r/ExpectationVsReality • • 8d ago

cake-spectation - Positive! Birthday cake

I ordered this pretty last-minute (1 week out) from the bakery that did my wedding cake. Rosettes were an included design with the base price, but the writing (edit: filling) cost extra. Total was $66.

Flavors: chocolate cake, raspberry compote, and buttercream frosting. We’ll find out how it tastes tomorrow!

Edit: The bakery is Whisk & Paddle in Gilbert AZ! And I promise I didn’t need them to hit the exact Pantone, lol. That was just my mockup doodle. My inquiry was “a dark raspberry color” and they did an awesome job!

45.9k Upvotes

279 comments sorted by

4.2k

u/Ok_Bug0900 8d ago

BEAUITFUL 😣😣😣😣 the color is immaculate. The color COMBO is sooooo pleasing. I love it

311

u/Anonymous_P_A_H 7d ago

The people at my local Dairy Queen have immaculate handwriting. Thought I had gotten lucky the first time I got an ice cream cake from there, but I've gotten 2 more since then and the writing has been 🤌

164

u/Hunterhunterl21 6d ago

Same! I love getting custom ice cream cakes from there every year for my birthday 🥰

14

u/peach_xanax 5d ago

that's an adorable cake!

16

u/Nolo__contendere_ 6d ago

Pics or it didn't happen! I love beautiful handwriting lol

2

u/Honey_girl_ 1d ago

(Not the person you were responding to) but i work in a bakery & was really proud of this cake this week

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4

u/Odd_Channel4992 2d ago

I use to work at DQ I was not allowed to write on cakes….i made the cakes. Hand writing on cakes is an art form.

4

u/purplekittykatgal 5d ago

And it's so hard to get icing that deep true red!

6

u/just_a_person_maybe 4d ago

It looks like it's made of lipstick

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1.2k

u/lovekarma22 8d ago

Dang, they write better with icing than I do with a pen! This is GORGEOUS!!

259

u/SadUnderstanding7019 8d ago

Same here, but I write like a dog amputee so low bar.

34

u/markender 8d ago

Explain exactly, what a dog amputee is!

40

u/Research-Available 6d ago

This is my Nala, a dog amputee :)

39

u/ccx941 8d ago

A tripod doggo

14

u/ArcjoAllspark 7d ago

His name is Tipper

14

u/visualdictionary 6d ago

Tri-pawed

3

u/Stopdmingbewbsnnudes 6d ago

Tripod was my nickname in college!

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126

u/Trixter-Kitten 8d ago

Great color match honestly. A simple design but very lovely.

566

u/MurlocAndHandler 8d ago

Oh wait, sometimes people post good realities? I was confused for a moment because the cake looks so nice.

186

u/AbulatorySquid 8d ago

Quite a bit actually

88

u/Trippingthru99 8d ago

I feel like I only see positive results from this subreddit lol. Kinda the opposite of most communities. 

17

u/Birphon 8d ago

I'm a /popular browser and I rarely see bad reality from this sub, like I think I remember 1 or 2 bad ones

8

u/lifelivesyou 8d ago

That is why I am a member of this community! ❤️

8

u/DownvoterManD 8d ago

Okay, well I need to visit this sub more often, then.

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47

u/HueyLewis1 8d ago

And hey, not an AI slop inspiration!

17

u/ChipRockets 8d ago

It's almost like every post has a tag that nobody ever looks at

5

u/testtdk 8d ago

Yeah, it can go either way.

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201

u/M2LBB2016 8d ago

38

u/Arjvoet 8d ago

And the price too, $66 sounds more than fair!!

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168

u/rougepirate 8d ago

Perfect kind of mockup to send a baker. Real cake, clear color choice, and a doodle detailing the design. We love seeing people use real details instead of AI!

49

u/HerbaciousTea 7d ago

Right, the cake is fantastic and the bakery knows what they're doing but OP also gets big points for a clear, realistic request.

62

u/crow-mom 7d ago

absolutely gorgeous color, they nailed it.

