You’d think people would battle for a secret recipe. You certainly wouldn’t anticipate an update on the battle after a year. However, here is a story below where a family had an argument due to a cake recipe. It all started with a grandma being ill and decided she should pass on her unique cake recipe, which had been swaying hearts left and right. Read the story to know what happened and share your thoughts on this.
Source: Reddit
My Grandma was a wonderful baker, and had a secret cake recipe that she had created herself. It used some very uncommon spice combinations in the cake and frosting that produced a very unique but delicious cake. She would always make it for our big family gatherings, and it was always the most popular dessert. When she got sick a couple years ago, she decided to share the recipe so that it wouldn’t die with her, and offered to give it to any of her kids or grandkids who wanted it. I was the only one who asked for it before she died. I don’t know why no one else did, as there were several other bakers in the family. After she passed, I took over bringing the cake to family gatherings, and everyone was happy to still be able to enjoy it.
I also started making cakes for friends & family, and then for others by word of mouth to make some extra cash on the side. My business was really starting to pick up around the time the pandemic hit, as people who’d had my cakes recommended me to their own friends and family. It soon became too much to keep up with in my tiny home kitchen, so I reached out to a friend who had a catering business with a professional kitchen. Since her business took a big hit with covid, I made a deal to use her kitchen to make my cakes and help supplement the takeout business she started to get by.
My cousin, ‘Jane’ recently found out that Grandma’s recipe was one of my best sellers, and said that I had no right to sell out Grandma’s recipe, especially after keeping it all to myself. She had asked for it late last year, but I said no. I told her that she had the chance to get it from Grandma before she died, and didn’t seem to care enough to bother then.
Since Jane had lost her job she had decided to try selling cakes too, which I think is why she had asked for the recipe. Unfortunately for her, it’s not going well. The reviews on her cakes have not been good, and no one has been recommending her. Jane said that the only reason my business was doing well was because of Grandma’s cake (which she wanted to sell too?!?) and my access to a professional kitchen. The kitchen does help with being able to work on multiple orders at once, but my business is doing well because I actually make good cakes! Jane is a good cook, but NOT a good baker. She doesn’t follow measurements properly, and instead does everything “to taste”, which works for cooking, but not baking. Using too much or too little of any ingredients like flour, eggs or butter, or even their starting temperature will not give you the result you want.
Jane is demanding that I either stop selling Grandma’s cake, or teach her the recipe so she can too. I refused, and said she was a hypocrite for wanting to sell the cake herself after getting angry at me for doing so. When she gave me the recipe, Grandma said that her biggest regret was never opening a bakery like she had dreamed (my ultimate dream now too!). I think she’d love so many people enjoying her cake!
Am I A Jerk for not sharing the recipe ?
UPDATE
Firstly, I opened my bakery! I found a great spot near my city’s office park/main commuter route to the Big City of a caterer/takeout deli that closed. We’ve been open since June, and business has been great with all the morning/evening traffic, and the lunch crowd from the business park. We sell cakes, pastries, breads, buns, etc. Typical bakery stuff. I also have a cook who comes in for a few hours in the morning to do eggs & stuff for breakfast sandwiches/wraps for the office folks.
A few weeks after I opened, Jane stopped by. She apologized and confirmed what I and others had suspected, she only cared about the cake recipe because she was jealous of my success with my custom cake business. She’d always wanted to work in food, but hated the idea of losing her evenings and working in a high pressure kitchen. So when I suddenly started doing so well, she thought she could do the same but didn’t know how to start her own catering business. I apologized too for not wanting to share the recipe, but I was afraid that she would ruin my business by putting out bad cakes and no one would want to buy mine either.
I then offered to have her come in 3 days a week to offer a soup/stew of the day during the lunch rush. I had the extra kitchen space for it, and soups/stews really do suit her style of cooking to taste. She loved the idea and they were an instant hit. She had complete freedom to create whatever 2 kinds of soup she wanted each day, just adding things on a whim, and they were always delicious. They got very popular quickly with the office folks, since there aren’t many other take out options nearby without driving about an extra 5-10 minutes out besides two fast food burger places.
We soon expanded to her coming in every weekday, and then making a cold soup option on Fridays for the Saturday lunch (closed Sundays). It’s been a great arrangement, since she keeps her evenings/weekends and gets that creative control. In the last couple weeks we’ve also started doing take-home heat & serve dishes too like lasagna, chicken/steak taco or sub kits, etc. I’ll do the pasta/bread, she does the other prep & sauces. So far they’ve been very popular.
She’s tried her hand at baking a time or two again, and has declared she just doesn’t have the patience for it, and hasn’t asked for the recipe again (nor has any other family).
P.S. For those wondering, Grandma had a standing offer for over a year before she died when she wasn’t yet sick enough to stop baking, for anyone to come over and she’d personally walk them through the recipe. She was very sad and disappointed that I was the only one who did so. The other bakers would always make excuses about time or say “later, later”. Shortly before she died she said that since I was the only one who bothered, the recipe was mine now. It’s still my best selling cake.
Here are a few comments on the story where it was originally posted:
