‘Walmart Would Have Gotten U a Bigger Better Cake’: New Jersey Woman Pays $42 for Small Cake From Bakery. Uh, Did They Give Her the Display?

When you buy a ready-made cake, you won’t know exactly what it tastes like until you actually cut into it.

People usually save the cutting for the gathering or special occasion they have going on, meaning you and your guests won’t find out about the quality until you actually have a slice.

After one New Jersey woman got a cake at a local Morristown, New Jersey bakery, however, they didn’t have to wait that long to realize something was wrong.

In a recent TikTok video that went viral with over 2.3 million views, Ava (@ava_salerno) shows the unusual cake and asks viewers what could be wrong.

“Look at this birthday cake we just got from a bakery in Morristown,” she says in the video. “$42 I paid.”

At first glance, it looks mostly fine. It’s a rectangular cake covered in chocolate ganache and with some frosting piped along the edges.

Then, she taps it with force, revealing that it isn’t budging. The outside appears hard as a rock and even makes a hollow sound when tapped.

“It’s a rock,” she says. “It’s getting returned.”

Commenters Think The Cake Was Frozen

Several viewers immediately suspected the bakery had stored the cake at a very low temperature.

“Looks like fudge icing. Fudge gets hard if it’s refrigerated, frozen or in a cold area,” one commenter wrote.

Another offered a simple fix. “It’s probably frozen,” they wrote. “Let it thaw for 30 minutes and it’ll be fine.”

A third commenter had a more alarming theory. “She took the display???” they asked.

They Ended Up Keeping The Cake

Despite Ava initially saying the cake was going back, that apparently didn’t happen.

In a follow-up video, she shows the same cake, this time cut open and partially eaten. Ava says they decided to let it sit out overnight before finally cutting into it.

Although the ganache still doesn’t act quite normal, she answered viewers’ biggest question in the comments.

“Was it good though?” one person asked.

“The cake itself was better than expected but the frosting is awful,” Ava responded.

A self-described pastry chef also weighed in and said the cake’s exterior didn’t look normal to them.

“Pastry chef here… i make lots of ganache topped cakes and buttercream topped cakes… that is not normal… it would ‘sweat’ if it was fresh meaning made within a week,” they wrote. “They gave you a display or horribly messed up on every part.”

What Causes Hard Ganache?

One possible explanation for the rock-hard exterior is refrigeration.

Ganache naturally thickens and solidifies as it cools. So if the bakery kept the cake especially cold before Ava bought it, the ganache could have become considerably firmer.

It could also have something to do with the way it was prepared, according to King Arthur Baking.

Using more chocolate and less cream produces a firmer ganache, for example, while adding more cream creates a softer consistency.

Additionally, if the bakery used chocolate with a higher cacao content, it could’ve produced a firmer ganache than chocolate with a lower cacao percentage.

@ava_salerno I’m actually passing away at this commentary #fyp #cakegate #morristownnj #morriscountynj #cake ♬ original sound – AVA

The Mary Sue has reached out to Ava via TikTok for comment and additional information.

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