I am just a hobbyist, but have sold a couple of cakes to friends/coworkers. I bring several cakes to work for everyone to enjoy. How do I politely refuse to share the recipes? I hate to tell people 'no', but I have gone to the time and trouble to research a recipe and pair it with filling/frosting...I feel protective about it! Am I being silly? 
Just tell them it's a trade secret- if they get upset it's their problem. Is the grocery store going to give them their recipes? No. I share plenty with people but there are a few formulas I hold close, and usually people are very understanding of that.
There have been several threads about this in the past too -
Often suggested is to offer up the general place the recipe came from - like say "epicurious.com has lots of great ones, I kind of combine them". Or, if you have tweaked a recipe beyond recognition, offer up the original and let them figure the rest out if they really want.
You could go the secret family recipe route ... "oh my great aunt would kill me if I let the recipe out"!
Or the "oh, I don't know, I just add a pinch of this here and a pinch there, I don't really have a recipe per se.." ;p
Don't feel bad about not wanting to give away your recipes though. You're not being silly!
LOL kjgjam22! 
I never mind sharing my recipes with fellow bakers! One of my worries (i'm at risk of sounding snotty here, but I don't mean it that way) is that someone who says they can't bake at all will use my recipe, mess it up, then announce that it was my recipe! I don't need that kind of attention...if anyone is going to mess up my recipe, let it be me 
You know..I take it as a compliment people asking for a recipe.. What is the big secret.. most the time they aren't going to make it anyway if its a little trouble..and if they do they probably only will make for a special occasion.. My grandmother was one that did this but her trick was to leave an essential item out of the recipe..and then your recipe would be a major disaster, a waste of money and a major disappointment.. I guess I when i ask for a recipe it is a compliment to the cook and why people don't take it that way is beyond me.. instead they give all sorts of excuses.. of why they can't share... Its really kinda sad if you ask me.
Yes, I do take it as a compliment when someone wants a recipe, and if it is something that I just pulled out of a recipe book, I don't mind sharing. But my more 'special' recipes, I have spent a lot of time experiementing and perfecting and I don't want to hand them out to just anyone. Please don't get the wrong impression, I get a LOT of recipes from CC and would happily share any recipe I have with anyone here. The specific situation that sparked this was that someone bought a cake from me, then asked me for the recipe. I was taken aback. If she thought it was good enough to pay for once, she wants me to give away the 'secrets' now?
Great thread.
People who get mad are immature. It's your profession . . .if you taught everyone how to do it they wouldn't need you. . .
What do you think about sharing here on cc....(I'm not asking for her recipe), but there are hundreds of "how do I do this...?" questions daily. Essentially, we are eachothers competition, but I love the way almost everyone shares there secrets.
Here is my theory on recipes and cake designs. This is a very big world and even though we may feel we have come up with or perfected the perfect recipe, or a one of a kind design, I have a feeling someone, somewhere has probably thought of the same thing. There have been older more experienced bakers and decorators who shared with me over the years and now I share with other's. If there were another decorator in the area who was direct competition and they asked for my recipes I would probably be hesitant to do that. But if it were a co-worker or a neighbor my guess is they wouldn't be making the same item at the same time on a regular basis so why not give it to them?
You make a good point, Shirley. As it turned out, I folded and gave her the recipe. After she asked me what clear vanilla and piping gel were (whipped cream frosting), she asked if there was some other frosting she could use, etc... I have the feeling she had no idea what goes into making cakes and probably will come to me if she wants it again. I guess when we share secrets, people find out exactly how much work goes into our creations! And since everyone is probably wondering, I will happily post the recipe here in a little bit. It's a Double Strawberry Shortcake. It's not an original recipe, but I have made some adjustments to the original, so I guess I can call it mine.
Thanks to everyone for your advice/opinions! I just love CC!!! 
For me, I don't mind sharing recipes on here, since we're all in our own areas, it's not like we're competion, lol. Also, one of my best friends lives in Denver, she does cakes too so we share all our recipes & tips, however; there are several people around here that I know of who do cakes also and there's no way I'll tell them any of my secrets 
. It is my dream to one day start my own cake business so if I give them my recipes, what will set me apart from everyone else?
Of course that is just my cake related recipes, if someone asked me for one of my meal/regular baking recipes I will gladly share. I try to be a really nice person so I HATE having to tell people no, but I usually try to just avoid answering directly or say something like, 'oh thanks, i'm glad you liked the cake, that was my friend kim's top secret recipe.' and then change the subject.
I can only think of once where I've had to directly say, 'sorry that was my friend's secret recipe, she asked me not to share it with anyone else,' but the girl who asked me was not a very nice person so I didn't mind having to tell her no, lol.
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