Since I am in business, I have tried to stay up with all the possibilities on cakes. I think success is being well diversified and accomplished in whatever field you choose. I do not turn customers away, nor would I feel comfortable sending them on their way to someone else, why would I even be in business? I have done naughty cakes, not my favorite, but I do not put a label on it, and saran wrap the box, so no accidents with little people opening the box. I also do not advertise that I do them. Fortunately, I don't do many. I enjoy both b/c and fondant. I love to sculpt, do chocolate work, make patterns and be creative. I suppose we all have our preferences and skill levels. I hate to do petifors with a passion, but I do them because I have a customer that wants them. I think it is a matter of priority and choice, and thats what makes this country so great, we can all do what we want.
I don't do cakes I don't want to do, it's very cut and dry for me. If a client wants a cake that won't give me artistic freedom or satisfaction I'm not doing it. I suppose it depends whether you do the cakes for love or money, or what ratio.
I dont do cakes with fresh flowers. I've had customers request it, and I tell them the reasons why I wont do it, and they usually go for gumpaste flowers instead.
I had one customer that wanted feathers on her cake, I thought about it for about 5 minutes, and then emailed her back and told her I wouldnt be able to help her with her request.
So basically no fresh flowers and no feathers.
Nati : )
Some people are fortunate to be able to pick and choose what they do but when you don't do a lot of cakes like me. I tend to take them all on in the hope of maybe getting more orders having said that if you can talk them out of something you don't either know how to do or not happy doing it then alls the better. I personally don't see how you can tell someone else what to have on their cakes especially wedding cakes and I don't believe that you can expect them to like what you like. You can always put something of yourself in the cake somehow to make it yours.
Im going to start off by saying that I'm 22 so I come from a different generation. With that said, I know for a fact that the character pans are a no no. The stars hurt my hands.
Right now, my goal is to have my own shop. Having a shop is a professional thing and I think I would have to present myself as a professional. So I think if I learned how to do some of the more risque things, I would do them even though I dont particularly like that sort of thing. There is no particular reason why I dont like risque things, however. If I didnt live in closeminded rural Alabama, I dont think I would have much of a problem. People here really need to experience things IMPO. My former next door neighbor is the person that inspired me to ge into cakesa and I didnt know it at the time, but she is VERY religious, but she did adult cakes.
And speaking of religion . . thats a hard one because Im gay and everytime I go to church I feel hated so, I'm trying to reconcile my faith and all that. Personally, I dont think I would like to profit off of God. But I want to be professional.
My first job was working in retail at the Gap. I learned there that telling people the truth really works. If you tell them its ugly, they will listen to you. So I wont do the stairs, scalloped plates, fountains and all of that primative crap. I'm not going to buy heart pans, but the petals I like because they can add nice accents. I prefer squares because they look the best and they provide more servings.
Really great thread!
I think about this stuff a lot and I'm glad everyone's talking about it.
In my opionion, there is a difference between a cake provider who is more service oriented and one who considers him/herself an artist. I love all the cakes in Martha Stewart Weddings, and if you have noticed, they all have a certain "look" to them. They are classy, elegant, the color palates are limited on each cake, and you would never see a sculptured cake or something really garish. If, as a pastry chef, you want to develop a personal style, I think you really have to turn down jobs that don't showcase it. You know...if you want someone to look at a cake and say, "oh that looks like a cake from ____________!"
That being said, I am just starting off and feel like I have to accept all orders, even if they don't fit in with my style, because I'm trying to build up clientele and can't afford not to! But I really would like to get to the point where I, very politely, decline any orders that don't fit in with the style I'd like to have my business associated with.
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