Purple Cow Cakery — Restaurant in Chesterfield Township

This review has to do with Nicole’s lack of professionalism and not her baking skills.

Long story short, Nicole ghosted me after exchanging a few emails and never bothered to follow-up with me, even after multiple attempts on my end. I understand people can have busy schedules, but I find it highly unprofessional for a business owner to do so without warning or apology. There was a moment I sincerely worried whether something happened to her, as she did not respond to any emails.

I first contacted Nicole on 5/18 for a request to bake my daughter’s first birthday cake. She came very highly recommended from a local mom group, and so I was very excited to work with her. She responded the same day, saying “I might be able to make the 29th work. Tell me what you have in mind from a design perspective...”. I sent her some photos of some cake inspo that had clean and simple designs. I understood she was busy and that this was not a commitment of any kind.

I followed up the following day on 5/19, to see if she could, in fact, fit the cake order in. On 5/20, she responded with a detailed email telling me she looked forward to designing something together, asking about flavors for cake/fillings, etc. and describing her baking. On 5/21 I responded to her recommendations for cake pairings, narrowed down some designs, and asked for ballpark pricing. This is where the trail goes cold.

On 5/23I followed up with her by email “I just wanted to follow up to make sure you’re still able to do this cake for Saturday? If not, I will need to make alternative arrangements, so please let me know. Thank you!”

On 5/25 I again followed up with her by email “Hi Nicole, I just wanted to follow up again about the cake. I have not heard from you for a few days but really need to know whether you’re able to do the cake. Please let me know as soon as possible. Thank you.”

I also called the store three times, to see if I could catch her on the phone, but it went straight to voicemail and I left one voice message.

Her email signature includes a note that says “*Please note - Availability to create your cake is not guaranteed until your cake order is confirmed and a deposit is received.” For the record, I fully understand that my cake was not guaranteed or confirmed. I was attempting to place an order with her and would have been more than happy to put down a deposit, but was never even given the opportunity to do so.

This is not some dramatic tale about how she ruined my daughter’s first birthday with no cake because that is not true. I made alternative arrangements for a cake and the party went on without a hitch. The 29th came and went, and despite having written a number of follow-up emails and leaving a voice message at her bakery, I did not get any kind of response/apology. A simple “so sorry I missed your emails, things have been very busy” would have sufficed.

I waited two weeks before leaving this review because I was curious whether she would try to reach out. Unsurprisingly, she hasn’t. She must be so incredibly busy that she can’t find time to write a one line courtesy email, she really doesn’t care because I wasn’t yet a paying customer, or she didn’t find I was worth bothering to write back to. Either way, that’s not good business practice. Definitely a disappointed potential customer.

I would be interested to see if she leaves a response to this review here, as it appears she is very responsive to...

I arrived to Nicole’s residence on Saturday 05/29/2021 to pick up a cake for my friend for her event. Unfortunately, the cake did not make it to the end of her street before breaking, however, I’m not very concerned about that as I am about the rest of my experience with her. When I first arrived and she answered the door, I greeted her politely and asked how she was to which you responded with “there’s still a balance remaining on the cake.” After I asked her to help bring the cake to my car, she responded with “I’m going to leave it here” and placed it on her porch. The cake was open from the top due to the height, I was by myself, and it was raining hard outside. At no point did she feel it was necessary to assist me in getting the cake to the car. When I did bring the cake back after it broke, she instantly shifted the blame on me. Nonetheless, she fixed the cake for which I was very appreciative. When I came back to get the cake, she once again did not offer to assist me in bringing it to the car and when I asked if it would be okay to place it in the same position I had it before, she responded saying “I don’t care where you put it it needs to be on a flat surface”. Finally, when I thanked her and told her I appreciated her fixing it for us, she slammed the door behind me without a response.

Your business is meant to cater to people on some of the happiest days of their lives. I’m not sure if she had a bad day on Saturday or had a personal matter going on, however, it doesn’t excuse her behavior in the slightest. How she behaved on Saturday was completely unprofessional, insensitive, and outright appalling. I’m not upset that the cake didn’t make it to the venue or that it was poorly packaged and wouldn’t have withstood the drive no matter who brought it there. I’m upset that in a situation where she could’ve chosen sympathy or unkindliness, she chose the latter. This entire experience was a...

I am OBSESSED with Nicole’s cakes!! She does amazing work with buttercream— not fondant, buttercream!— bc we all know no one eats the fondant! I’ve never been an icing person but all of her icing and fillings i always devour. it’s never too sweet, no gritty texture (it’s best at room temp!), no weird aftertaste or oily residue on the roof of your tongue like some cakes! She doesn’t use any hydrogenated oils, only organic ingredients so the quality really shows in the taste. I’ve ordered 2 custom cakes from her and they have always been moist and fluffy, never dry or bland.

Her designs are well thought out and beautiful. I asked for a Lily Pulitzer inspired cake and the base was green with beautifully hand piped flowers. I would have never thought to make the base color green, she’s so creative. it was such a pretty cake, done so tastefully. After seeing that, it was a lot easier to trust her aesthetic and talent.

The other cake I ordered was for a very particular mom-to-be having a baby shower. Nicole was extremely patient and responsive with going back and forth many times about my questions with sizing, layers and appearance. I had full faith in her execution and the celebrant loved it. Both cakes I’ve ordered had no leftovers, that never happens!

I can’t wait to order from her again bc bottom line: her cakes really taste as good as they look! (You would think this is a given but we all know the sad...