Church bake sale drama over a gluten free cake in Tulsa

Last spring I volunteered for the big bake sale at our church in Tulsa, the one that funds the youth camp. I spent the whole Friday evening making my usual chocolate layer cake, and it came out perfect, moist and tall. But the woman next to me, Mary, brought a gluten free carrot cake that had clearly sunk in the middle, she was honest about it and put a sign saying "ugly but tasty." Our table split into two camps, some folks said we should only sell the pretty, classic stuff, while others argued we need to include stuff for people with allergies or diets. By 10 am her cake was completely gone, and I had three full slices of mine left. Did that mean the crowd favors the scrappy underdog, or was it just because her cake had no competition for the gluten free crowd? I'm curious how other people handle bake sales, do you push for the best looking bake or the one that serves the niche eaters?

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wells.reese1mo ago

Did Mary actually make a gluten free cake because someone in the church needs that, or was she just trying something new that flopped a bit? That changes things for me. If there are folks at your church who can never eat anything at these sales, then yeah you bring the niche bake every time, looks aside. But if nobody there even avoids gluten, then her cake winning is really just about the sign and the story, not the diet. Which one was it?

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