hello cake buddies! please offer your advice for me: i just had a bride request that each tier have 3 layers of cake and 2 layers of filling. i explained how tall of a cake that would be and not really fit on the dessert plates (not to mention how heavy that things is going to be!) but it's the look she wants. my question is: should i charge her 1.5 times my price per serving? i will have to bake 3 extra layers of cake, extra filling (strawberry mousse) and more bc to ice it all. so if i usually charge $3/serv i'm thinking $4 or $4.50/serving, yes? thanks everybody!
I'd charge more...A lot of the magazines are showing cakes that are taller than normal, so this might be coming up more as people go for that look.
Why don't you just tort your regular layer and give her FOUR layers of cake and THREE layers of filing per tier?
I thought that was the standard way of doing a tiered cake anyway! In my mind and the way I've usually seen it done a three layer cake/two layer filling tier would be smaller than the standard size, not larger. A Four/Three tier is almost always 4 1/3" to 5" tall. Each layer of cake is 1" thick, and the fillings height vary depending on the type used. **
Now, if the bride is thinking of each cake layer being 2" thick, like they often show in the grocery stand cook magazines, then yeah, that would be one humongo cake! With filling that'll put the tier over 6 inches tall!
Sounds like the bride is thinking of the wrong kinds of cake. She's thinking filled cake layers, not torted cake layers.
** EDIT in that this is how I always do my tiered cakes because it's how I learned to do them.
ya, you probably need to clarify what she is looking for.. I torte my cakes.. to about 7/8". get 4 layers of cake and 3 layers of filling..
Yes you should find out if she wants tall cakes, or torted cakes.
I do charge a little extra for torted cakes sometimes, because it takes double filling and its not my standard way of doing things. But its up to you on that. Maybe .25 or .50/serving more. Many do it as standard though, just automatically torting the cake, for no extra charge.
If she wants extra tall cakes, then the serving count goes up and you'd just charge for the extra servings. If the 2 layer cake served 20, then I'd say a 3 layer cake would serve 30 so you'd just charge accordingly.
yes, right away i suggested torting the layers to have 4 layers of cake and 3 layers of filling but she wants 3/2 cake and filling. apparently she says this is popular in europe (the family is from germany/austria sorry cannot remember which). i am worried too about the height. i specifically asked if she meant having 3) 2" layers of cake plus filling and she said yes. i told her to really think about it as it will be a very tall/big slice of cake on the plate. she said she understands but she just wants that look. up until now this has been over the phone and the consultation is monday. i think i will have to have something so she can visibly see what she is ordering and let her know the extra cost involved. i'm hoping she goes for the 4/3 ratio 
Other things you can do is just bake two layers and torte them and then save the fourth layer for a tasting or cake balls.
OR sometimes at the catering place we'd bake a full 2" cake and then put half batter in the other pan to make a 1" layer, and that gives you 3 layers.
Of course both of those options give you a regular sized tier.
this sounds like she needs to be told what you offer and what you don't offer.. hopefully you know how much a recipe of cake costs you and see if it is a significant enough difference to warrant charging her..
or, if u charge for custom work, etc.. then charge her.. but make sure you guys are CLEAR on what you are doing
One thing we did at school for the more European cakes was bake two 2 inch layers and torte one of them. Then stack torted layer, filling, full layer, filling, torted layer. If your client is from Europe, this may be what she is used to. It actually looks very nice when cut.
Edited to say that I see she says she wants 3 full two inch layers. I'd charge for the amount of cake you are baking, in that case. My family is all from Germany and most cakes were actually 2 thin layers and called tortes. We never had anything like American cakes, but then everyone has been here 50 years so who knows what they do now 
It sounds like she wants 6 inch tiers. We do cake that tall for a really modern look.
https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B0ZF5Mv-r8fcMjNlYWJmMGEtYTIyYy00ZmNjLTg1ZjctNmI2YmU2YTUyOTEw&hl=en
We actually make 2 three inch tiers and stack them. We instruct the clients to cut the pieces 1.5 inches thick instead, and charge for the servings accordingly. So a 9 inch round tier that is 6 inches tall yields 56 1.5X2X3 servings. Charge accordingly.
