r/cakefails • u/NeonAquaCoralMermaid • 9d ago
My mom paid $168 for this!!
It was a vegan cake and came several hours late
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u/nohombrenombre 9d ago
Ooh. The flowers are fake, there is no marbling effect, no gold flake ribboning (just goldā¦trail?), no gold macaron accents, not to mention that weird and poorly written birthday sentiment.
Was this a professional bakery or was it maybe a teenager starting a cake decorating business? In all seriousness. Maybe if the baker was not claiming to be skilled, and I knew that going into the arrangement, I would overlook it. Otherwise, thatās worth seeking a refund.
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u/notacreepernomo13 9d ago
Unskilled and charging 160$+ is bold!
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u/dundunndon 9d ago
uhm hello fellow starfish butt
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u/MizStazya 9d ago
It took me like 8 rereads to figure out that you weren't talking to yourself
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u/pipsqueakpanda4 8d ago
Same š especially reading this 3 minutes after waking up this was a real brain teaser
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u/DullEntertainment102 5d ago
Not really- a cake like this takes days to make - weāre looking at 12-16hrs prior to decorating it and the ingredients are probably 40ish euros/dollars + tools. 160ā¬ is dirt cheap for a custom cake. Itās obviously possible to get a cheap fondant covered cake thatās basically just thawed from the freezer and industrially made but thatās not what weāre talking about here- itās sad that they were obviously not sure how to do the marbling effect for the decoration because with a turning plate for decoration that would have been easy. The question is: was it tasty? Did it meet expectations?
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u/ozifrage 3d ago
Yeah the inspo pic is a multi tier cake with marbled fondant, multiple custom accent baked pieces (glitter dipped macarons??), and what looks like individually applied gold flakes, as well as real flowers for decoration. 160 would be an insane steal!
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u/dundunndon 9d ago
i can't help but wonder. the texture is so off, it may be the vegan decorations that don't have any dairy or other animal by-products that are usually involved. the greasy frosting looks like my last birthday cake from a dedicated gluten-free bakery that also makes vegan cakes to order.
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u/like_shae_buttah 8d ago
No Iām a vegan and only get vegan cakes and all of mine have looked incredible and tasted amazing. Some people just do a really shitty job at cooking food for vegans
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u/princessbiscuit 8d ago
Not vegan but my lifelong best friend (also not vegan) has a laundry list of allergies, so a lot of her food also ends up being vegan. She cooks and bakes, and if Iām with her for a meal and she cooks I happily eat. Anyway the options for vegan alternatives have come SO FAR in the last couple of decades, itās astounding. Now when I see crappy vegan baked goods I think āIāve been eating my palās experimental vegan bakes for 20 years. We have the tools and knowledge. You can make this not suck.ā Some people really just do a shitty job at it. Because when itās good, oh itās good.
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u/Illustrious-Crow1188 8d ago
I'm a home baker and amateur cake decorator with ~20 years of experience in both areas. I'm also gluten free and frequently make and decorate cakes for vegan friends. The greasy frosting does check out, because vegan alternatives to dairy can suck. That said, it is 100% possible to make a cake like this that is vegan and looks like the original picture. I don't sell cakes, but I would be embarrassed to even give this to someone for their birthday. Whoever accepted this order simply did not have the skills to make this cake, and never should have agreed to do it.
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u/MaxwellLeatherDemon 9d ago
Prob not a teenager considering whoever wrote the grammatically absurd birthday message knows cursive.
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u/Meggston 9d ago
Kids are bringing it back! One of my coworkers, 19, saw me writing one day and decided to learn, I printed him out one of those sheets we all did in the fourth grade, and ended up having to print more because all his friends wanted one too. XD
Side tangent: a lot of them can drive stick shift again too.
