Would you be happy with this cake for £50 from a 'professional' cake maker?

[footballcrazyfootballmad]

Just as in the title really.

£50. Cake was raw in the middle but was still warm as had obviously been made very quickly before I collected it . I was due to collect it at 11am but at 10am she had sent me a message about a 'family emergency' and asked if I could collect in the evening instead (which was not possible). Instead we agreed for 2.30pm.

The butter icing was melting as the cake was still warm so had almost collapsed in the middl and it just looked so amateur. I could genuinely have made it myself if I wanted it to look that bad, but paid a professional so it looked better than I could do.

I have been offered a refund, BUT the cake maker has made out I am totally unreasonable... so what do you think?! Would you be happy?

Warmed it in your car in the sub-zero temps we’re having at the moment? Unless you’re not actually northern hemisphere, that sounds a tad implausible but props to the cake seller for her absolute front 😂

Anyone who uses strawberries in February when they are tasteless should not be calling themselves professional anything imo. What is the thing at the side that looks like a face with skinny arms?

So to add insult to injury she has ripped off someone else’s design!

Well her best wasn’t good enough was it…..so you don’t pay…..she’s not a charity.

Most cake makers have a stock of sponges in the freezer ready to use.

It definitely looks like she rushed the cake for whatever reason. Also I think it looks overpriced for what it is. I have had birthday cakes made before, for a slightly higher price, and much better quality, custom made designs, flavours, colours etc.

Well not really….it’s just a jellycat cake…..i expects most kids are asking for them at the moment

I really don't think £50 is "ridiculously cheap" for a cake! For me and lots of people I know, and (I assume) a lot of people on Mumsnet, £50 is a good chunk of money, and if we spent it on a cake, rather than making the cake ourselves, we'd be expecting something really decent!

And when I see personalised cakes advertised on Facebook local sites (West Midlands) and similar, they don't seem to be charging well upwards of £50 per cake ...

OP that's a truly bad cake, but if the baker generally has good reviews I would be tempted to accept the family emergency excuse at face value, take the refund and leave it at that.

If she has bad reviews already for similar issues, I'd add one of my own, as if she makes a habit of this, people need to know!

It’s a jellycat…..obviously 🤷‍♀️

Omg, this is what i am collecting tomorrow for £65…8inch. Get a refund and dont feel bad

Do professional bakers regularly fill cakes with "unnatural chemicals"? Genuine question. I would assume an independent professional cake maker would use the same ingredients I would use at home....

And you must be aware that some people aren't skilled at baking/cake decoration, and/or lack the confidence in their abilities to do this, so would not be able to do this. If people could, I am sure they would.

That's a beautiful cake!

Well, obviously, no. That’s utter shite and she should not be charging for it.

That is one very soggy bottom!

Oh man, I'd still eat that.

But 100% do not feel guilty getting a refund!

I don't know which made that cake, but I doubt it was anyone trained. It looks awful and was inedible! I'm amazed you accepted it and took it away.

Just get your money back and never use them again.

A cake from a supermarket would've been better than that. It certainly isn't worth anywhere near £50!

As a comparison, I paid £50 for this cake for my parents' wedding anniversary today. It was delicious and well worth £50. I would not have been impressed if ours had turned out like yours

No, it looks disgusting. Why are there little legs on it, is that what you ordered?!

That’s really nice.

Even if it was perfect I would say £50 was too much.

Haven’t read all of the comments but I would definitely get a refund. I wouldn’t even have accepted that cake in the first place. I’ve knocked up countless sponge cakes with berries…cream and sometimes a chocolate wrap and, minus the chocolate, I could do the whole thing in about two and half hours, with a much better design than that. For the cake to still be warm, she must have made it really last minute because it doesn’t take long for a sponge cake to cool down. If she didn’t have time to do it properly, she shouldn’t have done it at all. I will say that, one time, I used all organic ingredients to make the cake and the ingredients came to about forty quid but I had three layers of berries and a couverture chocolate wrap.

Take the refund. That looks very slapdash

You deserve a refund. That is not professional at all. And to be raw in the middle isn't even amateur. It's inedible!

Shame you didn't warm it up enough for the middle to cook, though.

I would take a refund on this one because of it being raw but I don’t think it looks bad. It’s Jellycat inspired obviously. I’m a bit shocked that people feel £50 is a lot though to be honest. Surely this is at least £15 worth of ingredients / packaging plus gas / electric to bake it? On top of the time it takes to answer the original query and then the time it takes to chat to you when you collect it -10/15 mins at least. So £35 profit at best, no one wants to work for less than £15 an hour do they? So 2 hours ish to bake and decorate it. I wouldn’t expect a professional cake for £50.