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?

It doesn't matter whether it is hard to make. I don't like chocolate cake, but I would not complain if a colleague kept bringing in homemade chocolate cake. She is doing everyone a favour. It is basically a gift. You don't say to the gift giver, well I don't like that, so bring something different.

Classic vegan

Hilarious. Tell her it's her turn next and you are looking forward to trying the delicious vegan fare she is bringing in.

Golly, she's a CF! Not sure when the Vegan Police became a 'thing' but people like that do no one any favours. I am gluten free but I would not dream of giving a colleague a hard time for providing cake I could not eat. Dear God!

Well she’s clearly superior as she’s vegan so of course you are rude for merely existing. 🙄

The vegan thing is irreverent. No allergy, no intolerance? Then she just didn't like the cakes you baked. Don't like it, don't eat it, don't complain, simple.

You can't win, OP.
You were extremely generous to all your colleagues.
I remember baking for a class once - I had a gluten and dairy free student so I made the whole cake gluten/dairy free and then about six students complained because they weren't gluten/dairy free!
Grrr. Rudeness and lack of gratitude really get my goat.

I’ve got a nut allergy so sometimes I can’t eat homemade stuff people have brought in, no big deal. If I want a homemade cake that badly then I’ll make one myself.

Your colleague is an ungrateful, entitled, rude CF of the highest order. Ignore her and give her the face every time she starts banging on about being vegan (which I’m assuming is a daily occurrence)

She was being massively unreasonable. You're being kind you don't have to cater to everyone. It was very generous of you to take in the tesco ones.

I always dreamed of running a little tea room, my mum asked me the other day if this was still an ambition of mine but I said no, I couldn't be bothered with negative trip advisor reviews because I wouldn't cater to vegans. I'm a good baker and make lovely cakes but I like doing it my way and wouldn't stop using eggs and butter. Shame I wasn't born 40yrs earlier

You APOLOGISED???? You are an admirable person OP and your entitled colleague has rendered me speechless. CF doesnt begin to cover it

BoomBoom

If she asks where you got the recipe tell her it was recommended by a mum on a parenting website

Brilliant!

I wouldn't have been able to bite my tongue OP. What a CF! If I bake anything for DD's school I make it dairyfree because 1) it's an easy sub 2) DD has a good friend with a dairy allergy. Child with an allergy, I'll make an effort for. Ridiculously entitled adult who has made a dietary choice? Nah, fuck off.

As a lifelong vegan I find her CF behaviour repugnant.
The fact that you went to the extra effort to buy something so the vegans wouldn’t be left out was very kind and she should have said thank you.

I think it’s less about her being a vegan and more about her being an obnoxious CF.

I’d also hazard a guess that she’s only recently become a vegan and is very preachy and judgy.

I could give you tips to veganise any baking recipe but I won’t because I don’t want you to make anything for that ungrateful cow.

I would be tempted to make another cake for the office and a little something for the nice college but nothing for the CF as ‘she was so upset by your offering last time you didn’t want to offend her again.’

random

Vegan spread isn't always easy to find. I tend to need to visit big shops for things...

Vitalite and all flora spreads and vegan, most are stocked in even little shops.

Wow op no good deed unpunished!

There is something repellent about people doing others favours (for no pay) and the recipient instead of being grateful criticises the giver. Applied on another thread where the friend providing free childcare to the op wasn’t deemed cheery enough. Jaw dropping entitlement.

Lucky that I don’t work in an office anymore as I get older my sappy “niceness” is draining away and I fear I would have been rather rude to this moaner.

Can you even bake a vegan cake ?

Fucking hell, that's dim yes of course you can!

OP, Vegan #1 in your office was terribly rude; Vegan #2 was far more in the run of normal.

In the normal way of things I'd send you an easy tried and tested vegan sponge recipe, but not sure I want you to indulge the cheeky fucker!!

Actually... given how many on the thread seem to think it's incredibly difficult, I will provide a recipe anyway I assure you it is super easy and only requires you to not over-mix; may also need a little more liquid than stated for proper sponge mix consistency (aim for the same as an eggy mix). The mix itself will taste a little vinegary but the cake itself will not.

This is my standard birthday cake for my DC and for the past 3 years the parents of party kids have been actively asking for their own piece as it was nice last time must be alright then!

This is NOT carte blanche to cook for cheeky fuckers, please note!!

divinevegan.com/recipes/desserts/vegan-sponge-cake/

Next time, buy a vegan 'treat' from the shop and put it on one of your plates - simple! Maybe scuff it up a bit if it looks too pro.

I can make a good vegan cake (not vegan, have allergic DC) but it took years before I got it right. All the people saying "It's simple" - mmm not necessarily!

I can tell you CF Vegan would have preferred a Tesco cake to one of my early efforts!

The more I think about this the more surprised I am that you didn’t even try, OP.

You brought in four specially made home made cakes for the office. Four cakes. But in a team with two vegans you didn’t even try to make one vegan cake. You didn’t even google how!

I still think the colleague was rude but I can see why she might have felt disappointed. It’s a bit egregious to bring in that much cake and not even attempt to try a vegan one.

But maybe that’s not the point. Maybe the point is a billionth vegan bashing thread. People love to hate vegans.

Tell her you’ll do a swap. She can bake enough cakes for 20+ people in the office and you’ll bake her a little mini vegan one

“No........?? Oh you don’t want to bake non vegan stuff? Oh funny that ;) “

Keep an innocent sweet smile on your face the whole time. She’s a rude CF

Your colleague was rude & ungrateful.

FWIW I made vegan Anzac biscuits using vegan margarine instead of butter for a cake event in my son's class. I knew his teacher was vegan so decided to try.

They were okay but nothing like as nice as the flapjacks & chocolate brownies

She was rude!

How rude, she decided to have the restrictive diet, tough I would say - bringing in cake for the vegans was very thoughtful

BalloonSlayer admittedly there was a painful period of adjustment before I found this one recipe and adopted it as my cakey saviour as an aside, I've found the vegan recipes in the Guardian are pretty sound! Proper chefs, I guess....