Delasber Sanders
Google
As the founder and CEO of Amoree’s Journey, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to children with complex medical needs, I’ve been through enough to know when something feels off. Today, inside Cake Goddess, LLC in Baton Rouge, something absolutely did.
I needed a birthday cake for my daughter. Her celebration had been postponed, so we were grabbing something simple and ready-made. A stock cake with her name on it would have been perfect. I wasn’t being picky. I wasn’t making a fuss. I just wanted her favorite color… hot pink… for the writing.
The woman behind the counter showed me two shades. I preferred the darker one but was concerned about the taste. Red dye, as most people know, can have a bitter, unpleasant aftertaste. I asked if she could dab a little of the icing onto something so I could check it. Not to eat… just to see the color and maybe smell it.
She looked at me like I had asked her to ice a ten-tier cake during a hurricane. Then she took the piping bag… wiped it on a trash bag inside a trash can… squeezed some icing onto a fork… and handed it to me.
I didn’t taste it. I simply looked at J, the nurse who was helping with the cake, and asked her which color looked better. She chose the lighter one, and that’s what we went with.
After we paid, I asked if the woman could toss the fork for me, since there was no trash can in the customer area. She picked up the same trash can and held it out for me to drop it in.
I cannot say for sure whether this was racial bias, poor judgment, or sheer carelessness… but I can say with confidence that I will never return to Cake Goddess.
If it had been my money, I would have walked out. No question. But J was covering the cake… so I let it slide. That doesn’t mean it was right.
No one should ever be handed food or even food decoration that came from something wiped on a trash bag. That is not just unsanitary… it is unacceptable.
This wasn’t just about a cake. It was supposed to be part of a celebration for a medically fragile child who has faced more challenges than most adults ever will. And instead of joy, I walked out with frustration, disappointment, and a heavy feeling in my chest.
To the owner… this should never happen to anyone. Not ever again.