Im sorry, maybe its just because I am new to doing them, but sheet cakes were not nice to me this weekend! LOL I do not feel that I am able to express my creativity with them, and they do not yield that "High end" boutique cake look I am going for for my business. I do not think I will do many sheet cakes in the future. I feel for as much work as I put into them, I did not feel like I got paid for it. It cost me a lot to make them, they sucked up all my BC I made for the week! Not to mention, I can't charge much for them, the FIRST THING that came out of my neighbors mouth when he asked how much, "Did you know Walmart sells them for $27?" Well then go to walmart if you want a walmart sheet cake sheesh!! I did not get into decorating to do sheet cakes, my goals for my business is to provide people with specialty cakes you can't get at ANY local bakery. If that means less business for me because people love sheet cakes, so be it. I would rather work with people who want something different and special and can appreciate the artistry behind these beautiful cakes! Sorry for the long vent, just the cakes were mean to me so my feelings are still a little hurt hahah!! Does anyone else feel this way? I have pictures in my gallery of the cakes I did if you are curious to about the cakes Im mad at

I feel your pain!! It's a never-ending battle to educate the public on quality vs. quantity. I have a meeting with bride next week who insists on "a really small wedding cake and sheet cakes in the back." I went round and round with her and I'm dreading the face to face.

::raises hand::

I refuse sheet cake orders.

See the short video I posted on the 1.14.11 FNCC thread

I Love doing sheet cakes and find that they can be as fancy or whimsy or simple as people want them..
People in my area seem to Love sheet cakes for some reason..
I really don't care what style cake anyone asks for.....It's their dime
With that being said ....If that's not what you want your bakery style/type to be then that's your right not to do them .....

I completely agree! I just raised my sheet cake prices slightly because I wasn't making any money on them. I don't even think they're any easier than a round layer cake that I can make look way prettier.

I agree with you that sheet cakes stink, I hate them as well...........only for different reasons. I hate that I have sooooooooooo much space to fill up and usually it requires so much more imagination on my part than a tiered cake does (tiered cakes are pretty even when plain IMO)

Also, they ARE cheaper and people expect them to be cheaper..however........I don't spend nearly as much time on them as I do tiered cakes and don't spend anywhere near the cost to make them either and I don't have to level, dowel, stack, etc. OR worry about them falling over in transit (sliding yes/ falling...no)

so there are positives.....I don't have to include a "how to cut a cake" chart with it either and people generally can figure out if it's suppose to serve 20 they need to cut it 5 x 4 to get all the servings (most 4" cakes people don't know where to begin)

I completely disagree with you though that you can't have a high end boutique look on them.......have you seen Thanh Thanh's sheet cakes?? You don't get more high end boutique than those gorgeous cakes!

I used to spend hours and hours on ONE sheet cake and felt like you do about them.........but once I did them more often I got sooooo much faster and now can decorate one in well under an hour! Which means my profit margin is MUCH higher now!

I spend about $5 to make a 1/4 sheet and charge $20 for it and that leaves me making $15 for one hour's work.......not too bad.

Not all sheet cakes have to be boring...here is one of my first sheets and one a year later when I got a feel for them


http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1163844


and once I got comfy with them

http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1260875


not that boring to me

FNCC=Friday Night Cake Club:
http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=706774&start=30

aha!!! That makes sense!

I love to do sheet cakes, they are like an unpainted canvas to me. I do FBCT so the challenge is plenty, I really don't like to make roses they are kinda boring in BC and I stink at it ...lol.. and this gives me the opportunity to be unique in what I am making, weather it be a picture that someone give me or something I draw on my own. I just did one for a person that loves the florida gators and music so it was a unique piece take a look in my photos I have several FBCT there gives me a chance to be creative and to get what I am worth.

It depends for me to do sheet cakes..HOnestly, I prefer NOT to do them,,but if detailing isn't much,,then I'm ok with it. I just think it's a pain to tip the pan over (SO BIG) and get it all leveled right. Other than that,,it's easy to ice for me and decorate.

Just my opinion..

I like them because they are easy but I don't really sell them, because I'm not set up to do bulk orders. To make money I'd have to sell lots of them and I don't do that. I have a minimum order of $200 and most people won't buy a sheet cake for that. hahaha.

I'm trying to focus my home business on one or two very large orders per weekend rather than several smaller ones.

I like em!

our cake central queen(sugarshack) chiming in. I love it. I love all her cake decorating ideas and all her dvd's, including the sheetcake ones. She's the BEST.

I agree that some people will say I could get that cake at Walmarts. However, that said 1. My cakes are fresher 2. Decorated with the client in mind 3. taste better ect. 4. My sheet cakes serve more as they are higher layer. So with all that in mind I vote sheet cakes can be fun and interesting to make as well as eat.

aw thanks Icer (heart)

Sheet cakes are my bread and butter. The fill the orders and slow time between wedding cakes. 98% of my non wedding cake orders are sheet cakes. I can whip them out. People like them because they are easy to cut and serve. Check out my website...graduation cakes, bday cakes are mostly sheets. I love my sheets.

http://community.webshots.com/user/sewsweet2

I refuse to do sheet cakes as well, unless they are with an ediable image or something fancy, like fondant cutouts. I mean the roses on each corner, shell border run of the mill walmart looking sheet cakes. My bakery is too high end for them.

I agree, thought, if you can do them fast, they help fill in the dead times. What we have found that are MUCH better money makers are small dinner party cakes, 6 and 8 inch rounds, that feed 10-15, depending. We make italian creme, and boston pie, black forest or just white cake with chocolate kahua with ganache on top, things like that, that you CANT get at walmart that are prettier, and dont take us any time at all to make and charge 40.00-50.00 for them. We always have some base 6 and 8 inch cakes in the freezer, ready to fill, like red velvet and chocolate and yellow. Again, takes us no time to fill,and ice and sometimes just do C&S's swirls on them and happy birthday on top. All kinds of little cakes. I have found this has helped a lot with the dead air time and bring in some extra money...

i def hate sheets as well- i agree that its hard to make them look high-end or to get someone to pay more than $20 for one! i prefer 9" rounds for small parties

ConfectionsCC- I think I know what your problem is.... one of your sheet cakes was an Alabama cake.

I am not crazy about doing them but I will if that is what my customer orders.Money is money...