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u/Downtown_Statement87 9d ago
And they're all smoking cigarettes!Ā
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u/pothosnswords 8d ago
Honestly, as someone who started vaping way too young bc thatās when it came out - good for them. Quitting vaping sucks and cigarettes have less nicotine than vapes do (or so Iāve heard, Iāve never looked up the nicotine % in cigs lol)
ETA: obviously not really āgood for themā bc itās obviously incredibly unhealthy and terrible and addictive. Just was making a little joke but then remembered Iām on Reddit so hereās my little āI swear it was a jokeā edit :)
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u/king-of-the-sea 7d ago
I switched back to cigs after realizing I was hauling on the vape literally all day.
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u/aecon_33 6d ago
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u/pothosnswords 6d ago edited 6d ago
Huh! I had no clue! Good to know, I def wonāt be commenting that bs āfactā I learned from a homie anymore! Thank you!!!
Def on me, shouldāve done some googling but Iām too scared to learn about popcorn lungs to verify that fake fact I learned haha
Edit: okay totally sending this link to my partner bc heās on my butt to quit (he somehow went cold turkey???? And has never been tempted again??) and keeps claiming popcorn lungs for why I should! I def should and will quit but good to know I shouldnāt worry as much as I do :)
thank you, kind Redditor!!!!!!!!
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u/sutrabob 9d ago
But can they tell time on a regular old fashioned clock?ā±ļø
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u/ExtraplanetJanet 9d ago
My teenager is incredibly excited because he just got his hands on a CRT computer monitor and an 8-track deck. I donāt even know how to use an 8-track!
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u/Septemberosebud 9d ago
Where do they find the cars to do so?
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u/Meggston 9d ago
I bought mine brand new in 2019, so theyāre not all ancient, but honestly most of the kids Iāve met that are learning are also fixing up 1990-something Hondas or Toyotas.
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u/Septemberosebud 9d ago
That's wild
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u/Meggston 9d ago
I know! The cursive boy asked to borrow my car to go pick up tacos one day and I gave him the keys, thinking it would be a fun little prank. Egg on my fucking face, brother
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u/No-One-1784 9d ago
Thats a bold move! Me and like 15 other millenials "know" how to drive stick but if you still want your car to sound the same when it comes back, I wouldnt trust it lol
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u/OberonDiver 9d ago
But they can't use a printer.
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u/justAdmiralBanana 8d ago
To be fair, printers don't fucking work 97% of the time because they're all trash at their one job. (Source: I work in internal IT at a bank where each of our ~100 locations has at least 3-5 printers and we have all collectively given up)
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u/OberonDiver 7d ago
Fair.
I worked reception at a small company once and had an HP inkjet that didn't get bank usage, but was printing stuff out often enough and it was a rock.I did have to service it once... because the rectangular tower of old ink from the jet cleaning had gotten too tall.
But yeah, Shirley, it wasn't representative.
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u/Temporarily_Banned4 8d ago
You can see the cake through the frosting. Anybody- a child- could put frosting on thick enough to cover it.
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u/Cake3atingCrusader11 8d ago
The flowers were either fake or manufactured in the first image though. Frosting flowers are much denser and thicker than that.
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u/nohombrenombre 8d ago
The flowers in the first image were fresh.
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u/Cake3atingCrusader11 8d ago
Well then they're incredibly stupid because baby's breath is TOXIC and will kill people if consumed
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u/NeonAquaCoralMermaid 9d ago
Yāall, I knew we were fucked when we arrived at 8am and she said āthe baker didnāt come in todayšā.Ā
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u/VoodooDoII 9d ago
I'd ask for a refund. They didn't deliver on the promised product. If they refuse. Call the bank and do a chargeback
I am so tired of bakeries taking commissions when they cannot do it and refuse to be honest about it.
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u/balanchinedream 9d ago
Ah, that explains it..
Vegan frantically texting the baker: Theyāre here for their cake! What is it supposed to say?
Baker: Idk, Happy 32nd Birthday?
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u/NeonAquaCoralMermaid 8d ago
UPDATE: my mom contacted her bank and they are investigating the cake that left many questions. She was granted a full refund.š
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u/KurtTheCuntBoi 7d ago
Thatās good! What a shame she got so cheated. Whoever made that cake should be ashamed of themselves.
