AIBU to be disappointed in this cake…

[Notwhatiimagined]

I picked up dds cake today and it was not what I expected.

Would you be happy with this cake? I’ve attached two pics below, one was the pic I sent to the cake maker of what I wanted (a family dog) and the other picture is of the cake.

Also his head is made of Rice Krispies as apparently heads are hard to do. I wasn’t aware that it wouldn’t be all sponge.

It’s from a proper cake shop, not someone who does it as a hobby.

What do you all think?

@TwinsandTrifle

I have done really big parties for the DC. One of them turned 6 and we had a superhero party.

The cake was very good. With a hand sculpted edible Iron Man. Fed 40. Plus 20 handmade Hulk and Iron Man cupcakes. The whole lot was £90. We've had huge dinosaurs, three tier chemistry cakes, replica board games, varying in price. Essentially if I'm paying for you as a professional cake maker, I want to be impressed, not just saving the time of how long it would have taken me, and presented with something amateur.

I'd be pretty pissed off with the dog at £110. Less on the money side, as if you'd got what you expected, I think the money is about right. You got a much lower standard.

These are the iron man lot, (the other cakes mentioned were even better, but I can't be arsed to scroll and find them)

Chalk it up to experience OP. And don't use her again, obvs.

Those cakes are fab, and to be fair, you got an absolute bargain.
I'm a home based professional cake maker, and I'd charge at least double for what you got there.

It's lovely but £110, sorry that is ridiculous.

@Aroundtheworldin80moves

Several hours work at £10 per hour... £50 Ingredients... £30 (icing sugar, butter etc add up!) Utilities, rent etc Insurance Food certificates

Not a lot of profit in cake making...

Exactly! @Aroundtheworldin80moves! Sadly a lot of people just don't get it though Hours and hours of work this must have taken, plus ingredients, plus insurance, marketing, board, box, equipment, skill and expertise and people are saying it's overpriced?! This cake maker would literally be making it for no profit or even a wage at all. Why would people expect a cake maker to spend hours making anyone a cake in the shape of someone else's dog out of the goodness of their heart? But people will pay £££ to a tradesman or other service person and not bat an eyelid at their extortionate hourly rate to do something they are skilled in. Yes it's something you eat, but it's also a work of art, and the photos and the memories are everlasting. There are plenty of cheap cakes at any supermarket so just go there if you are not prepared to pay for a bespoke cake, but don't say that this cake is overpriced and the cake maker must be living it up on all the profit she's making from anyone's custom - because that certainly is not the case here!

It looks like.a dog, but not your dog.

I think consider you knew a good quality cake maker would charge £350 for what you wanted that’s not a bad cake for £110.

Cakes are expensive because they’re way more time consuming than people give credit for.

You were never going to get a like-for-like model of your dog for £110.

If you wanted an exact replica of the dog you needed to pay £350.

The dinosaur cake was great, but to get a dog cake if the same standard it would cost £350'and it seems you didn't want to pay that.

You've got what you paid for.

FWIW it think it's a great cake.

Your mistake was going to a cake shop. Your more likely to get a perfectly lovely dog cake, with all of the short cuts they need to make to keep the price lower for you, such as you have here.

If you wanted a more realistic cake sculpture, then you need to go to an independent cake artist, there's very few cake shops that work to that level of skill, but it's going to cost you a lot more, because it's a lot more work.

I can't say whether it's okay or not, that will depend on what you paid for it & what sort of area you are in, as prices can vary around the country, but I suspected was a reasonably priced cake if it was from a cake shop.

I'm guessing your daughter is going to be thrilled with it regardless.

Just seen the price...

No you won't get a cake sculpture for that price even in the north west, you're looking at, at least £350

So I think your answer is in the price quoted for the dog by your dinosaur cake lady. If you wanted a dog in the same style/standard as the dinosaur, you know how much you should have paid, which was £240 more than what you did pay.

I would have wanted to see other examples of their work if I was paying £110

It's very cartoonish so I can see why you're disappointed.

What were your expectations. What made you think it would be more lifelike as opposed to cartoonish

@groundhogdaycherry

I made this cake I'm heartbroken

Don't be. It's a great cake and well worth the price, and the results of the poll show that over 85% of people agree. The OP just had unrealistic expectations and wanted a competition level type sculpture cake without the price tag.

Shocking, looks like something a friend would do. £110 OMG. Although judging by the extreme cake makers program on telly using Rice Krispies in part is common, they should have explained that. The cake. Looks nothing like the dog and nothing like the cakes made by professionals on the TV.

@groundhogdaycherry where in the NW are you? I think it looks fantastic!!

I agree your DD sounds ungrateful OP. My DD is 9 and would never dream of being so demanding and then rude about an expensive cake. Teach her some manners for crying out loud!

But it's a badly done cake that looks nothing like the dog, for £110. It would be acceptable for £40. I know there's all the "what about the labour?!" but that's sort of the point, the distinct lack of craftsmanship that OP was paying for. Her work looks extremely amateur.

