OK, so made a lovely cake this past weekend and bride had requested almond cake with chocolate mousse and fresh raspberries. Cake was beautiful, but I guess I made a mistake because she wanted white cake with almond flavoring, but I made a scratch sour cream almond which was pale yellow. She called to say that she was thrilled with the cake, but was unhappy with that part. I asked what she wanted and she said some money off or a groom's cake ! I said let me see what I can do...I was thinking a certificate for 1 or 2 dozen cupcakes...thoughts? I uploaded a pic of the cake in my album...all ivory and white with roses.

Thoughts on the 1-2 dozen cupcakes and how to word a response.
Thanks!
Anita
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I just checked you album, and that cake is not there. Can you try to attach it again?

sorry...just uploaded...I think it is there now.

thanks for looking.

I am sorry - I don't understand the problem - did she want a white cake with an almond type filling or is it that your almond cake was not completely white but the filling was correct? Because it seems to me that if the filling is correct, just because the cake was not completely white, but it was the flavor she wanted - why would you need to offer a discount?

She wanted white cake with almond flavoring (so I guess no egg yolks)...the cake I made was more of a yellow cake with almond flavoring. She said she was "shocked" when she cut into the cake and it was pale yellow...really???? ugh....anyways, does that make sense?

Did you have a signed contract that lays out exactly what she wanted? If not I would probably lean towards siding with her on this one.

okay - I am sorry - she is being ridiculous!!! You gave her the right cake and filling and she is having a problem that it was "yellowish" - c'mon now!!! Shocked??? Really???? She must never have experienced any type of disappointments in all of her life that this would SHOCK her. Did she specifically say she did not want any egg yolks because of allergy or something? And technically, the color almond is not completely white it is off white - check a color palate - I mean if that is what is her excuse! This is a person trying to get something for nothing - I mean I can see if she ordered an almond flavored cake and there was no almond flavoring or some type of citrus flavor. Do not fall for her request of a free groom's cake and I would not even offer her a dozen cupcakes - that is still too much. If you want to offer her anything, return to her saying that she did get an almond cake and that the best you can do for her is 10% off the groom's cake. People amaze me.

Did she see the white almond cake before she ordered it? (Like at a tasting...)

Did she specify "white" in the contract?

How pale yellow was the yellow?

If it was the exact same flavor as she ordered but it had egg yolks in the recipe instead of just the whites...I would only *maybe* give her a very small discount...or the free groom's cake I'd offer is the correct WHITE cake iced homestyle and garnished with some berries or chocolate or something...and not too big. Nothing fancy.

If the only thing wrong was that the inside of the cake was a few shades off...that's kinda pushing it, especially if the flavor was exactly as ordered.

No white almond at the tasting...just said white cake with almond flavoring. I should have talked to her more about it, but I do sour cream almond so often (in a yellow cake) that I just made that, not even thinking about it. I think I will do white cupcakes with her same frosting??? I guess the equivalent would be white cake vs. yellow cake (not the flavor, because it was flavored correctly).

As a refund I'd send her a pair of boots and tell her to "take a hike" lol
sorry..............but she is being rediculous!!

I'm with kita, did she taste your almond cake beforehand to know what color it was?????? If not, THAT is your almond cake and she's out of luck......if she DID taste the cake beforehand and it was WHITE, not YELLOW, then maybe a coupon for a % off a future order is in order.

KHalstead - You Go!!!! Exactly, your white cake is not completely white because it has to have eggs in it - that's all she needs to know. Yeah - you know that you could have omitted the yolks, but she doesn't. And think about this. . . if you give her the white almond cupcakes baked with just the whites and she sees the color difference you will be letting her believe that you did something wrong - which technically you did not. If you look at almond paste - it is not white - it is an off white color. Please - people come up with the most amazing crap just to try to get free stuff. Don't let her bulldoze you. I can guarantee that if you do make her a groom's cake, she will find something wrong with that to and on and on you will go with this person.

I will say if you used yellow cake mix as a base instead of white cake mix as the base, that is a fairly big difference just because I use them both as well and you can tell the difference in consistency as well as flavor.

But if you just used white cake mix, and included the yolks (I do that all the time) then to me its silly to refund.

No, I bake from scratch, but yes, kitagirl...I guess it is the same as the white vs. yellow and that is why I am inclined to offer a little something. definitely not a groom's cake. But how do I word it...to sound nice by offering something, but also stating that she was please (she was...she said in her phone call) and also, that is all I can offer, because everything else was correct.

I'm confused... why does she want a free groom's cake if the wedding is already over. She didn't see or taste a white cake at the tasting and you said the flavor was the same. Unless you specifically told her, "yes, I can make this almond (yellow) cake in a white color" I don't think she's due anything.

I still think that if she asked for a white cake and got a yellow cake then she deserves something. Its a minor detail of the cake, but its still a detail that it sounds like she asked for and didn't get.

I'm not saying I would throw in a grooms cake for free, but something that you feel is fair.

i guess I am a little confused...isn't a white cake essentially the same as yellow, but with no yolks?

Have to agree with Kitagirl...I often use whole eggs in my white WASC cake. They don't change the color all that much. But, if you used yellow cake, there is a difference, and it would depend upon what explanation you gave for your almond cake. If you said it was a white cake, then she might have a right to be a little surprised (shocked? I don't think so!). But, if it was simply called a vanilla almond cake or just something to distinguish it as being different from chocolate, then there is no guaranty it would be pure white!

Oops my bad, read OP again and the cake was from scratch.....

If all you did was include the yolks instead of omit them, then there's no reason for a refund...as someone else said, that "is" your almond cake.

She sounds like a B%#@& looking for any problem to get a freebee, a free grooms cake has she fallen off her rocker!? I'd remind here that she had ordered an almond cake is not a "white cake" which is made with egg whites, inform her that any other cake done with eggs would obviously have a yellow color to it.

to be fair, she ordered a white almond cake...so i guess I should have made a white cake and just flavored with almond extract, as opposed to using my sour cream almond one.

Dear Bride~
I am so glad you enjoyed the cake for your wedding. I'm sorry that you were surprised by the color of my white almond cake. Because I bake from scratch, I use my own recipes that don't often compare to a boxed mix coloring. I do apologize for the confusion, and I should have made it clear to you when you ordered white cake with almond flavor that my "white" cake is different than what you would normally expect. I hope that your guests still enjoyed it, and I am enclosing a gift certificate for your choice of 2 dozen cupcakes or a first wedding anniversary 6" round to be used at your leisure.

yes...perfect. wish I could come up with that...won't even post what i started to write...lol!

thanks for all of the help.
anita

Every once in a while I can BS it with the best of them. Good luck!

She's being ridiculous! I could see if it was chocolate cake instead of almond! If it tasted like almond cake it is almond cake! How petty can someone be? Geesh! I wouldn't give her nothing! Shes just looking for a freebie. I bet she's complaining to the catereer and florist as well.

Great note (though I have to say 2 dozen cupcakes is allot)! But at least you are offering her something. Just make sure that if she orders almond flavored cupcakes you include the yolks this time so that it is not different than the cake

Keep us posted on what she says. Something tells me that she may all of a sudden note something else that was wrong with the cake. . .we will see. . .

Kitagrl - you have a point. I would say offer 10% off the next order. But you have to do what your heart tells you is the right thing.

i just did the 2 dozen cupcakes...kitagirl is right...one batch of batter...no biggie. she wanted a groom's cake, so we will see if this even appeases her....will let you know what happens! thanks for the support.

I'm also a little confused about her wanting a free groom's cake... The wedding is over, right?