- Reshmi Bennett shamed star who said they could ‘guarantee’ her some business
- Read More: Baker tells influencer who asked for a free cake that she’s ‘petty, fake and cringeworthy’- but has HER post removed for not being ‘respectful’
A professional baker has blasted influencers for requesting a free cake that she had designed to raise money for children caught up in the conflict in Gaza.
Reshmi Bennett, 40, is a children’s author and baker from Surrey who runs the luxury cake business Anges de Sucre.
Last month, the former investment banker began selling watermelon-inspired cakes – with prices starting from £140 – to raise money for charity.
The mother pledged to donate £11 from each sale to Save the Children’s Gaza Emergency Appeal, which supplies families caught up in the conflict with bottled water.
Earlier this week Reshmi received an email from an influencer – who she chose to keep anonymous – asking for a free cake for her birthday party in March.
Reshmi Bennett (pictured), 40, is a children’s author and baker from London who runs the luxury cake business Anges de Sucre
The email read: ‘I just came across your Instagram profile and the trending watermelon cake. I love it, really cool!
‘Then I saw your website and I’m so impressed. I’m after a trendy cake for my birthday in March (we will confirm the date soon).
‘There will be 80-100 guests. Me and my best friend are planning it together (girl power lol) and we have 68,600 followers combined on Instagram and have just started our joint TikTok account, which is getting a lot of views and followers already.’
Elsewhere in the email, the social media star described how her birthday party will have an ‘exotic, sexy and glam’ vibe.
She then asked if Reshmi could make the watermelon seeds gold to match the dress she will be wearing – but felt the need to point out that they didn’t need to be made of real gold.
The anonymous influencer reassured the small business owner that they would tag her in photos of the cake and put her business cards in party bags to ‘guarantee lots of business’.
The star – who didn’t make any mention of paying for the cake – then signed off the email by telling Reshmi that her bakery was her ‘first choice’.
Sharing screenshots of the email with her 57,000 Instagram followers, Reshmi referenced a similar incident where influencers asked her for another free cake in January 2023.
Last month, the former investment baker began selling watermelon-inspired cakes (pictured) – with prices starting from £140 – to raise money for charity
Earlier this week, Reshmi received an email from an influencer – who she chose to keep anonymous – asking for a free cake for her birthday party in March
She captioned the post: ‘Is it something about this time of year?! This is literally Cooler Cake…but even better. I’d love a cool £2k order but I’m not holding my breath…’
In her response, Reshmi informed the influencer that she had created the cake to raise money for charity.
She explained: ‘So pleased to hear I’m your first choice. The watermelon cake is cool indeed, if I may say so myself.
‘I’m not sure if you’re aware that that A, I created the watermelon cake as a fundraiser for Gaza (there’s a bit of a humanitarian crisis going on there… not very sexy or glam) and B, I don’t care to work for tags and party bags.’
The business owner then went on to inform the influencer that a cake large enough to feed her guests would cost upwards of £1,250.
What’s more, handpainting gold seeds would add £650 onto the final sum as it is a ‘tedious task’ – and joked that real gold seeds would be a ‘choke hazard’.
Reshmi then signed off with: ‘If you’d like to place the order, I will be donating to Save the Children Gaza Emergency Appeal from the proceeds.
‘But somehow I doubt you will. In which case, I wish your second choice the very best.’
In the caption of the post, Reshmi joked: ‘If anyone wants to volunteer painting a thousand little seeds gold, holllllaaaaaa.’
In her response, Reshmi informed the influencer that she had created the cake to raise money for charity and pointed out that the details she wanted would cost an extra £650
The post has amassed over 3,100 ‘likes’ and sparked outrage from Reshmi’s followers.
One replied: ‘Love the irony that you have more followers than each of them but they think they’re more influential than you and that you need the free publicity.
‘Let’s not even get started on the tone-deafness of wanting to change the black seeds to gold.’
Another added: ‘That whole email was like watching an accident in slow motion. Do people still really do this?’
Meanwhile, a third raged: ‘SO effing cheeky and entitled!! Who gives a s**t about your 68k followers to be quite frank? Why don’t people think they should pay for services anymore! Makes my blood boil!’
A fourth wrote: ‘On this cake… for this cause… they want it free?! They clearly don’t even know you.’
In December 2022, Reshmi received an email from London-based influencer Anna Kurtoglyan – who boasted 243,000 Instagram followers – asking if she could make her a cake for her friend’s birthday in exchange for social media coverage. Anna responded to Reshmi’s post by telling her that they had made a ‘cooler cake’ for Alina (pictured)
Lefft: Alina – whose birthday it was – detailed her perspective on her Instagram Stories. Right: Anna asked her followers to weigh in on a poll, with 78 per cent taking Reshmi’s side
In December 2022, Reshmi received an email from London-based influencer Anna Kurtoglyan – who boasted 243,000 Instagram followers – asking if she could make her a cake for her friend’s birthday in exchange for social media coverage.
In response, Reshmi told her ‘Just buy a cake from somewhere and don’t be so cringe’, but had her post taken down from Instagram for violating community guidelines on being ‘respectful’ to other users.
A screenshot of Anna’s email – which Reshi posted on her Instagram – read: ‘I’ve been a huge fan of your brand for quite a while. I adore your product’s quality and amazing designs, and I am always happy to support you guys on my social channels xx
‘I wanted to reach out and see if you like to collaborate? It’s my best friend’s birthday soon and it would be amazing to order a cake from Anges de Sucre as my friend is also a big fan and this would be a perfect surprise!’
She then ends the email by offering to ‘create some content in exchange for the cake’.
Later that day, Reshmi responded to Anna and declined her offer before accusing the influencer of ‘begging for a freebie’.