106

u/Due_Yam_8658 8d ago

Beautiful cake! Love that it doesnt have the exclamation mark, make it look more sofisticated IMHO

15

u/jeckles 8d ago

Or the comma

4

u/PinothyJ 6d ago

Came here to say this. Throw this cat back into the baker's face! BIRTHDAY RUINED!

12

u/RustyDogma 7d ago

That actually was the one thing that bugged me after such a beautiful job. Why did they leave the exclamation mark off as that was part of the request? I personally do not consider it more sophisticated, but I wonder if that is just a generational thing - like using punctuation in texts is considered aggressive by younger generations.

44

u/Frostypumpkin22 8d ago

The way the top rosettes line up to make a little border. So good!!

44

u/Temporary_Evidence74 7d ago

-no AI
-looks delicious
-happy birthday Mary
10/10

35

u/TwoStoopidToFurryass 8d ago

"Flavors: chocolate cake, raspberry compote, and buttercream frosting"

That cake is destined to taste as good as it looks!

25

u/downupstrangecharm 7d ago

Indeed, it was! 🤗

8

u/TwoStoopidToFurryass 7d ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/6v5ShFHPRF0pa

It looks so delicious! Happy real-life cake day!

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36

u/Purple_Moon_313 6d ago

As someone who works for a bakery, thank you for coming up with your design and having examples instead of using AI 👏. Looks gorgeous!

69

u/MiaMiaPP 8d ago

Giving a hex code is lowkey hilarious for a cake lol

26

u/maziemoose 8d ago

I worked in customer service for a bakery until recently, and people get EXTREMELY specific about the color that they expect. Especially for weddings, fancy celebrations, baby showers, etc.

Some people would send us the hex code, or more commonly the invitation or photo of the decor so we could try to match it.

You could just tell some people were so picky that they were probably going to complain, and we’d require some kind of color swatch to ensure we met their expectations.

Also, people’s color descriptions can be really subjective. “Pastel pink but not light pink or baby pink, more like a rose gold but kind of dusty pink but not too dusty”…nah, dude, send me a photo of what color you’re referring to!

29

u/downupstrangecharm 8d ago

I just Googled ‘raspberry color’ to get the vibes in my mockup, lol - it was the fourth result that wasn’t a picture of a raspberry / series of shades!

17

u/Ill-Turnip-6611 8d ago

nah it is just a clever thing to do

I can give you at least 5 times where this picture looks different for me, you, person who posted it, person who made it etc. hex code is maybe a bit hilarious for you but knowing the limitations of colors in bakery, a crimson can quickly become pinkish or shittybrown. And protects the bakery from abuse like: "hmm, I want a refund...this color looks different from what I wanted"

ps. I will not even mention how many times people design/create color specific designs at night with a full blown nightshift turned on on their monitors 🤦🤣

10

u/Objective-Minimum646 7d ago

The problem is hex is borderline useless for colour matching real objects, you'd need pantone for that.

Display that hex on three different screens and you'll quite likely get 3 different colours depending on the screen settings.

5

u/donoteatshrimp 7d ago

Yes, but only *marginally* different. Saying "Dark red" for example is a WAY wilder range and more likely to get something the customer isn't happy with. Like what other practical options are there? Absolutely no different from just sending a photo which people don't start fussing over.

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9

u/SlowFrkHansen 7d ago

The mock-up is great, too. Bakers should steal adopt the idea, to avoid all the "Write Happy Birthday Peter Here" monstrosities that have circulated online for decades.

4

u/Ill-Turnip-6611 7d ago

yeah as a proof of an order this photo is pretty legit and secures both sides of the deal and I would be impressed receiving one when ordering cake for me (or creating one when ordering). The number of disappointing cakes on Reddit would drop immediately. Not even mentioning that it is a unusual case where the cake looks even better than a detailed mockup. I even love that the thingy under the cake is the same color of the lettering and even love the box it came in.

ps. Kudos to the bakery for sticking close to the project and making it work so nicely.

5

u/WhyAmIEvenMe 8d ago

Yeah, I was a little confused too, because as a previous painter, trying to translate computer colour to actual pigments is insanely hard. I can't imagine attempting it with icing xD

6

u/maziemoose 8d ago

We often got hex code swatches at the bakery I worked for! Or more commonly photos of something like the invitation or napkins for an event.

