Hi,
I am baking a 2 tiered fondant cake for a friends daughter
First tier is 10 " and second 8". one cake is a lemone wasc and the second is a vanilla wasc.
Each is filled with a different buttercream.
The entire cake will be covered in fondant and have varied fondant accents.
The wasc recipie i have always used is from tonednas site.
There wil also be some RKT towers on the cake covered in ganache and fondant.
When i price this cake up for materials alone (not including coloring or labor)
It seems to work out around $80-90 this includes a 10lb pail of fondant at $35. so $55 for the 2 cakes including RKT chocolate etc.
This is not a commercial cake but all materials bought from local supermarkets.
I guess what i am asking is does this seem about the right price for materials alone?
I dont buy in bulk as i only make a cake once every month or so...
I just want to make sure im not missing out on some inside trade secrets on where to buy supplies 
Your grocery prices are probably higher than ours in TX. I can do three tiers for about $50 inluding the fondant, but I use homemade fondant.
Sounds about right. Watch for sales and coupons for the hobby/craft/supply stores.
unless you have a lot of fondant decorations you could order a 5# bucket of fondant instead of 10. I use this chart for reference on how much fondant per cake and it works well for me. It looks like for the 10 and 8 you only need about 3-1/2
http://www.cakesbysam.com/store/cart.php?target=product&product_id=21932&category_id=257
Also, what exactly is the $55? i guess i'm just a little confused on what the $80-90 is compared to the $55 (i am a little tired this morning so maybe i'm just missing it)
Also, what exactly is the $55? i guess i'm just a little confused on what the $80-90 is compared to the $55 (i am a little tired this morning so maybe i'm just missing it)
The way I read it, $35 of the $80-$90 was for fondant. So that left about $55 for the rest of the items.
I'm curious, if these items were broken down into how much was actual going to be used on the cake or just how much needed to be bought. Such as a bag of flour vs 3 of cups of flour. Or the price of the 4lbs of fondant to be used vs the 10lbs bought.
This sounds right. I'm always amazed at how cheap people try to get cakes (I just do them for friends for cost) and I have them just pay for supplies. They jump at the cost of supplies - I should have them try to make it themselves.
Also, what exactly is the $55? i guess i'm just a little confused on what the $80-90 is compared to the $55 (i am a little tired this morning so maybe i'm just missing it)
The way I read it, $35 of the $80-$90 was for fondant. So that left about $55 for the rest of the items.
I'm curious, if these items were broken down into how much was actual going to be used on the cake or just how much needed to be bought. Such as a bag of flour vs 3 of cups of flour. Or the price of the 4lbs of fondant to be used vs the 10lbs bought.
thanks texassugar, that makes sense
I wish more people realized the cost of supplies and ingredients. WOuld make our jobs in dealing with clients who want cheap cakes easier.
Also, the fondant chart that the link was listed for....does that apply to mmf also? Just wondering. Thanks
the amount used is the same but the cost is drastically different. I can make enough MMF to cover a 3 tier for under $10. The cost of premade fondant is what drove me to learn how to make MMF. Now I only buy it when I need a lot of black or red. Otherwise its MMF all the way.
And Texas Sugar is right...depends on if you are pricing out the cost of a bag of flour you will only use half of or if y ou are actually breaking down the cost.
However, supplies aside, once you are legal you are paying for where you make your cakes as well as your insurance as well as paying yourself for your time...it all adds up along with the supplies to drive the price of cakes up...can't be helped. But people always want something for nothing so they will always be looking for cheap cake.
Cat
Thankyou all for your answers - The cake will be 2 tier but around 4-5 inches in depth for each level so i guestimated the fondant to be around 4-5 lbs - then decoration and covering rkt turrets etc i figured close on 7-8 lbs.
Everything i calculated to the exact amount except flour which seems to only come in big bags.. ( from walbalms supermarket & fresh direct)
I just wanted to make sure that when i ask for the money for this in terms of just the ingreediants (its a favor) that im doing the best deal as possible..
It's always amazes me how much cakes cost to make. I used to buy fondant but then I realized it was so easy to make it and about 1/4 the price!!!
Also, I make my own gumpaste. I was about to buy an $8 bag of it yesterday just because I didn't feel like breaking out my mixer but decided it was cheaper to do it myself. Took all of 5 minutes and probably cost me less than $2 to make!
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