I have a lady that would like a mad hatter cake for her daughters birthday in March. She is doing in Alice in Wonderland theme.
She wants it to be two or three layers, topsy turvy style, and for 20-25 people. She also wants buttercream icing.

I have no idea what size cake pans to use or how much to charge.

According to Earlene's chart if I use an 8 inch and 6 inch round I will get 23 servings (15 and . Since it is going to be topsy turvey though I know some of the cake will be carved. Her chart is a little confusing to me though.

Also if I charge 2.50 a serving for a cake that serves 23 that's only $57.50. That seems kind of cheap for a topsy turvey cake.

Any help I can get will be greatly appreciated. I really need to get back to her soon.

Anyone? PLease?

I've never done a topsy-turvy cake before.. but I do read all sorts of posts about it.. and I'd say that $2.50/slice is really low. A lot of people start their topsy's at $5 and go up from there. I hope this helps!!

I did a topsy-turvey cake with the Alice in Wonderland theme and I charged 150.00 for it. It was a 10 and a 6 inch cake. That will feedthe amount you are needing to serve and more. Here is a picture of the cake.

WOW rvercher23 your cake is BEAUTIFUL! I love all of the details. I think my customer was wanting something with less details though and in buttercream...more like the attachment.

I thought 2.50 a serving because I'm still pretty new to all of this. Of course as I get better and more experience I will charge more.

How many servings did your cake feed?

I think it fed about 45. I think...... I never do exact numbers because everyone cuts different sizes. They fed that number with a few left over.

When one wants a specialty cake they pay the specialty price
NOTHING less than $3 and that is on the low side!
You charge them for the amount of cake they *get* not what they want!
There is really no way to give them a 3 tier for only 25 servings
The closest is an 8"x4"; 6"x,3", & 4"x3" or 4".
If you have a 7" pan I would make one layer 7 & one 8.
For the middle tier, just cut one of the layers on a slight angle/slant and turn the larger sides together. Do the same w/the top tier, unless you make it into a cup.
An 8x4 serves 25; the 6x3 or 4 serves 12 and the 4 serves 4-6; that's a total of 40-45 servings x $3 = (total price) $130.
That will give you a look similar to what they want.

I charge the same price for topsy turvy cakes as I do for a carved cake because IT IS a carved cake......that being said, I personally charge 3.00/serv. and I know I'm cheap.........my tiered cakes are only 2.00/serv. for buttercream (if that helps give you an idea of my area)...in any case.....the topsy turvy cakes are carved away some but they are also 3 layers high instead of 2 so that more than makes up for any carving away you do. If I start w/ 3 layers of an 8" cake and carve it down so that the bottom is 6" around I still charge them the 20 serv. for an 8" cake! They're getting that extra layer and I explain to them that they will either have to cut their slices thinner or order more cake...it's never been a problem.......I've done about 10 topsy turvy cakes so far and the way I price always made sense to my customers!

kakeladi - She only wants a two tier, not a three tier. If she does want a cup on top I will make it out of gumpaste or fondant.

I just went though the same thing this weekend. Lady wanted to feed 20 poeple but I thought the cake didnt look right with two tiers. I made 3 but didnt cahrge for her it DUHH I know. I under charge and am working on my price list. My biggest problem is I never have done the same cake twice. U have been charging $2.00 for fondant when I was making MM fondant. Its too time consuming to make. Anyway here is the cake. It fell by the way hours after I dropping it off at the clients house!! I REALLY lost money on this one