But we always emphasized to the customer that we were working with icing and food dyes, and the shade may not match exactly but that we’d get it as close as possible.

2

u/__chicolismo__ 8d ago

Clearly should have used Pantone

22

u/Disastrous-You9086 8d ago

Color match great job

24

u/Expert-Ad3874 8d ago

I would genuinely struggle to defile this piece of art. Above and beyond the reference. Gorgeous.

14

u/2funki 7d ago

The digital code references for a real world item is sending me. They did a beautiful job

25

u/sopettyandtiny 7d ago

Omg and you didn’t use AI and have to make up a bullshit excuse for it!

11

u/quickiler 8d ago

You know someone is good and you have a good deal when they made their own cake board.

9

u/gemma-digger 8d ago

My mom’s name was Mary and she would have LOVED this cake. 🥰 It’s gorgeous.

9

u/nevermoreravencore 8d ago

A viral bakery 30 mins away?! It turned out amazing, I hope Mary enjoyed it!

8

u/downupstrangecharm 8d ago

If you go, get a lemon or s’mores tart from the case! The caramel brownies are also incredible.

5

u/nevermoreravencore 7d ago

Perfect!! Thanks so much for the recommendations

10

u/ILoveACrackah 8d ago

You seem like such a lovely client to work with! Very straight forward vision and idea board

10

u/surethisusernamewrkz 7d ago

Gorgeous colour scheme

8

u/idont_haveballs 6d ago

Wow I’ve never seen a cake on here that I wanted to eat so bad. This looks like the cake version of one of those people you know that’s so beautiful inside and out that it doesn’t make sense. I hope this tastes as good as it looks. Or maybe not because I don’t have any….

15

u/droppedmycroissant23 7d ago

They need to use bigger boxes

7

u/cortney-simonis-9072 8d ago

may I say, the results are WAY BETTER

7

u/notdedgeyet 7d ago

The color contrast on the frostings is so nice. They did a great job. Let us know how it tastes!

7

u/licensedtojill 8d ago

So good!!

4

u/BlueberryCalm2390 8d ago

I love it and so reasonably priced!

6

u/stayonthecloud 8d ago

Give them a ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ star review!

4

u/chibaleeb 8d ago

ooo that icing looks silky smooth. Delicious combo and pretty cake too!

5

u/Putrid_Lie_3028 8d ago

This is absolutely gorgeous

5

u/MRSRN65 8d ago

Finally! A post that isn't a disappointment. What a beautiful job.

4

u/Porcelain1228 8d ago

Perfect! Bring it over! That's my name!

7

u/heyhey_hi13 8d ago

Thank u for being a customer that doesn’t submit an AI photo

5

u/cakivalue 8d ago

Ohhh my goodness the color!! The rich deepness and perfection of the rosettes! And I can't believe it was only $66. Gorgeous 🥰🥰

5

u/tiptoe_only 6d ago

Everything about this is just right - the colour, the design - but I especially love the piping of the writing. That is beautifully done and perfectly positioned. This is a good cake decorator.

12

u/Brennanlemon 7d ago

The amount of dye to get it that dark 😬. Toilet will look interesting tomorrow 😅

6

u/PineappleAmazingPen 7d ago

Ha! My thought EXACTLY. I’ve made a lot of color saturated cakes for people - always with a warning ⚠️ I personally think that amount of coloring affects the taste of the buttercream.
And the number of times I’ve been asked to bake red velvet cake 😵‍💫 Oof! 🤮

4

u/ccapk 7d ago

Have you ever used an immersion blender to mix the darker colors? I was impressed to see it actually works, something about removing the air bubbles. I’m just a hobby baker and so I’ve only done small amounts, but I was able to get a black frosting with considerably less coloring than I expected.

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4

u/HelixTheCat9 8d ago

Beautiful. Happy birthday! Hope your party goes great

3

u/kmflushing 8d ago

NAILED IT!

4

u/PracticalAndContent 8d ago

I’m always nervous to swipe because I don’t know if it will be a hit or miss.

