I have received a request for a large dummy cake in the shape of New Jersey, about 30 inches long. I have to send them a quote tonight or tomorrow morning, and I was wondering...how would I go about pricing this? They only need the dummy, it would be very heavy on decoration (they want the NJ highways on there, as well as some landmarks, etc).

So, actually, I think I have two questions:

1. Pricing? I live in NYC. This is being requested by a company (as opposed to an individual).
2. Has anyone ever made a carved dummy cake?? If so, any suggestions, tips?

Thanks in advance guys! As soon as I landed in this dilemma I knew I could rely on the folks at Cake Central to help me out. : )

I don't know a thing about carving them, but I would charge at least as much as you would charge if it were cake. The styrofoam probably isn't cheap, plus you still have to carve, frost and decorate the cake. So, at least the same price as you would charge for a real cake of the same thing.

Thanks! Yeah that does make sense, I doubt the styrofoam comes cheap.

Styrofoam can be difficult without using special tools. I have only cut out circles and used a little saw made for styrofoam. It was messy, but the little saw worked okay. You may find it will be more expensive to use styrofoam. Have you considered using rice krispies treats - just a suggestion...

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Hmm you know I have not considered RKT. Do you think it would be hard though, for something that is almost 2.5 feet long?

The good thing about RKT is you can mold it into the shape you need. You could draw the shape of the state on your board and mold the RKT to that. Making one that size would take several recipes of RKT. Fairly cheap to make but takes time. I have worked with RKT and I am more comfortable it than styrofoam.