WOW!!!! As a cookie decorator, you have really enlightened me as to what cakes cost to make. I always believe they are worth money spent, but honestly had no idea of how much they cost to make. I will stick with cookies (not that I could do cakes anyway ) but alas, one does not necessarily fare well there with time involved.

Thanks for enlightening me! It is good to see the other side for the knowledge and to be able to politely enlighten someone the next time I hear them comment about the cost of a cake.

I know your time is intensive, but your costs are higher than I expected. Thanks for the knowledge!

I use only real butter (Land 'o Lakes), Philly cream cheese and powdered sugar in my frosting and I figure one batch to be $8.35...add more for chocolate or other flavors.

My buttercream is what everyone loves and it's the same recipe the bakery I worked for used and what they were known for so I'm not going to go cheap on it....plus I can tell the difference in butters and cream cheese so I stick with the best.

And oh my goodness the money I've put into the pans, the colorings, the fondant and gumpaste, the dusts and lustres...but I can't help it...it's a sickness. I want MORE! I love it and what money I make I know doesn't cover the time I put in on projects. If I did this for a living... I'd be dead!

The "ingredients times three" is a falacy and will have you bankrupt in no time. The reason is that ingredients are NOT the biggest cost factor(s) in a cake. ingredients times 3 just can't cover the labor cost.

I can make a 2-layer 8" round cake for under $10. Assuming "times three", then I would be selling that cake for $30 .... just barely over $1/serving. But it takes, let's say, 3 hours to make, from mixing to finish. Paying an employee (or myself) a lousy ten bucks an hour means I have payroll expense of $30. I'm in the hole for making this cake.

Here's a thread where a CC'er actually did the math and I think you'll find it an interesting reveal: http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=6475557#6475557

here's a thread in which I compare MAKING a product and selling it times three as opposed to BUYING a premade product and selling it times three. WAY different expenses involved!!! http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=664395&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=spatulas&&start=150

And in reference to the original post ..... I can't even begin to figure out how a batch of icing costs that much. I am frequently puzzled when folks refer to adding dream whip as "so expensive". Folks, it's just a bit over one dollar per envelope. If adding $1 to your cake's expenses means you aren't making any money on it now, then you have a pricing problem.

Dream Whip costs me 2.48 for 2 packs (before tax), and I use 2 packs in each batch of icing. The other costs in each batch is the flavoring, shortening, and powdered sugar. My hubby was adding straight from the receipt to come to his total. The only difference I have found since posting this is that I only use 1.5-2 batches for a 6 and 8 inch tiered cake- not 2-2.5 like I thought. I found that I was using 2 when I had a few different colors on a cake, and there is always a little waste from each color after the cake is done.

2 full envelopes in each BATCH? With my recipe, I can get 2 or 2.5 batches from each envelope. What recipe are you using? Maybe we're calling a "batch" something different. A "batch" to me uses one 2-lb bag of p.sugar

Yep- a batch for me uses 2 lb. of powdered sugar. My hubby has been saying he thought 1 pk of dream whip per batch would be enough! I think I will now be cutting down to 1 pk. per batch! My recipe is based on yours, indydebi- I know mine is a little different, but I thought u used 2 pks also! I think I will be dropping down to 1 pk, for sure! This thread is helping me cut costs! lol! My hubby will be very proud!!!

Indydebi's recipe calls for 3 Tablespoons (about 1/2 pkg.) per "batch". That's with one 2 lb. bag of sugar. I get can make 2 batches with ONE envelope and have a couple teaspoons left.

The cost of Dream Whip in the 2 pk. package is $2.58 for me but the 4 pack is only $3.49. Crazy hu?

Oh - in-dy-d-e-bi !
Recipe? hm? please, please? Is it posted?

http://cakecentral.com/recipes/6992/indydebis-crisco-based-buttercream-icing

OK, here's the deal for Dream Whip. AMAZON.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001EQ54YQ/?tag=cakecentral-20

You get 24 envelopes for $22.85. That comes out to $0.95 per envelope. (73cents per oz). If you order other items and bring your total over $25, shipping will be free.

If you order it on the Subscribe & Save program (automatic delivery), you get an additional 15% off, which brings the price down to $19.42 ($0.81 per envelope), and free shipping (don't need to spend $25.).

There are a lot of other grocery items that are on this program. All have free shipping. I've been using it for a year now and love it. I get deodorant, freeze dried fruit, dish soap & spray cleaner.

