I've been asked to do a quote for a sculpted car about the size of the wilton car pan,covered in fondant and very detailed. I know that price varies from place to place but was still just trying to get a general idea. my normal prices are $3 for buttercream and $4 for fondant. Thanks for the help in advance!!!

I would like to hear the answer also... How manywill it feed?

Are you using the Wilton pan or carving the car. I charge $7 a serving for a fondant carved cake. That includes all the cake. Even if I cut away cake, I still charge for it. I offer to save all pieces of cake that are carved away. Carved cakes take much more time and there is a lot of waste. My feeling is I should be paid for the entire amount of cake used. If they want the scraps, I will save them for the client. If you are using the Wilton cake pan, I would check for the Wilton web site to find out how many servings are in that size cake pan. If you have to purchase the pan, I would figure that into my pricing. I certainly would charge much more than $4 a serving for a fondant covered car cake.

When you make a carved cake, you charge for the amount of servings the person gets.

Most people charge MORE for each serving because in order to get the shape AND the necessary servings, you must waste cake. That's the reason carved cakes cost a lot. You HAVE to start out with a certain amount of cake and carve down from there.

Professionally, I would never offer the "scraps" to the customer. They are paying for me to make them a cake in a certain shape, and in order to do so, I have to start out with a certain amount of cake that I will wittle down. But even furniture makers who have to carve out things from wood do not offer the sawdust to the customer. It's just not part of the equation. It's waste....and what the customer pays for is the end product...the waste should have no bearing on the transaction.

In response to 3GCakes: while defending and explaining my price to a client a while ago I was explaining how a cake was carved. She really wanted the cake but didn't like the price, she then told me she wanted the cake that was carved away, so I agreed to save it for her. It was bagged and boxed and she took it when she picked up the cake. Since then, when people seem agitated by the price, I offer the cake that is carved away. You would be very surprised by how many people want it. I LOVE your analogy of the furniture maker, and will use it in the future. However, if someone wants the cake scraps they can have them. Otherwise I use them for cake balls.

This cake will actually be a centerpiece for a table so the servings doesn't matter as there will also be a plated dessert. I will be hand craving it but wanted to use the car pan as a basis for size. I'm just wondering if anyone has made a cake like this what did you charge??

I would figure out how many serving size pieces (I use the Wilton Chart) are in the cake before you start carving and figure your price from there. I charge $7 per serving size for that type of cake, that is a 1" X 2" X 4" piece of cake. I know that may seem high but that is the going rate in my area for a carved cake with lots of details. I recently did a Corvette cake, from start to finish it took me 19 hours. Which I thought was pretty good considering a CC fan had documented 23 man hours on a similar cake. There are lots of tutorials here on CC that can help you with it.

I do not charge per person on carved cakes. I charge based on the amount of hours I anticipate the cake taking plus my costs & supplies. Therefore every carved cake is priced differently depending on size, shape & complexity of the design. Having done several carved cakes I have learned that each one is so different that pricing per piece doesn't always work. I take my estimated ingredient cost plus 20% and then add $35 an hour on top of that (based on my estimate after planning the design). This way a 20 serving cake that is not neccesarily complex does not get priced the same as a 20 serving cake that has a lot of detail work and I get adequately compensated for my time.

When people ask about carved cake pricing I tell them the general price range that most fall into, but always tell them that the final design that we agree on will dictate the price. One think I have found is that a lot of people get a bit of sticker shock after thety get the price... thats the problem witl all theese cake shows on TV... they don't show price and people can very very unrealistic about the price. Just be sure you price it to compensate you for the extra time it will take to make a carved cake.

I agree withAmysCakesNCandies. I find many customers will request a crazy 3D sculpted cake but only want to pay $35 for it. It is a very fraustrating thing. I try to explain to my customers that it costs a lot to make the cake and takes a very longer time wihen it comes to detailing. Some are ok with that and understand, (people with reason) others decide to cancel (unrealisitic people). My thing is you may be able to shop at Costco and get a slab cake for $35 but customers don't dare think about why they don't offer cakes covered in fondant, scuplted cakes etc.....

I didn't charge for my McQueen cake. But I would have charged $50 for it.

Stephanie

i had one request TWO 3D cars each to serve 50 and wanted only to spend $200 for both.

Onceuponacake...you got to be kidding me...I would wish them the best of luck finding someone to do it for that price. Unless I really needed the money I wouldn't work for amount of money. After you price out your ingredients you'll be lucky to make minimum wage.