If you do four layers of cake you can separate it with a cake board. essentially you would have two tiers of the same size stacked up and then iced like one cake. When serving time comes make one cut into the cake to see where the board is and take it apart and serve. You may want to have a bit of extra butter cream to ice the bottom half before cutting and serving or it would have a naked (messed up) top.
This way she gets the high tier look she wants, you get more structure and support and a nice size slice fro plating. Every body wins.
If she wants extra tall cakes, then the serving count goes up and you'd just charge for the extra servings. If the 2 layer cake served 20, then I'd say a 3 layer cake would serve 30 so you'd just charge accordingly.
Kita, you now I luv ya and you're on my short list of cakers that I luv and admire, but I have to disagree with ya on this. 
If the cake will be three 2" layers, then the cake surface is the same ... it's just taller. So instead of a 1x2x4, it's a 1x2x6. You will get the same number of servings, but those servings will be 50% taller, ergo the price per serving should be 50% more ($3 for 1x2x4 = $4.50 for a 1x2x6).
The only way to get more servings from a taller cake is to cut them REALLY thin ... like 1x1x6 maybe? .... or 1x1.5x 6?
I would think that people wouldn't notice so much that the cake was so tall (long) that it was floppin' off the end of the cake plate, 
, but they WOULD comment on the "chintzy little thin piece!" of cake they were served.
I agree with other previous posts .... find out what the bride is really expecting and go from there. Sometimes the terminology hangs us up. It took me awhile to understand that when a bride said "No filling", that she meant no FRUIT-type of filling; that she wanted just regular icing as the filling. 
great info and i agree that my top priority is to be perfectly clear on what exactly it is that she is asking for and what i will do for her. if she indeed wants the extra layers and the extra height then i will charge her more per slice.
snarkybaker: i'm sorry i don't quite understand your description of cutting the cake. please, i'm not sure how you arrived at 56 servings. the serving size you gave is the wilton party serving and they say the 9" is 24. did you just double it minus a couple pieces? then i should just charge for almost double the servings? sorry, i'm a bit confused here
itsacake: that's a very interesting way to torte. she did, however, say 3 even layers of cake and 2 layers of filling--made it a point to specifically ask.
thanks guys, i'm really hoping that i can show her that torting the 2 layers into 4 and 3 layers of filling will be a nice tall without being overly so. this is going to be a 4 tier cake so if i have to do them at 6" it will be one huge and heavy cake! maybe if we make 1 of the tiers extra tall she will like that, but i have my doubts
I have to sort of disagree with you on this one, Debi, but we'd both end up charging more for a 6" tall cake, just for different reasons.
You say you'd charge more for taller portions, but you'd still cut it 1" wide. When I've seen people around here cut normal-height wedding cake, they always cut it way thinner than 1", even when I explicitly tell them to cut it 1" thick. For a cake that was 6" tall I'd tell them to go ahead and cut the pieces 3/4" thick, or however they do it, because I know that they do it that way anyway. You'd get more servings out of it that way, but the same amount of cake that you should get from one regular serving.
Really, it's kind of 6 of one, half dozen of the other. Just a different way of looking at it, but you should definitely charge more for taller tiers in the end.
....they always cut it way thinner than 1", even when I explicitly tell them to cut it 1" thick.
Wow, that's amazing!
And so many people think 1" is super thin to start with! 
I was at a meeting once where I took a cake, and the guy from the country club who usually cuts the wedding cakes was serving it. He was cutting the pieces about 1/2" thick, I swear to God! I was horrifed and I asked him if that's how he always cut the cake, and he said yes!
