Cake-gate

[8Wina4]

I work in an office environment, in a team of around 20. Before the Easter weekend, I was chatting in the staff room on a break about how I've recently really got into baking, and one of my colleagues jokingly said that she wouldn't mind if I bought some cake to work for her to try. I promised I'd bring some home made cakes in after Easter.

Fast forward to today. I take in four different homemade cakes. I also took in some little vegan cake bites from Tesco, as we have 2 vegans in the office and I wanted them to be able to eat something nice too (everything I baked had flour/eggs in)

One of the vegans approached me at lunch, and told me that she was really disappointed that I hadn't made the effort to home bake anything vegan, and that I had promised homemade cakes, so I should have provided that for everyone. She said she didn't like the vegan cakes I'd bought from Tesco, and that she was fed up with being left out of team lunches/treats.

I was a bit taken aback, so apologised. But the more I think about it, the more I think she was actually the unreasonable one...

Thoughts?

“For me, if I had to make a vegan cake, I would need to buy new ingredients ”

No, you wouldn’t!

Of course you would. I don't have Apple sauce, chickpea juice, vinegar or mashable bananas in my house. I don't have an oil suitable for baking in my house. All my butters and margarines are dairy based. My eggs come out of a chicken's arse.

So although I bake a lot, I wouldn't go out of my way to spend extra money just to appease one CF vegan twat, unless I choose to do so.

I can do gluten free as I personally like to experiment with different flours. I'm pretty confident with that. But making a cake rise without eggs? I simply don't have the knowledge nor the ingredients for it. So unless she wants to pay for the ingredients for more than one attempt at making something vegan, she can take a running jump.

It's not about how difficult it is or isn't to make a cake coeliac friendly, whether stuff is readily available in the shops or a quick Google and off you go.
It's about people's rudeness and entitlement, the OP did a nice thing, didn't leave anyone out yet some entitled cow didn't think it was good enough.
If I had to home bake cakes for all my friends dietary requirements I would run out of money, oven space , baking tins and the will to live.

“Of course you would. I don't have Apple sauce, chickpea juice, vinegar or mashable bananas in my house. I don't have an oil suitable for baking in my house. All my butters and margarines are dairy based. My eggs come out of a chicken's arse.“

As I said, I wrongly assumed that everyone who cooks would have some sort of vegetable oil in their kitchen. I’m obviously wrong. But you don’t need any of that other stuff!

And I agree that you do usually need special ingredients for gluten free- unless you just do a roulade of done sort.

All this debate about how easy or difficult it is to make a vegan cake is ridiculous.
The OP should bake whatever she fancies. Her colleagues have the option of eating or not eating. And should be thankful regardless.

I’d have told her I did make one, but it tasted and looked like crap so I went to Tesco instead.

Baking is practice, like anything else. If you aren’t used to baking vegan, chances are it’ll take you a few attempts. I can pull a gluten free cake together in minutes, because I chanced upon a fab recipe that uses almond flour instead of wheat flour. I haven’t found a vegan recipe that turned out edible....

Matters for FA if you have vegan stuff in your cupboard, no one should feel compelled to make a fucking vegan anything if they don't want just because some bam whinged about it.

“Matters for FA if you have vegan stuff in your cupboard, no one should feel compelled to make a fucking vegan anything if they don't want just because some bam whinged about it.”

I agree. Although my language would be different.

This colleague's comments to OP are exactly what the phrase "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth" was coined for. She could have expressed her disappointment far more tactfully and effectively than that!

However there is a silver lining of sorts - if OP didn't already realise this colleague is entitled and whiny, she does know it now. And I bet it won't be confined completely to cake-related issues either...

My eggs come out of a chicken's arse

Just come back to the thread and loving this

Chicken's don't poo eggs, honestly.

That is like saying women poo babies. They really don't.

My eggs come out of a chicken's arse

That is like saying women poo babies. They really don't.
Chicken's don't poo eggs, honestly.

Actually, eggs do come out of the same place in chickens. They have something called a cloaca, which is a single chamber with a single opening to the outside through which eggs, "urine" and faeces pass.

www.britannica.com/science/cloaca

So, yes, it comes out of their arse, if not strictly anus.

Every day is a learning day.

She was very unreasonable and rude. In future, I would let people know that you are an amateur baker bringing your usual cakes in, not a paid professional caterer who needs to cater for all dietary needs.

Of course. It didn’t cross my mind that the kitchen of a person who cooks wouldn’t have vegetable oil in it. I cook from scratch most of the time and I only have olive oil or butter in the house.

Sodding ridiculous! I am just about confident in rustling up a Victoria sponge, I wouldn’t want to get landed making something with weird and whacky ingredients that I hadn’t done before for what sounds like a very picky person!

The reason veggies and vegans get landed with shop bought stuff is simply due to people being unsure what to make/how to make it/where to get the ingredients and not wanting to get landed with loads extra they don’t need, not malice.

Do you use olive oil for things like stir fries? It would taste too strong for me, I think.

I have flavoured oils on my pantry, for stir frys I use sesame oil or groundnut oil.

I actually could make the vegan lemon drizzle recipe you suggested, but I’ve made vegan cakes previously and they just weren’t of a standard I’d want to take into work.

I use KFC coconut oil for stir fries. It is flavourless and can take the high temperatures. I'll finish off with some sesame oil.

I tend to use rapeseed oil for most non olive oil purposes- but I do live bang In the middle of oilseed rape country!

Isn’t coconut oil really high in saturated fats? I suppose you’re not using much...

Yes, I use extra virgin olive oil or butter for everything.

I don't actually bake though, so I don't have flour, baking powder or any kind of sugar in the house either! But you did say cook, not bake.

Sorry not sorry for starting a mini debate about chickens shitting eggs

Thanks for clarifying my comment @Lweji