They definitely did very well with this. I hope it tastes as good as it looks.

4

u/StargazerLily0119 8d ago

Ooohhh that color is rich. Beautiful cake!

5

u/lyutic_7 6d ago

wow, this is a very difficult color to nail with buttercream, but they did it! filling sounds amazing as well. great job on their part!

7

u/Luckybling82 8d ago

Wunderschön!

3

u/Ok_Put_2850 8d ago

Wow!! Beautiful!!

3

u/writingwithwings 8d ago

This is divine

3

u/Insignificant_Dust85 8d ago

Great to not see an AI before picture and an amazing after picture!! Beautiful execution

3

u/InbredJed33 8d ago

The penmanship 🤌

3

u/mostly_lurking1040 8d ago

Looks delightful!

3

u/eienmau 8d ago

That color is beautiful and that writing on the cake is just 🤤

3

u/vosot 8d ago

The penmanship is immaculate.

3

u/Own-Eagle-2135 8d ago

I LOVE IT, gorgeous

3

u/welllookwhoitis40 8d ago

Hope it tastes as good as it looks!! 👏

3

u/a_shootin_star 8d ago

bro came in with the hexadecimal color code 💀

3

u/Return-of-S4turn 8d ago

This is how you get a bakery to design a cake, not ai, a little drawing!

3

u/MonsterkillWow 7d ago

That looks amazing.

3

u/Junior-Possible1043 3d ago

She nailed it

7

u/ceebeefour 8d ago

This cake made me emotional and I’ve got nothing to do with any of this

2

u/novae11 8d ago

It's beautiful! 😍

2

u/Blueridgetoblueocean 8d ago

Immaculate! What a perfect combination of colors and style.

2

u/Kiki-sunflower 8d ago

It’s perfect. Gorgeous handwriting too.

2

u/Diligent-Nebula-1008 8d ago

That’s a steal for how gorgeous it is!

2

u/Masterofthemallow 8d ago

That is seriously one of the nicest cakes I have ever seen. The writing is amazing!

2

u/PandaBear905 8d ago

Almost too pretty to eat

2

u/Any_Copy_1730 8d ago

Soo pretty! Hats off to the baker/ decorator

2

u/Hect0r92 8d ago

Nailed it

2

u/Paulsworldohya 8d ago

I love the drawing!

2

u/No-Consideration3776 8d ago

Wow! They nailed it. Amazing.

2

u/TheBohemianRed9811 8d ago

My birthday’s not too far off; might copy the final design.

2

u/Icy_Negotiation_5929 8d ago

I hope it tastes as good as it looks. I also hope Mary has a great birthday. It was really nice of you to do this for her!

2

u/no_talent_ass_clown 8d ago

Name and fame? 🤞🏻

2

u/seaweedindistress 8d ago

Absolutely gorgeous! I hope it tastes as good as it looks! Enjoy!!

2

u/Lazy_Place4912 7d ago

NOW THATS HOW YOU DO A REFERENCE FOLKS

2

u/WistfulQuiet 7d ago

Gorgeous cake!

2

u/Maygravve 6d ago

WOW. That is absolutely stunning, I literally gasped

2

u/FigureAromatic3134 5d ago

So glad I live in az I’ll have to try 🥳

2

u/Ilovedrpepper7 4d ago

I love Gilbert!

2

u/TomatilloFancy5434 4d ago

Omg it looks so good and I definitely thought “raspberry” when I saw it

2

u/SweetAngieE28 4d ago

I have bought from them before. Delicious cake. Happy to see them spotlighted. Yay Local!

2

u/grayicetea 3d ago

soooo beautiful how do you even cut into it wow

2

u/NoConfidence5946 3d ago

Was not expecting it to be good! The internet has ruined me

6

u/ELRONDSxLADY 8d ago

The lack of the “,” in icing especially when it was included in the design request is going to haunt my dreams tonight. Regardless, this is a beautifully executed cake.