I now ask how they cut the cake when I deliver them and most people tell me that they start small, then adjust the size of the servings depending on how many people want cake! I just tell brides that I can tell them how to cut it, which I do, but I have no control over it, so if they see pieces coming out that are super-thin they need to tell them to cut it bigger!
There are plenty of cakers who bake 3 layers of cake with 2 layers of filling and the cake isn't any taller than a normal tier. You could fill your pans less and bake three layers... or you could put a parchment collar in your pan and fill it more and torte it into 3 layers. BUT... if you don't want to go out of your way and do what you normally don't do... then just tell her that your cakes have 4 layers of cake a 4 filling layers and if she wants something different then she should look into other bakers.
I would find out if she's looking for 3 layers for taller tiers or simply because, in her eyes, this is how cakes should be.
There are plenty of cakers who bake 3 layers of cake with 2 layers of filling and the cake isn't any taller than a normal tier. You could fill your pans less and bake three layers... or you could put a parchment collar in your pan and fill it more and torte it into 3 layers. BUT... if you don't want to go out of your way and do what you normally don't do... then just tell her that your cakes have 4 layers of cake a 4 filling layers and if she wants something different then she should look into other bakers.
I would find out if she's looking for 3 layers for taller tiers or simply because, in her eyes, this is how cakes should be.
i agree 
....they always cut it way thinner than 1", even when I explicitly tell them to cut it 1" thick.
Wow, that's amazing!
And so many people think 1" is super thin to start with! I was at a meeting once where I took a cake, and the guy from the country club who usually cuts the wedding cakes was serving it. He was cutting the pieces about 1/2" thick, I swear to God! I was horrifed and I asked him if that's how he always cut the cake, and he said yes!
I now ask how they cut the cake when I deliver them and most people tell me that they start small, then adjust the size of the servings depending on how many people want cake! I just tell brides that I can tell them how to cut it, which I do, but I have no control over it, so if they see pieces coming out that are super-thin they need to tell them to cut it bigger!
this actually happend to me last year at a wedding that i delivered the cake and stayed as a guest. while i was cutting the cake in the correct size the sister of the bride came up to me and said " you'd better start cutting those pieces smaller!" i couldn't believe it and let me tell you the guests were none to happy to be getting such a tiny slice either.
Really, it's kind of 6 of one, half dozen of the other.
it's so funny that you said this. my mom said it to me yesterday and we had a huge discussion about it because she said it so fast i wasn't understanding what she was saying. i was having a super, super big brain fart and was just not getting it.
then her and my grandmother started talking about all these "old sayings" and i started getting a glossed over look because i couldn't understand 90% of them haha.
off topic, but my hubby's blog is all about "where those old sayings come from". Pretty interesting, if I do say so myself. (But then ... I MIGHT be a little biased! )
http://philerup.blogspot.com/
Just throwing this out there.... never tried it myself, but I dont see why it wouldnt work?? could you just make your standard size cakes (4 layers of cake, 3 layers of filling) and stack them onto a 2" dummy cake the same diameter then ice the whole lot? She would be getting a torted cake with the height (for looks) she wants and you would be baking just your regular sizes, just icing a bit more. like i said, i have not tried it but had someone ask me too and that is what i thought about doing...
Just throwing this out there.... never tried it myself, but I dont see why it wouldnt work?? could you just make your standard size cakes (4 layers of cake, 3 layers of filling) and stack them onto a 2" dummy cake the same diameter then ice the whole lot? She would be getting a torted cake with the height (for looks) she wants and you would be baking just your regular sizes, just icing a bit more. like i said, i have not tried it but had someone ask me too and that is what i thought about doing...
That's an excellent idea...I've seen some people putting cakes together and they use a really thick board, 1" or more, so that gives the extra height. The 2" would really do that!
The amount of servings then increases and you charge accordingly. My nephew had a tower cake (each tier being 3 layers thick) it is in my photos. Each tier served 1 1/2 times the amount that a 2 layer would have served. Let them worry about how to serve it, after it is delivered it really isn't your problem how it is plated
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%