I have been doing so many sheet cakes lately and I really do Hate them! However....they are money so I do them but I want to know why the customers keep coming back to sheet cakes.The last few customers I have gotten keep going back and forth by email and I send great pictures of different cakes and when you come right down to it my 9x13 cake is not much less than a small single layer tiered cake or at least a different style of cake and I get this answer.."Well I really don't want to spend that much on a cake but I'll take a 9x13 slab"(which I price at $50.00).I find them boring and hard to create ideas on a flat limited surface..I had a customer last week who wanted a slab..no changing her mind.She wanted to spend $50.00...No more!.Oh and she wanted Diamond Castle Barbie but had not candle,figures etc to give me to even make it remotely look like a Barbie cake...I don't supply dolls,figures,candles etc...So I ended up printing a 5x7 picture of Diamond Barbie and placed it on a fondant plaque to resemble something Barbie....I mean come on... help me out here...I want to create...


"I makey no sheet cakey".... is what I should have posted on my site..LOL


Laurel

I feel ya! I hate them too! That's just way too much real estate to smooth and decorate.

I feel the same about sheet cakes. It's hard to figure out what to do with them. I think most people like them simply because they're easy to cut and transport. No messing with cutting guides or having the thought of it falling over. I've had to make a few and cringe at the thought of doing one. I can feel for you. Good Luck

Boy, do I agree! Creative cannot flow as well on something like that! I hate to do sheet cakes!

I don't like them because they are hard to fit into my freezer. Especially since I do them in two layers, baked seperately. I've only done one in the last two years!!

I just won't do them. I have done a few but now I tell customers that I don't do them.

I hate sheet cakes and no one here will pay for them anyway because they equate them with grocery store cakes. I know some people are surprised and some even seem offended but nope, not gonna change my mind.
It's your business, you shape it into what you want it to be. If you don't want to do them, don't offer it anymore.

I saw one website where the lady said she won't do plain, flat sheet cakes. She had some with like a half ball on top or something else to give them dimension.

I know there are people here on CC who do a great job with them but it's just not me.
Are you at a place where you can start eliminating the sheet cakes as an option?

If I didn't do sheet cakes I wouldn't have any business . I think the thing with customers is not so much the price difference (although that's definitely a factor) is they are intimidated by a tiered cake. It's so easy to cut a sheet cake and it's what most people are familiar with. I think the disassembly and cutting of a tiered cake just looks a little scary to people and it may be that it doesn't appear to have as many servings, although we know we've made as many servings as they requested.

Maybe try explaining the servings and how really easy it is to disassemble and cut...that may have an impact and help people to appreciate a different design.

Unfortunatley, I find that people equate "sheet cake" with birthday/party cake and "tiered cake" with wedding cake.

I hate doing them too! I priced them high enough to make people decide on a tiered or a round cake instead!

Heeelllloooooww is any body there? Picture the little girl in pig tails from the yahoo messenger...

How much would you charge for a tiered cake with the same servings?

If you price your cake by the slice(one size) and slide your pricing up of down for BC or fondant ect. Your customers will see they have more options.
You do figure the support costs into tiered cakes so it should be a little more but not night and day price differences.

I mean... It's the same cake batter just poured into different pans right? Why the different price???

Are your prices making your customers choose sheet cakes?

I just gave a quote this morning for a sheetcake and sent the customer into sticker shock. I don't know what she thought she would pay for a sheet to feed 100, with filling and fondant work. I was actually giving her a great price because she is a good customer and a friend of my BIL. She bought sheetcakes from me before, so I can't understand why she was so shocked.

hmmm simple answer ....... you got the WRONG sort of customers!!

I say it is lack of education. People do assume flat slab cakes are for birthdays, and other daily occasions and tier cakes are wedding cakes. If I get my child a tier cake now, what will her wedding cake be like? More along the line of getting bigger and fancier for each occasion. I hate sheet cakes. I won't do sheet cakes and I only do them at home. Have fun with what you do. If you market you shop and do not include sheet cakes, I think you can make a go of it. You start or continue doing sheet cakes, you will always be known as the place to get sheet cakes. IMHO

I hate sheetcakes too, but I try to view them as a "cake challenge" and see how creative I can get (not too creative as it seems lol), but you can see by my photos I do WAY too many of them!!

