What would you charge for a 6" round chocolate cake, bottom layer covered with raspberry mascarpone cream, 2nd layer with chocolate buttercream, 3rd layer with more raspberry mascarpone cream, then the whole cake covered with chocolate buttercream and garnished with fresh raspberries?

How much do the ingredients cost to make the cake? How long will it take you to make the whole thing? How much profit do you want?

Personally I won't do a 6in unless it is attached to a bigger cake. The smallest single tier I make is an 8in.

TexasSugar - I know where you're coming from regarding the smaller cake, but I'm new in the area and trying to get my business going here, so unfortunately I'm at the stage of taking what I can get. I know what I would have charged in my previous business/area, but....well....I guess I'm asking because a "gourmet" cake shop here prices their 6" round at $39.95. No fancy decorations, just a basic filled cake. That seems a bit high to me, but maybe not for this area. So I'm wondering what you all charge for your 6" rounds.

Pricing varies everywhere. Not an easy answer to post as there are too many variables. I would suggest investing the the CC Cake Boss Software and going from there. If your not making a profit than your not building a business. Taking what you can get is not building your business. What the shop down the street charges does not matter. You have to go off of your costs and the time it takes you to create it. There is a link on this site for the software and it's a worthwhile investment towards building your business. It will allow you not only to keep track of orders but also help determine what you should charge. It helps you offer consistant pricing with additional orders. Something worth checking into.

Annie - I'm looking into buying that software. And I didn't mean taking whatever PRICE I can get, but taking whatever ORDERS I can get, big or small....even if it means a 6" cake. I know my costs, etc, and I certainly won't sell at a loss, but I was just wondering if others on here are selling 6" rounds like the one I described for $40.

I think even starting out you have to treat your business how you want to be seen. If you do not want to do 6in cakes in the future for single orders then I really wouldn't do it now, because you will get the "But you did it before..." stuff.

That aside, if a local shop sells it for a certain price why would you consider going lower on it? They are actually selling that cake for about $3.33 a serving. Personally I'd for for a more rounded number myself, and since I'm guessing raspberry mascarpone filling is probably on the higher cost of the scale, I'd probably bump it up to $3.50 a serving, especially since I think dealing with a 6in cake is a PITA.

But again you do have to consider your cost involved in making it, no matter what XYZ charges because you don't know if they buy in bulk, buy cheap or buy the freshest ingredients there are, all of those would factor into the price.