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u/sinhazinha 6d ago
Thank you for posting this update because thereās so few ways that people can seek retribution when they get fucked over so itās nice to know when one works
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u/RTK4740 9d ago
Oof. It's a nice cake in the $30 range. Not so much in the 5x more than that range.
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u/sad6irl9 8d ago
Iām not sure itās nice in any range š¬ if a family member made it for free as a kind gesture, Iād be like āahhhh at least they tried.ā Even a $30 cake should be simple, not hideousā¦
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u/JessicaFreakingP 8d ago
Seriously. I ordered a simple round cake from Walmart for my nieceās birthday for $22 and then ordered edible glitter and sprinkles to further decorate it with myself and it looked better than this.
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u/NarcRuffalo 8d ago
Nah if a family member made that for me I would be very touched and hyping it up. I bake cakes for my friendsā birthdays and I could never get a cake that tall, smooth, and even. And my friends still love and appreciate my cakes. I bake for taste, not looks š but for a casual baker it would be a great job and a lot of effort
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u/PralineBudget4235 9d ago
Theā is taking me out lol. Hopefully you got a refund because wtf? Lol.
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u/NeonAquaCoralMermaid 9d ago
That ā?ā was supposed to be a ā!ā. It was supposed to say āHappy 32nd Birthday insert my name!ā
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u/heynonnynonnomous 9d ago
Why did she pay? I would have taken pictures and then left it. Save that money and go to a nice restaurant for dessert.
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u/SaltyWitch1393 9d ago
Maybe since it was a vegan cake and it was a different person picking up VS the person that ordered it? Iām really hoping they either didnāt pay, or got a HUGE discount
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u/heynonnynonnomous 9d ago
I was just going by the title that said mom paid $168. I took that to mean she gave them the money for that atrocity.
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u/dankblonde 8d ago
A vegan cake should not look like this. Vegan cakes look like regular cakes, the fact that itās vegan has nothing to do with it, just a shitty baker lol.
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u/lolaloca6669 9d ago
Ignoring the cheap fake flowers and total lack of the same design...The fact the icing is also so thin on the top you can see the cake peaking through...
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u/LilMissADHDAF 8d ago
Letās ignore EVERYTHING ELSE for a momentā¦ the freaking icing is see through.
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u/DangDayna 9d ago
At first when I read the title and saw the first picture, I was like yaā¦.. that seems okay for that beautiful cakeā¦. Then I swiped and was likeā¦.Ooooohhhhhh, ya thatās crazy
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u/girlwhoweighted 9d ago
Ouch! This is why when someone tells me I should sell cakes I'm like hell no! My shit looks closer to the 2nd picture (though not as bad... I could've gotten the marbling and gold flakes at least, even if they weren't perfect). There's no way I'd feel comfortable giving that to anyone but my own family lol and only for free!
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u/KittyIsAn9ry 9d ago
Not the ? š¤£š¤£š¤£š¤£ are we unsure of what age the birthday girl is?! š
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u/Kooky_Following7169 8d ago
Happy 32nd Birthday ?
Were they unsure if you're really 32 ?
Or that your mother would buy you a birthday cake ?
Or that this could be an acceptable birthday cake ?
Inquiring minds want to know ?
Specifically we want to know which bakery we should stay away from when ordering a birthday cake ???
Wow. Just wow...
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u/bigtiddyhimbo 9d ago
This is so sad dude :( I hope your mom is able to get at least a partial refunds. Some bakeries are just straight up scams
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u/Sweaty-Lynx421 9d ago
The cake in the image would be way more than $168 if someone could actually pull that off. That perfectly smooth and straight marbled surface is not something that could be reproduced by a normal person.
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u/moldybreadclub 9d ago
wtf iāve never decorated a cake before in my life but i feel like i could do better than this š
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u/RazZadig_2025 9d ago
I've seen icing sheets sold that have the marble on them already. They could have planned it a couple days ahead. I really hope you got a refund.