OP wasn't expecting a true to life version of her dog at £350. She didn't need a true to life version, hence she didn't go for that. She wasn't expecting the equivalent of the Mona Lisa for £110. But what she got was poor. There's zero care to detail at all. It's a pale coloured dog and the similarities end there. How hard would it have been just to get the basic proportions right and do a longer tail. It was the brief that OP gave, was told "oh yes I can do that", paid for, and it's not what she received.

I was wondering if I was imagining the standard of the cakes we've had, and have searched a few more up, to give comparisons. These are all large cakes. Super detail. Airbrushing.

The science one £80.
A better shot of iron man where you can see the effort that went into him. And the metal plate effect on the lower tier.
Jumanji is probably the poorest detail, but it was a last minute thing, so she was rushed and it was £45.

And OP should have paid £110 for a "professional" cake that looks like a friend's had a go and didn't meet the brief?

I think it's alright

Space themed cake. £70
Twins bear cake. £55.

I've got loads more, but I think that's enough to show the standard you can receive from people who are obviously making a profit on their prices. This whole: "that's the best OP could expect, and meets the agreed brief, for £110" is absolute rubbish.

@TwinsandTrifle

But it's a badly done cake that looks nothing like the dog, for £110. It would be acceptable for £40. I know there's all the "what about the labour?!" but that's sort of the point, the distinct lack of craftsmanship that OP was paying for. Her work looks extremely amateur.

OP wasn't expecting a true to life version of her dog at £350. She didn't need a true to life version, hence she didn't go for that. She wasn't expecting the equivalent of the Mona Lisa for £110. But what she got was poor. There's zero care to detail at all. It's a pale coloured dog and the similarities end there. How hard would it have been just to get the basic proportions right and do a longer tail. It was the brief that OP gave, was told "oh yes I can do that", paid for, and it's not what she received.

I was wondering if I was imagining the standard of the cakes we've had, and have searched a few more up, to give comparisons. These are all large cakes. Super detail. Airbrushing.

The science one £80.
A better shot of iron man where you can see the effort that went into him. And the metal plate effect on the lower tier.
Jumanji is probably the poorest detail, but it was a last minute thing, so she was rushed and it was £45.

And OP should have paid £110 for a "professional" cake that looks like a friend's had a go and didn't meet the brief?

I agree that those are good cakes, but they are seriously underpriced. £80 for a three tier cake? Your cake maker can't be making much profit on those - probably not even minimum wage.

@FedUpMiss

I agree your DD sounds ungrateful OP. My DD is 9 and would never dream of being so demanding and then rude about an expensive cake. Teach her some manners for crying out loud!

What posts are you basing this on?

I've looked at all the OP's posts and there's nothing she says about her daughter that matches your accusation.

How weird.

(of you)

@TellySavalashairbrush

TBH I don't think it's the best. Can I ask how much did you pay for it? I think anymore than £25 and I would have been disappointed.

the ingredients alone would likely have cost £25+ never mint time plus a profit/ Cake makers really do get the piss taken out of them!

@Classica her DD asked for a 'realistic cake of the dog' (weird and should have been told that not likely for what we can afford) and then was disappointed at the final result. It's a £110 cake, I'd be mortified if my DD behaved that way

[quote FedUpMiss]@Classica her DD asked for a 'realistic cake of the dog' (weird and should have been told that not likely for what we can afford) and then was disappointed at the final result. It's a £110 cake, I'd be mortified if my DD behaved that way[/quote]
Presumably her mother asked her what kind of cake she wanted, there's no suggestion she demanded a cake.

She said it didn't look like a realistic dog caked (it doesn't) but that she liked it anyway.

Wow what a brat!

Stop making stuff up. Are you sure your mother isn't mortified at your behaviour?

I agree that those are good cakes, but they are seriously underpriced. £80 for a three tier cake? Your cake maker can't be making much profit on those - probably not even minimum wage.

Only two of those 5 cakes are from the same woman. All 4 are professional cake makers, and charge virtually identical prices. They're not all working for peanuts. That's the price they charge with the profit they want, for cakes like that. That's the price and level of the competition.

If I gave any of them OPs dog photo, £110, and asked "please make me this dog" I'd get a highly recognisable version of the dog. OP has got nothing of the sort.

It's a first world problem. But it's the subject matter. The cake maker told her she was getting a representation of the dog in the photo, and to do this, would be £110. She then failed to produce the cake she agreed too.

Are you sure your mother isn't mortified at your behaviour?

She probably is (then again she gets upset when people don't iron socks), but I'll tell you secret:
A. I really couldn't give a fuck, and
B. I'm not a 9yo having a shit tonne spent on me so it's not quite the same 🤣

People deciding the child is a brat (even though there is no evidence of that in the OP's posts), because they're annoyed a £110 was spent on a kid's cake. Bet their kids turn out normal...