There is a viral thread going around dubbed “Pink / Peach cake.” Essentially, a woman ordered a cake from a custom cake decorator. She requested a refund after claiming that the cake was “peach pink” and not “light tinted mauve pink.”

See the client’s thread HERE and the baker’s thread HERE.

I’m not one to bring negativity online, so I’m not gonna comment on that particular issue. HOWEVER, I think this is a great teaching moment about setting expectations as a business owner (especially if you do custom cake work).

**BTW, it’s possible this cake decorator did all of these things, so I’m not commenting on their business specifically

1. In your inquiry form and on your website, you need to add a disclaimer that directly copying another cake decorator’s work is not possible. Rather, a client can share inspiration photos, and the final cake may closely resemble them, BUT the resulting cake will be a one-of-a-kind design. This is simply because recreating someone else’s work is a little unethical but also just really hard.

The decorator from the inspiration photo may have used different lighting, color-graded their content, used a different brand of food dye, or had different piping tips, etc.

2. Have a section on your website or a blog post that clearly outlines your cake decorating timeline. This is a great way to explain the time that goes into a custom cake and why alterations simply cannot be made past a certain point. This could be a blog post linked with your menu!

3. Finally, while I personally do not send my cake clients photos before pick-up, always take your photos in natural light or with a daylight bulb. Lighting has a big impact on how the color of your cake appears in a photo. Natural light or a daylight bulb is your best chance at getting as close to the cake’s true color in a photo as you can.