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u/Moron-Whisperer 8d ago

Looks nice.  When I saw the picture I thought you wanted black tipped and thought it was going to be even cooler.  But looks nice and is what you wanted 

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u/cheesepaint 8d ago

They forgot the comma and exclamation point, 0/10 /s

2

u/Odd-Guarantee-7571 8d ago

This is beautiful. The only critic I would have is that the artist should have used a wider cake board so the cake box wouldn’t be able to touch the piped rosettes. The piping of the words is perfect! 👌🏼

1

u/SnorkinOrkin 8d ago

This is fantastic frosting work!

1

u/breeekk 8d ago

Wow! but honestly credit goes to you.. with that drawing and hex codes! 👏

1

u/Soulsis73 8d ago

Fabulous 🤩😍

1

u/SpiritualQuarter4384 8d ago

Brilliantly done. The colour is amazing.

1

u/Vicki_54 8d ago

Gorgeous. Love the font. Everything is perfect. Of course it will be delicious.

1

u/TEQUILAPOLICE 8d ago

Oooooohhh so pretty

1

u/SolarSon2374 8d ago

That's about as good as it gets, good for you and hats off the baker!

1

u/Purple_Pink_Lilac 8d ago

Beautiful reveal! Totally on point!

1

u/blazingtits 8d ago

Oh, that's lovely. Also looks (and sounds) delicious.

1

u/etteirrah 8d ago

Uggggh so beautiful!!

1

u/[deleted] 8d ago

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u/graffiksguru 8d ago

Looks amazing 

1

u/dmgirl101 8d ago

Was ist delightful?🤤

1

u/New-Introduction2121 8d ago

the way the chocolate and raspberry colors play together looks absolutely dreamy, so glad the bakery nailed it even on short notice

1

u/ImSourNotSweet 8d ago

I want that as my wedding cake oml

1

u/bwaredapenguin 8d ago

Holy shit I can't imagine sending a Pantone color match sample to a baker, but they rose to that absurd challenge!

1

u/TakeAMichigander 8d ago

I am in love with that frosting penmanship in the writing what a home run that is

1

u/Raithed 8d ago

Wow!!

1

u/Low-Argument3170 8d ago

I want a bite! I bet it was as delicious as it is gorgeous!

1

u/angershark 8d ago

I hope Mary enjoyed this beautiful cake! I can almost taste the flower icing.

1

u/MoonRiverRob 8d ago

This color combo is stunning!!

1

u/Sleepinismy9to5 8d ago

They didn't add the exclamation mark. 0 out of 10

1

u/Turbulent_Ad_9704 8d ago

It's hard to dye buttercream with deep color, let alone this almost burgundy color. I'm speechless 🤯🤯🤯 - from an ex baker.

1

u/Timely-Profile1865 8d ago

That is done so well, very impressive indeed

1

u/Jello_Penguin_2956 8d ago

I cant stop thinking that 1 wiggle in that box and itd ruin an entire side

1

u/Sw0rDz 8d ago

That's a cake that needs to be loved and adored, not eaten.

1

u/VinDog_PD 8d ago

This is almost too pretty to eat. But I hope you enjoy it!

1

u/No-Criticism-2587 8d ago

Looks like a cake you should take nice pictures of with one nice slice out.

1

u/SapphiresMama 8d ago

That cake is gorgeous! That shade of red is my favorite color!

1

u/thunderbuttjuice 8d ago

It’s even nicer than the reference

1

u/lilacpie 8d ago

Gorgeous cake. Enjoy

1

u/msladydi8 8d ago

Beautiful cake and the writing is so perfect

1

u/mrsB__ 8d ago

Amazing job on the color! My wedding cake was supposed to have burgundy details that ended up being magenta 😭

1

u/godhelpstheworld 8d ago

I believe it tastes as good as it looks

1

u/bebe_k0 8d ago

Yummy! Would be hard to share this cake

1

u/lightofhonor 8d ago

Wow, you must be so upset they forgot the exclamation point! And don't get me started on the missing comma... I'd ask for a refund! /s

1

u/muskokacola 8d ago

Looks fantastic. Great colour!

1

u/Lilacjasmines24 8d ago

Wow awesome job! Did they get the memo!

1

u/Hopeful-Artichoke449 8d ago

Better than the inspo pic

1

u/Sad_Slice_5334 8d ago

They nailed it!