I just received a call for a 3 tier 8,10,12 round fondant covered fake cake with a red or black bow placed on the 2nd tier. Being my first ALL fake cake I was wondering what others charge?
My real fondant cakes start at $4.00 a slice.

$3.20 per "serving" + the cost of the bow.

I was in a Bronwen Weber class this week and someone asked about charging for dummy cakes and I'm pretty sure she said they charge the same as regular cakes in their bakery because it's the same amount of work. And where she is they're charging $12/serving!

I've only made fake cakes for myself but have always thought if someone asked for one I would have to charge the same as real cake. It's still the same amount of work! Plus you have the cost of the foam which can be minimal if ordered ahead of time or very costly if purchased last minute (at least at the supply stores near me).

I charge the same price for dummy cakes. You have to purchase the Styrofoam (not cheap). Compare it to the cost of what it will cost you to bake real cakes. Your icing the forms in fondant, takes the same amount of time. Decorating each tier, same amount of time. The only savings is what it would cost to bake the cakes and the buttercream icing that you wouldn't need as a base coat. HTH

My experience with dummy cakes took a lot LESS time to decorate. I did not use buttercream. I covered the styrofoam in fondant and just wet the styrofoam first. I didnt have to spread buttercream first which cut down on the time, I didnt have to bake, which also cut down on the time. The styrofoam is firmer and I got clean edges much quicker than a real cake that's soft with soft buttercream underneath.

I would charge a flat fee plus the cost of "ingredients" if it were me. I would be sure that the cost is worth the time it takes to do the actual decorating and that would depend on the details. If all they want is a simple ribbon that sounds quick and easy.

I would probably buy the cheaper icky tasting fondant too since no one is going to eat it.

But I want to go on record as saying I fully understand the need to charge something similar to what you would normally charge for a real cake because otherwise you've got those yahoos out there buying up dummy cakes telling people your wonderful bakery made it and then serving cheap nasty kitchen cakes plus if this caught on it hurts all of our bottom lines.

I was told rule of thumb on this one is 80% of the real cake cost. So for a 400 cake it would be 320...just as Ms. Debi said<G>

I have a question on fake cakes for weddings....where do you place the actual cutting cake within the stack(if requested of course). Is it better to have it toward the bottom or toward the top?

I prefer the fake cake be the base but I have had a real bottom tier for cutting with fake tiers on top. Worked out very well. One cake I did was a mix...fake, real, fake...and they cut from the middle real tier.

Cat

I'm going a bridal shower cake for a friend next month and I'm planning to do a three tier cake with only the bottom tier real cake. My thinking is that when I take the top two tiers off I can set them to the side and still have a cake as decoration after serving the bottom tier.

$3.20 (80%) includes whatever the $4 originally included.