O.k. I've never had this happen before. A lady orders a cake - she wanted the bottom layer an 8 inch but only 1 tier high - the top would be a 6 inch (2 tiers high) she should easily be able to get 20 servings out of this according to the wilton chart. I divided the 8 inch in half since it was only one tier and should be 12 servings and the top 6 inch to layer should be 12 servings also.

My DH drops the cake off to her today because I'm swamped and her 1st response is I thought it would be bigger. I have a feeling I'm going to be getting a call from her. And BTW she only paid $45 for the cake and $15 for the tiara. To me she got a deal but I guess not to her?

How would you handle this?

This happen alot. People don't understand how small an 8"er is. If she only wanted 20 servings she got what she paid for.
BTW: I think the price was a bit high....I would only have charged about $40 total.

It sounds like she got exactly what she ordered. No problem.

I've had that happen to me before, kind of. Actually *I* was the one who thought it was small. I was to make a stacked 8 and 6 round cake (both tiers 2-layer) and once I was done I thought it looked tiny. People are so used to sheet cakes, that they seem to want to judge size according to surface area. A lot of times a one layer 11X15 looks much bigger than a 2-layer cake that feeds the same # of servings. Just an illusion, I guess.

I sell cakes by the servings needed. If she told you what she wanted, then she got what she ordered. Not your fault. Just be nice and tell her next time you will make sure her servings are larger. I think your pricing was fair, if not too cheap. I get 75$ for 24-36 cake servings, and the tiarra would have been extra from me too. I don't trust the wilton chart. It seems skimpy. I go by 12-16 servings out of one recipe.

PS I forgot. With the cost of gas, she surely got a deal...

Your question is... "How would you handle this?" Right? My answer would be, "don't stir up the pot!" You might not get a call at all so don't contact her first.

By any chance is it the pink one posted in your pix? Well then, she got a great cake for a great price! Not sure why she only wanted a single layer 8", but you torted that as well.

If she has any questions just tell her you made her cake to her exact specifications and that in the future you both might need to note that it probably needs to be larger.

You defiantly didn't charge too much. I think it was a very resonable price.

poshcakedesigns, I think $2.25 a serving is a very fair price, and I've never done a tiara, but considering the work that you put into it $15 sounds about right too.

Did this client order the cake in person or by phone? I guess everyone has a different perception in their mind of 20 servings. When I do a cake for my family and they need 20 servings, I know I have to do double the recommended sizes because they want bigger servings or leftovers. (My family would get 4 servings out of a 6", they're cake piggies)

When a non-family member tells me 20 servings and if it's a phone order and I can't show them a sample cake, I tell them to picture a deck of cards, that's similar to what a "serving" is. Usually they want bigger servings, so they pay for a larger cake.

It sounds like you gave her what she asked for but she didn't really know what size she needed. Next time she'll pay for a larger cake. I wouldn't worry about it.

[quote="Win"]

By any chance is it the pink one posted in your pix? Well then, she got a great cake for a great price! Not sure why she only wanted a single layer 8", but you torted that as well.

Thank you...Yep thats the one - she only needed 20 servings so we cut the lower tier in half but I did tort it and fill it too.
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The cake is pretty! That lady got what she ordered, bottom line. And $45 is NOT too much...that, with the tiara was $60, which was a fair amount for that cake. You did a great job.

In my opinion, there's nothing to handle.

You did a wonderful job on the cake. I was actually admiring it in the gallery before I saw this post. BTW, you did not charge too much and she got what she asked for.

One thing i've started doing is to tell people the only way i have to judge serving is based on the Wilton chart and tell the exactly what size the slices are and how many come in each tier. They often they want a larger cake or large serving so we calculate. Also i often bring a copy of the Wilton cake cutting guide so they know how to ge a large number of slices from a smallish looking cake. People are just used to getting resturant size slices and that's not what bakers go by. Good luck!

Are you serious...she got a steal. Your cakes are great.
This is the reason why i don't sell cakes anymore !!

I think she got a steal at 45.00 and truthfully I live in a spot where people won't pay. The Tiara is worth every penny also. Your like me , worrying what people think. The longer I'm in this the tuffer skinned I'm getting. Hang in there , your work is GREAT!!!!!!

I have a set of white round and square styrofoam cake dummies undecorated from 16" down to 6" that sit under my table in the front of my store. I use these not only for wedding cake customers but people who want tier cakes for other occasions. When they see the size in person it helps them realize how big or small each tier will be. On the side of each piece, I have the inch size and on the top I marked it like the serving chart in the Wilton books. I can stack different sizes together for them to see and it makes it much easier for them and ME when they are ordering the cake.

Like another said, don't stir the pot, smile and nod (and stand by your serving charts because they aren't Jethro portions)... It's the hardest thing to do, but sometimes ya just gotta do it because sure, it may LOOK smaller than it is, but once the cutting starts there's more there than people think.

I don't use the Wilton charts because I think it's just unrealistically small for the servings and too much of a PITA to have to cut a cake like that.

OTOH, what is WORSE... When you have a larger portioned cutting chart, and a gal who is supposedly a "Professional Cake Cutter with over 40 years of experience" with the catering manager knowing they need to use larger cake plates than normal... who can't follow a cutting chart with a larger slice of cake than a 1x1 Yea, the bride had 3/4 of a 14" round tier, 3/4 of the 8" torted only Groom's Gluten/Vanilla free cake, and the 6" topper leftover last night because the flipp'n cutter couldn't read my serving chart of 1x3x5 slices and we got served 1x1 DecoPac slices on a small tea saucer (for some reason the bottom of the cake was lobbed off as well to fit the plate)... Now THAT'll peeve ya off when you've been starving all day because who has time to stop to eat while doing a wedding cake, and for the first time in over a year you want to actually eat a slice of your own cake... And, it was the bride's wedding gift...