Damned Pinterest and internet...

[Ree]

This is my vent of the day.
I would have posted it on my FB, but I also have a page with my cakes on it, and I have gotten a bit of business from that, so I don't want to ruin things. by having potential customers come across my rantings. LOL

Still, I have a huge problem regarding people who contact me to order a cake and provide a picture.

My cakes taste good, and most of the time, they do look polished and professional, but I am far from professional and I don't really claim to be. It's a hobby for me.

I am really not all that artistic. Sometimes I just get lucky and my cakes happen to turn out.
Sometimes, I am really not that proud of my work and feel like I have ripped someone off by charging for the mess they are taking away.

I have never really taken a course, and most of what I have learned is self-taught through a lot of trial and error.
I know some of my work is pretty good, but I am far from the Cake Boss.

And that's where my rant begins.
People watch these types of shows such as "Ace of Cakes" and assume the work can be recreated with no problem.
WRONG!!!

These people are not just cake decorators. They are cake ARTISTS!
Asking someone to recreate from a picture on Pinterest that has been taken from one of their websites would be like bringing someone a painting by a master and asking them to recreate it for you.

Those cakes you see them creating have a huge price tag as well.
I know you really want me to recreate that lovely 3-tiered cake with hand rolled flowers and ribbons and sugar butterflies and birds, but I'm pretty sure I can't do it for the $30 I usually charge for a simple cake, and I know you don't want to pay over a hundred bucks, but with the work involved, not to mention the materials, I really couldn't do it for less.

Fondant has become the big thing in cakes now, as there is so much that can be done if a person has the time and talent.
I don't have either of those things.
Yet, every second order I get is for some fondant masterpiece that someone has found on Pinterest or an internet search.

Just today, I got a request from someone who had been gievn my name as well as several other decorators.
She wanted a price.
I told her I couldn't give her one, as I could not possibly recreate the cake she was looking for.
Guess what logo was in the bottom corner? Yep, Pinterest!!!

The base layer of the cake was a table covered in a red checkered tablecloth. What she had no way of knowing is that the tablecover was actually hand painted on the fondant to achieve the effect.
There was a bow hand made of fondant and it had stitching piped all along the edge of the ribbon.
There were tiny little ants crawling up the side, and, again, they were either painted or piped on or made from fondant or sugar.
I checked the artist's blog and I couldn't find this exact cake in the first few pages I looked at, but for the same type of 3-D sculpture cake, she starts at about $150!

It's not their fault I have to turn down business because my skills are lacking, but still, I really wish people could be realistic in their expectations of what they can get for a reasonable price.

OK
Rant over.

[AnaKhouri]

All you can do is tell them the truth. I would think anyone who has ever ordered a wedding cake would have an idea on cost...mine was relatively simple and still cost over $100. I can't imagine what some of those fancy TV show cakes must cost. $30 seems pretty reasonable for a cake but I wouldn't expect fancy fondant stuff on it either.

My son wants a Star Wars birthday party this year and he and my husband were saying, "You could get a shaped pan and make a Darth Vader cake...look, here's an R2-D2 pan...you could put Boba Fett or General Grievous on a sheet cake."

Well, guess, who's making the cake! Not them, certainly. I told them he would get some kind of Star Wars cake, but I didn't know what as I have to see what is feasible for my meager skills.

[Ree]

I would think anyone who has ever ordered a wedding cake would have an idea on cost...mine was relatively simple and still cost over $100.

And, that's the thing.
Sometimes, just because it's a wedding cake, people get fleeced on the price so I try to keep my prices reasonable and budget conscious.

I don't charge nearly enough for my cakes, but because it really is a hobby and I don't feel my work is professional enough, I hate charging "professional" prices.
I will certainly never get rich doing it, but I try not to lose money.

I did lose on the ones I did the other night, as it cost more for supplies than I charged. LOL

They were for friends, so I gave both of them a break on the price.
One was a fondant cake with a Batman logo and 24 cupcakes. The cake was alternating layers of gold and black cake, and I only charged her $30. (Not her fault, but my oven was acting up and the first gold layer and the first 2 dozen cupcakes burned almost black and I had to start all over, so it was double the expense for me with the eggs and milk and other ingredients.)

The other cake I did the same night was a slab with an engagement/housewarming theme. I used the small bells and wedding rings I had in my storage of decorations, and I drew a small house on one corner using my granddaughter's sketch as an inspiration. Again, I only charged $30.

I did a Monster High one a few weeks ago and it was a little more time consuming with a spider web piped on the top of it and a tartan pattern all over the sides. I thought I had quoted $25 or $30 since it was for my daughter's friend. She didn't pay me for about 3 weeks and she finally dropped $20 off for me yesterday, so either I had a brain fart and only quoted that amount, or that was what she heard. :P

That "not making any money" part is all my own fault, I know, so that really isn't my main rant.
I am just tired people seeing this stuff on Pinterest and thinking any cake decorator can recreate it.
In the past year, I have had to turn down at least 4 people.

[Seshat]

Charge enough to cover for your time as well, Ree.

Post pictures of your completed cakes, and give prices - and if you wish, rough explanations of how you did each cake. EG 'the background on this one was hand-painted, and took X hours to paint', or 'the ornaments on this one are unique, I bought stock ornaments and did X to them'.

The explanations will also explain your prices, at least somewhat.

And the photos will show what you are capable of - and might, MIGHT, slow the flood of people expecting the moon and stars from you!


My most complex cake ever was a 'knitting' cake. I made balls of marzipan for yarn, and put two (cleaned!) knitting needles into the cake, crossed over each other. Then I piped thin strands of icing 'yarn' around the marzipan balls, leading from one of the balls to the needles, and then piped the icing down the cake from the needles to the plate, in a knitted pattern. The piping took AGES!
Even then, it was more symbolic than realistic. But it was for my Mum, and she either loved it or was a great actress.

[Ree]

That actually sounds really nice and creative Seshat.

[AnaKhouri]

Too bad neither of you live near me, I bet you could make a pretty sweet Star Wars cake.

[sms001]

Although this rant/vent is about food, it can easily cover almost all of the creative things shown on TV. Not shown: the five interns working behind the scene for free to get into production who actually make the six bowls of fondant, or the eighteen layers, etc. Yeah, you could make them that high end cake, if all you focused on was the piping maybe, but free labor for the grunt work turns out to be surprisingly limited in my neck of the woods, and probably in yours too.

[BlaqueKatt]

I am just tired people seeing this stuff on Pinterest and thinking any cake decorator can recreate it.

Even better is the fact that some professional cake designers may actually copyright cake designs, so not only are they assuming "anyone can do this" but going with the assumption "it's on the internet so it's free".

So if you don't want to get into a skill debate you can always say you're unwilling to steal another artist's intellectual property, unless of course they have a signed release from the artist.

[Seshat]

That actually sounds really nice and creative Seshat.

Thanks, Ree.

Maybe she really did like it, then. Bast keeps telling me I'm overly judgemental about my own art.

[Android Kaeli]

I've had a lot of comments on the jewelry I wear, which 98% of it I make. People want me to make something for them, can I do [very elaborate design that would take several HOURS just for a bracelet] for [a quarter of the price of materials]? I laugh, say that I'd do it for [ten times the amount they are willing to pay], say it'll take a while for me to learn that style, and that if they don't like that price, or the time frame, make it themselves.

Things can't be made with a low price or the ability to do it.

[MoonCat]

Let's face it, most people make assumptions about the amount of skill, labor and time that goes into making anything. Just look at the people who contact Seraph wanting a multi-page website with all the bells and whistles, and then say that their budget is about $50.