I have been lurking on this board for some time now, and thought this whole Cakelove issue would be a good starting post.
To answer the question "Is a small commercial bakery that much different thana home kitchen", well yes it is. Believe me, it is much easier to bake 2 dozen cupcakes for your kids birthday party than it is to produce hundreds of those same cupcakes on a daily basis. But this does not excuse Mr Brown from serving an inferior product. I think the problem with Cakelove is that the owner has very little experience in the pastry industry, thus once he came across a recipe for "real" butter cake and "real" buttercream he decided to use it on ALL of his products and seems to be unwilling to change. I think he feels that if he uses oil, shortening, invert sugars, or other ingredients to improve the texture/moistness of his cake, he will have somehow given up on the "made from scratch" philosophy of his bakery.
I will admit I have only had Cakelove a few times and I was very unimpressed, especially when you factor in the cost. I have no problem paying top dollar for high quality baked goods, but his product falls way short. Will he change things?Most likely the answer is no, he has a successful business, a show on the Food Network, book deal (what a joke..). Why would he change things...
Basically, what it comes down to is that Warren Brown and Cakelove is a product of media hype and an interesting story. He has marketed himself extremely well and I think the quality of his product has become secondary in his business paln. The sad thing is is that for every Warren Brown, there are at least 10 quality pastry chefs with the technical skills to produce unbelieveable products. Unfortunately, these chefs do not either have the business sense, finances, or cojones to have a go at it on their own. To this I give props to Mr Brown...Anyway, that is enough ranting for now. I probably didnt say to much that has not already been said, but I had to add my 2 cents.
Basically