I'm still sharpening the hack saw needed to cut the chocolate chip pound cake we attempted to serve at a birthday party over the weekend. What a disappointment. The cake was beautifully decorated, but hard as a rock. I literallly had to press my weight against the knife. The top and bottom layers were dark and crusted, no matter how well the decorator attempted to camouflage them with the delicious chocolate buttercream icing. The same thing happened with a chocolate chip pound cake four years ago and, when my family complained, we were told that it was really hot and humid, perhaps there was a problem with the ovens, chocolate chip is hard to bake in the summer, etc. If so, don't bake chocolate chip pound cakes in July. However, we gave them another chance. After all, things happen. Since then we have only ordered butter or amaretto pounds, which have been delicious. However, since the birthday person likes chocolate, we took another chance with the chocolate chip pound figuring Clays would tell us if they couldn't bake it in July. We even told them about the problem four years ago. So, at $26.00, there was absolutely no excuse for a dry, hard, chocolate chip pound cake to be served to our guests. It was embarrassing. We don't live around the corner and make a special trip to Clay's. But the same cake, for the same birthday person, with the same problem - even with a warning...we're done with Clay's.
Pros: Beautifully decorated
Cons: Inconsistent - delicious and moist vs. dry and hard - you never know what you'll get
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