For some reason I hate doing square cakes, I feel like they take me longer to ice than just a round cake. I get crazy about the corners and want them to look perfect so I take all this extra time to accomplish that. I have bride who I have signed to do a round stacked wedding cake, this week however she has asked me if I can do square cakes. So how should I handle this now that they have already paid in full for the whole cake, but if I switch to squares that adjust the amount of servings, amount of work and etc.

Well if the square tiers have more servings, then you will have to adjust your price accordingly.

I'm not very good at squares either, but if I sold cakes I wouldn't charge more just for the shape. I would just have to practice with more square cakes.

A 10" square naturally costs more than a 10" round because you are getting more cake ... 10"round serves 38; 10"square serves 50.

I do know of places that charge an extra per-person fee JUST because it's square.

I personally never understood why they do that, but then I'm one that loves doing square cakes. 74% of the weddings I've done have been square (yes, I counted up one day).

I'm thinking of charging more for cream cheese iced cakes. I hate cream cheese iced cakes. Really, really, hate cream cheese iced cakes. Really. No, not kidding. REALLY!

indydebi,
me too, i hate doing cream cheese iced cakes but lately i have been able to get out of them saying that the only person really benefiting with an CC iced cake is the persons getting a serving from the outside edge, those who are served from the inside get just a small 2 sq" of cream cheese. i have been able to talk them into having the cc for the filling only. afterall you cant really tell by looking at the cake that it is cc icing. plus i charge more for cakes iced in CC, and only a little bit more for a CC filling.

Well, simply let her know that she will have to pay more for squares because of the additional servings, then if you choose, you can impose a 'structural change charge' since she is changing essentially the whole premise of the cake. The price you quoted was for something else, it's no longer valid. JMHO.

Indy, what's up with the CC frosting hatred?? Bad experience? My interest is piqued.

I hate square cakes. Absolutely. I almost never do them. I'll do 1 square tier with rounds above without an extra charge, but an all square cake gets charged more. I. HATE. SQUARE. CAKES. I also hate cram cheese icing. It's too soft. And I normally use a non-crusting icing.

I feel your pain... I only make for friends and family but I pretty much have a rule that if they want square (or anything other than round) it comes with fondant.. I hate doing BC corners.... I cried once over it.

Indydebi... any suggestions for frosting square since you love it so much???

I 'fold' the icing around the corners and over the top edges. Use a bench scraper to smooth the sides. Melvira the whole thing when I'm done.

Here's a thread with some pics: http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopicp-5396443-.html#5396443

Indydebi-have you tried the Lorann cheesecake flavor? I like the crusting cream cheese recipe on this site, but I added some of the lorann oil and it really tasted great!

Yah, I was just going to say, get LorAnn cream cheese flavor!!

Thanks Indydebi.... I am gonna try a square with your instructions and hopefully it will work for me too!!!

LorAnn oil .... I'm ON it!!!

I only charge more for square cakes, cause they have more servings. Has anyone tried Cakeman Raven's cream cheese frosting. It has a great cream cheese flavor without the heavy powdered sugar taste or texture. It is a little soft, but does frost ok. I'm sure it will even set up better in the fridge.

Yup, just like you.

Ditto Debi,

I don't charge more because they are choosing a square cake.

If they choose a square, I adjust the sizes of the tiers so they are getting the number of servings they need.

I also like doing square cakes and do MANY of them. It does take a little more practice to do a square cake quickly as compared to a round cake.

I checked in my photos after reading this thread and realized I have more square cakes than I do round cakes in the gallery!

The more square cakes I do the better I seem to get. Not perfect by any means. I've been having a rash of cream cheese icing requests here lately too. I tried the cheesecake oil flavoring in my meringue type icing and it was not very good. Had a sicky sweet taste tang instead of that deep goodness of cream cheese. My problem is once I stack the cakes and decorate I would have to leave out as my frig is not big enough to hold it. The crusting cream cheese recipe is so sweet and I don't enjoy getting it smooth. I'm used to the non-crusting icing. So I'm thinking of just not offering cream cheese as a filling or icing. What do you guys do? Do you refrigerate your cakes stacked or not offer it too? Pam from Bama

i always charge more for square cakes,its more work,more frosting and more cake batter,if they still want to pay the same as a round,then i'll let them know they are getting a smaller cake,no arguments.

i've been using this recipe for my cream cheese frosting (sorry, it's in metrics) which i use with my carrot cake. i've never had any problems of the icing being soft or difficult to handle. i've iced square cakes with it without problems (could get pretty straight corners).

120g butter / creamwell
250g cream cheese
120g powdered sugar

creamwell is something easily available here, but i've never heard it being mentioned here on CC, so i guess it's not something you see sold there in the US. if you ask me, it's very similar to shortening texture wise, but it has a very pleasant smell that shortening doesn't have. taste wise, almost like shortening.

as a beginner, i find no difference icing squares or rounds... is it just me?

i don't do square...UGH....with my OCD...i'm spinning that dang cake around for hours....

i did a 4 tier square last year for a customer who would not take no for an answer...she said she didn't care if it wasn't perfect, as long as i made it.

good grief....she loved it, but i saw every flaw...

I don't have a problem icing squares vs. rounds either. I use cream cheese SMBC. I charge no different per serving for square cakes vs. rounds.

I charge more for square. I keep lots of round boards in stock but have to go out of my way to buy square boards so I do charge more because it is inconvenient for me!

I used to hate doing squares, but found the more I did the better I got, I have no problem with them now. I do not charge more for the shape, but I do charge by the serving, so a 10inch square will cost more then a 10inch round. On the subject of cream cheese icing, I use the crusting cream chees icing and add the Lorann flavor, ices and decorates well. I made the mistake once by using fat-free cream cheese, doesn't do well, very sticky even with the crusting recipe. Adjustments must be made for fat-free.

I made the mistake of grabbing a brick of 1/3 less fat cream cheese once and using it in my frosting... what a MESS. It lumped and clumpes like nobody's business.

i, like the others, sharge per slice and obviously a 10" square will be more than a 10" round as it has more serves (as pointed out by indydebi) but it would be my thought that the bride would not suddenly require more serves than she previously ordered so i would adjust the cake sizes to allow for the same serving size required byt the round and thus leaving the cost of the cake the same. if there is a difference in servings due to the inability to change cake sizes exactly then charge or refund the bride acordingly. you could also give her the option of keeping the same size tiers but telling her the price difference between the rounf and square versions, you may be able to bump the prder up this is just what i would do