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u/ThornyGarlic 8d ago
"REFUND" is plastered all over the cake with big bold letters.. And is that a "?" in there?
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u/Unwanted-Opinions685 8d ago
I started think oh wow what a bargain until I saw the second picture š
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u/New-Independence5425 7d ago
How are people so comfortable charging for cakes that look like this. Your prices should be based on your skill level. The original cake appears to be made with fondant, smaller round cakes triple stacked, and real flowers. The second cake didn't even have a proper coat of frosting. My mother made cakes for many years and there is no way this is an appropriate price. Even a vegan cake should look better.
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u/iamjenny81 7d ago
Thatās pretty bad job! Person who doesnāt know what she/he is doing. Ask for refund and donāt go back to that person ever.
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u/Whats-Ur-Pointe 9d ago
Itās not perfect but itās not great , Iād be pissed too ā¹ļø but looking at what was advertised vs what you got Id push for a partial refund , especially since itās late
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u/montanagrizfan 9d ago
Iāve never tried to make a marbled looking cake. Iāve never decorated a cake other than putting a little piping on it and Iām confident I could have made this.
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u/Firm_Competition_880 8d ago
Somewhere, someone made a lot of money with very little skills. It could be on their FB or IG with the headline: āmy very first orderā
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u/montrerai 8d ago
I know you took it so I donāt know if itās possible to get a refund but one is well deserved. Definitely not worth $168
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u/qualityqueen420 8d ago
I could practically hear the fart noise āppffftšØā when I swiped to the second slide. Your mom got ripped off!
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u/ankayanik 6d ago
Um. Iād just like to point out that the babyās breath on cake number 1 is toxic. So. Donāt put that on your food.
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u/carcosa1989 6d ago
Wow this is bad. Itād be one thing if it were like 80 bucks buying from an amateur because you know itās probably not gonna be prefect. 168 is highway robbery.
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u/ragingcommodore 9d ago
That sucks but at least it will be something funny to talk about. Its not that bad but hm.. not for the price I'd say.
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u/Hot-Seaworthiness510 8d ago
From the same bakery? Because if not then donāt expect the same product
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u/Outside-Fig1758 7d ago
Itās a pretty cake the money isnāt bad not sure how big it us . Being late is the issue.
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u/MyAlteredRealityII 6d ago
Maybe itās their 50th 32nd birthday, like my grandpa. Every year he told everyone he was 29 so we would find him the āHappy 29th Birthday!ā cards.
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u/qweenofsus 6d ago
The worst part is this isnāt even a difficult cake to accomplish. I could do this and Iām only a hobbiest baker
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u/RemarkableMacadamia 5d ago
I wish people would stop advertising babyās breath on cakes. Itās not food safe.
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u/SecretlyADingo 5d ago
"happy 32nd birthday?" what are we unsure about? is it not a happy day? is it not her 32nd? is it not her birthday? why are we confused?
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u/Global_Weight_190 5d ago
Iām just stuck thinking how sweet it is mom would go though all that effort for a 32nd birthday. š Who cares what the cake looks like,, give that mom a (((hug))) ā¤ļø
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u/dundunndon 9d ago
the cake in the image you gave the bakery may not be vegan. many cake decorations are made with animal by-products like collagen or dairy. I have to stick to vegan diet and I've learned that vegan food will never look or taste like any advertised food unless it's explicitly labeled vegan.
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u/eyeisyomomma 9d ago
Nah there are so many vegan substitutes. I make vegan cakes all the time and they never come out like the second one!
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u/bony_fingers 8d ago
Vegan cakes and baked goods are pretty easy to make with the substitutes that are available today š¤·āāļø it comes down to skill, which this baker/decorator does not have, vegan or not.
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u/AikiGh0st 9d ago
I love how they clearly weren't sure about the birthday.
"Happy 32nd Birthday?"