Oh, and if you make a lot of cakes and order the large quantities of dream whip, maybe you could just open them all and pour the powder in a mason jar. Then just measure out the 3T from the jar. Probably would save a bit of time. (I always wanted to be an efficiency expert, just like the parents in the book "Cheaper by the Dozen"!)

wow, i do a 32 pound "batch" for 27 bucks.....food costs are roughly 10% for me too.

you can get 25 pounds of sugar at sam's for 12 bucks

im too scared to sit down and actually figure my costs out. =/

copha (shortening) is $2.50 for 500gms here, cake mixes START at $2.50, icing sugar is $2.50 for 1kg.. cakeboards... ohhh dont even get me started! lol.

its still frustrating when people arnt aware of how much goes into the cake though.. i spose i dont help matters when i make extravagent cakes for the smallest of reasons... ahhh well, i need to find some way to feed my addiction.

Thanks much for the recipe, indydebi !

That's high, I can use one batch of icing and 1 batch of MMF fondant on a 6/8 inch tiered cake, only cost me about $12 for the whole thing.

A 5.1oz box of dream whip is sold here in Australia for $10.99 plus postage! I haven't used it before.....and at that price, I don't think I'll start!!

Indydebi, while we are over to your recipe, I just want to thank you for posting it! I started using it about 6 months ago I think and everyone RAVES about it. My husband would sit and eat a whole bowl of it if I let him, lol! Anyways, I have been slowly growing my at-home bakery and strictly use your buttercream as my crusting icing . Thanks!
-For Candoo - I use only 1/2 a packet of dreamwhip per 2lbs. of powdered sugar and it really works well. Definitely try and cut back if you can...saves the wallet . I figured out my costs a while back and had to raise my prices to cover. Good for you too sit down and figure it out. Saves you alot of money in the long run if you can make some changes now. Good luck!

thanks!

thanksyou, i did see that sub somewhere and have been meaning to experiment with it as well. =)

Hobby baker only here. I get asked to bring cake to all the family functions now. I am starting to get annoyed, though, because cakes ARE expensive to make. And I could buy a cake for less than it costs me to make one, which I've started telling people, so hopefully it will start getting around the family. Honestly, it would be cheaper and less time consuming if I were asked to bring a roast turkey to every gathering, but of course no one would ever do that because how unfair it would be to put me to the trouble and expense (HA), especially when no one else is bringing anything. Good grief.

Anyway, my batch of icing is 1 pound butter (3.98, although I can occasionally get it for less, and once I even found some for 2.99 a pound!), 1 pound Crisco (2.79 -- sometimes a little less), minimum of, say 1/2 cup of milk (which is what -- around $3 for 8 cups?), two bags of icing sugar (2 kg total -- 2.14 a bag if I get it at costco, 3 something at superstore, but 4 something if I didn't stock up and have to get it in my home town). Plus GST, so that ends up around $12 a batch. And usually I either have to make two batches OR I make a filling for between the layers, but the filling is more expensive than the icing. Plus vanilla, plus icing colouring. Then the cake ingredients. So the cost adds up. And because I just do this as a hobby and don't make cakes all the time, I can't really spread out the costs of the icing. If I make two batches of icing and don't perfectly estimate how much I needed, I'll end up with an extra half cup of black and 3/4 cup of green and so much red, orange, white, whatever. And all those little extras get tossed. If there is a lot of one colour, I might throw it in the freezer, but if I make another cake, chances are I will need to remake all the icing because that won't be the colour I need. If I made a couple cakes a week, then leftovers from one cake would be used on the next cake. The last cake I made, I told my husband how much it cost in ingredients and how much time I figured it took (about 11 hours to decorate alone). So he told the people how much time it took, and they were floored. Hopefully that will make some of them think twice before they ask for that big of a favour again.

I think I read it somewhere in the forums and I've started to tell people this. I think that some people figure that because they can take a box mix and a can of frosting and make a cake themselves for under $10 and ten minutes of effort, it couldn't possibly cost me more or take me longer to turn out a fully decorated 12 by 18 or two tier cake that feeds dozens with leftovers to spare.

TOSSED?!?
No don't toss leftover icing, FREEZE it. If you add chocolate to it, it doesn't matter what color it started out.

By the way - make the family give you supplies to make those cakes if they want them. Your time is enough to use.

"You want a cake? Sure!
Person A, bring me 2 pounds of butter and 4 pounds of powdered sugar; Person B, bring a dozen eggs and a gallon of milk. Person C, you're responsible for the flour and white sugar..." heh, heh

I learned this from Gemini, I think, regarding leftover cookie icing. Mix all the leftover colors together, which makes a muddy brown. Add black food coloring, and you have a batch of black icing. (Gemini then uses the black cookie icing for outlining cookies.) 7yyrt's tip to add chocolate to the icing is brilliant.
Freeze it, and you won't have to make black or chocolate icing the next time you need it.

Or freeze colors individually. Sometimes you just need a teeny bit of one color.

It's her family.
If a sister can't bring you the supplies to make a cake then the law is stupid and needs to be repealed.

My kids bring me things all the time to cook. Is that then illegal for them to do so?
-
Edited:
Sorry, that came out a bit snotty.

No point taking out on others the fact that
IT IS STILL RAINING!!!