I wish I could say "I no makey sheet cakey" to everyone, but as it turns out.......I need the money!!

I know I'm well in the minority here, but I see zero difference between sheet and tiered cakes.

My personal observation: I think cake decorators have purposefully limited their creativity when it comes to sheet cakes. No one wants to be associated with grocery store bakeries, and grocery store bakeries primarily do sheet cakes. So by rejecting sheet cakes, decorators believe it gives them more credibility.

I could buy into sheet cakes presenting no creative oppertunities and being boring because they aren't tiered, yet I have never seen a decorator complain about doing non-tiered rounds or squares. There's tons of very creatively done non-tiered cakes on CC and other sites. Yet, it's like as long as the cake isn't in the shape of a rectangle, then anything goes.

If people don't want to make them, that's their perogative. But blaming the customer is a cop-out. There's nothing wrong with a customer wanting a sheet cake.

Honestly, I am not wanting to start anything!! This is just how I see it. "Sheet vs. Tiered" is like "Box Mix vs. Scratch", there's really no right answer.

Kids cakes here can rival ANY wedding cake - and the parties are the same - party planners for first birthdays!

Good for business though!!

http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/story/0,26278,23342687-5007185,00.html

These sorts of customers are everywhere - you just have to get them to come to you!!

I never in my long life had a tiered cake other than at a wedding. (Until I made them myself.)

At a wedding a cake lady (or gent) takes all the tiers apart and cuts it up.
At all other occasions someone grabs a knife and starts slicing the round or sheet cake.
You want to make pretty tiered fondant cakes, they just want to eat simple buttercream or coconut-covered cakes.

Shrug, what can you do?

No, I just want nothing to do with a flat expanse of 2" tall unfilled cake. Walamrt can have the corner on that market!

DITTO !!!!!!

"They're not buying a cake - if you want to buy a cake, you go down to your local bakery. They're buying a serious edible statement.''

Me=swooning!!!

Jamie - when that article came out there was a radio announcer that tried to rubbish Planet Cake for charging this price.
Instead of jumping up and down trying to 'defend' their reputation - they baked a cake in his likeness and delivered it to the radio station

http://www.planetcake.com.au/news/steve_price_cake.php

PRICELESS!!!!

I don't say "I won't do it" but I do warn the customer I have to charge my minimum cake price which is $3/serving (the only exception is when the sheet is along with another cake or a cake on top, then I make it cost less). So I tell them that if that is ok with them, then I'm happy to make it for them! I generally don't hear back!

LOL - well the Steve head thing is pretty funny to be honest.

In regards to the topic, and coming from a newbie who really hasn't divulged into her full creative caking potential (if you want to call it that), I'd say that sheet cakes are just more of a challenge then a tiered cake in some ways? Perhaps mostly when it comes to finding ideas that work and being creative with just a huge large flat surface?

I'm not sure...I guess at the end of the day if you love what you do that's what really matters. If you hate doing sheet cakes, remove them from the options list. I don't think you can fault the "every day joe blow/girl" for requesting something simple and easy. Perhaps they don't know the options that are out there and that fit their budget? Then it comes down to a marketing thing I suppose - if you're going to offer sheet cakes, price them right (so high enough that you would be ok in doing it) but offer another option that isn't a typical sheet cake (which would be more fun for you to create). As an added bonus to that customer, let them know that in regards to cutting you can give them some hints or tips to cutting/disassembling? If it was me I'd send them on their way with a glossy print out for tiered cake cutting and taking them apart.

Just a newbs 2 cents... I by no means claim to be ready to start a business or be a great cake baker, or whatever. But I do have a background in business, so I may have something to contribute that someone might find useful.

I have done sheet cakes a few times and I stack and fill them.

And all the parties I have been to that ordered a sheet cake, no matter what store they were from, they were all two layers and filled.

I have mixed feelings about this, but when I see sheet cakes that are well done and with the talent shown in some of these, I just wish I could do sheet cakes as beautifully as these:
http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&meta=allby&uname=ThanhThanh&pageID=8

Check out the first two rows of pictures. They are phenomenal!
Like 7yyrt,

I never in my long life had a tiered cake other than at a wedding. (Until I made them myself.)