to see you in action!

I always bake ahead of time and everyone absolutely loves how moist my cakes are. Some people are just not very smart...do they really think that people bake, ice and decorate their cakes in one day?? Don't they realize how much work is involved??

You ALL crack me up!! I love your honesty! I was excited to see what was said on this forum!

I told the lady it was no problem to go elsewhere for the cake. *Honestly - I was kind of happy with her decision. It allows me time to pack and get excited before our trip* She said she would keep me in mind for the future.

It's kind of hard to do one day when I work 7:30-5:00 every day! And I do have a family to feed, etc. I know a lot of us are in the same boat!

So, I'm kind of relieved! I wanted to hear what everyone else had to say!

All my baking takes place on Tuesday (my only day off mid week from teaching at the studio) Decorating takes place on Friday (my other day off from studio) and Saturday until delivery. I rarely take on more than one event a weekend. I did have a new customer that was referred to me last week wanting a custom "present" cake with the "wrapping paper" looking similar to the design on the invite. I took the order then she changed the delivery date after the fact to this Friday morning...so eventhough I had to teach yesterday evening, I was up at the comm kitchen until 2am last night (Wednesday) doing this cake. The bow loops are still drying so I will put those on after I get back from the studio tonight (Thursday). Thank goodness I only live 2 miles from the comm kitchen I rent, and the studio is 5 miles from my home, or I would be super pissed. But hey it was a $95 sale on a small 8" 2 layer square present cake. I generally don't take orders that have delivery dates mid week due to my time constraints. Luckily the pastor let me slide with paying since I already had the place rented for the weekend to use for a wed cake, and he didn't charge me for last night, or I would have lost mucho money on the deal.

I get this ALL the time. People want to order a cake for a Sunday event and are all freaked out when I say the cake has to be picked up on Saturday.

"Oh dear... will it still be good?"

"Um, no. Of course it'll be covered in furry green mold, ya d*ckwad."

I thinks some of the issue is everyone can bake a cake... Takes all of 1hr 2 tops.

So, that is what they think is involved. They have no clue what goes into a decorated "cake". Duh people. But you know, duff does it in 30 minutes lol!

I had a thing like that today. I had a lady email me about a football helmet cake for Sunday-this Sunday!!! I mean she was a bit troubled by the fact that "it's on Thursday! I don't need it until Sunday afternoon!" Yeah, right. I explained to her that the facemask needs 4-7 days, just to dry hard enough to stand But I couldn't get her to understand gthat at all, okay!!!??! I am already over my head with the 2 cakes I have going on this weekend already. Now had she said yes when I told her I could make a football themed cake as long as it didn't need anything super big, I would have done my utmost to give her the best I could with it. But she was a no go. It had to be a helmet because her son really liked the one I made!! Ok. Sorry, but your crisis isn't my emergency!!!! So I was nice and let her go with that!!!!

About mid October I had a housewarming party. (Yay, first home!!!) Of course, I baked a cake and cupcakes and also prepared the rest of the spread. The party was on a Saturday. If I remember correctly, I baked on the Wednesday or Thursday before. Everything turned out great, but I over estimated on how much food I would need and over baked. So by the end of the party I had the cake (a 6" 2 layer) and about a dozen cupcakes left. For a couple days hubby and my brother and I picked away at the cupcakes, but we never got to the cake. Then, out of sheer laziness, I never ended up just tossing the cake.

So, fast forward about a week and a half, the cupcakes were thrown away long ago because they dried out, but the cake is still sitting on my counter. So, one night I was in major need of some sugar. I looked at the cake for about ten minutes thinking "would it be alright? It was all non perishable ingredients. The icing hasn't cracked or anything like that. . ." Finally I decide what the heck? Where's the harm in just cutting it? If it's stale, it goes in the trash. I cut it and took a bite, and to my surprise it was still as moist as the first cupcake I ate back at the party! So if you go back to when I first took it out of the oven, that cake was about two weeks old!

But then my sugar craving was calmed after the first slice and the cake quickly dried out after that. Then it went in the trash.

I've been surprised at how many customers are afraid a cake will be old after a day or two. They're like "If I pick this up Friday, will it still be good for a Saturday night party?" I'm thinking....gee....number one they'd freak out if they knew I baked earlier in the week. Number two, they'd REALLY freak if they knew how "old" most bakery cakes are!

Every time I scroll down and see Indydebi's pics, I am excited to read her answer, as I know she will give me a good laugh. I could visual he sitting with customer in exact position as she is on the picture with the spatula. Be customer, I would do what she say