Heeeelllllpppppp!!!! Fashionista Cake
Decorating By NiKiSweets Updated 29 Oct 2013 , 4:22pm by alexius007
AI have a client who wants a fashionista cake, the details she wants on the cake is: A high heel a shoe box a shopping bag makeup a purse jewelry an a Eiffel tower..... an the colors she wants is hot pink black and orange........ an to feed 150
My question is how the beck and we're do I start? I'm not sure we're to being..... should I do a 16" or 18" square and place everything on top.....My mind is running a million miles a min....please any ideas or advice you can give will be GREATLY appreciated. ....
Thanks :)Nini
She is wanting all of this SCULPTED?!?!? That would be one heck of a cake but one heck of a lot of time and work. There are lots of tutorials for shoe boxes, shoes, purses, and jewelry (if gems, maybe isomalt, but be aware it gets cloudy if refrigerated). You can probably find lots of posts and tutorials here and youtube for those. There is no way I personally would attempt a 3D open latticework Eiffel Tower. I'm a newbie who reads a lot more than I bake. I am guessing the most impressive open latticework Eiffel Tower would be done in royal icing in flat panels and then stuck together. However, it would be very delicate and my hands would not be able to take doing that much icing. I googled "royal icing 3D tower tutorial" and spotted this one, which looks good:http://www.sugarduchess.com/2011/02/eiffel-tower-tutorial/ . Make twice as many pieces as you're supposed to need to allow for breakage.
My suggestions to simplify the cake construction and lower the bill if that would be a concern:
Substitute a purchased model for the Eiffel tower. Is anyone really going to eat crunchy royal icing anyway?
Iced or fondant Eiffel Tower silhouette on the side of the cake like in this pic: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-atNW4lEdaDU/T3_NvZjDIPI/AAAAAAAAARU/rcndDLe4CMw/s1600/Eiffel%2BTower%2BCake%2B2.jpg
AI'd also do tiers rather than a big flat base cake. This way you can design your Eiffel Tower and placement to give height prominence whilst still doing it flat. Scattering your mini sculptures about on the tiers will look more effective than just all placed on top of a flat cake.
Definitely tiers and you could do a theme on each one.. shopping on the bottom with shoes, bags and purses adhered to the side (not 3D), makeup and jewelry on the second and you could top it off with a 3D Eiffel tower. As someone said earlier you could use royal icing and make the sides then "glue" together with royal icing.. make lots of extra for breakage. I managed one two years ago for my daughters sweet 16, so if I can do it, anyone can. I used the tutorial posted above, it has the template for the sides of the tower also. Best of luck
Make sure your client has the money to pay for all that!
Caljava Online has ready made fondant heels and purses check it out: http://caljavaonline.com/collections/readymade-fondant-high-heels-clutch-bags
I purchased the white platform heel for a bridal shower cake a few months ago and it was a hit! Saved me time, which in turn saved me some money! lol
I just followed the link, those shoes are amazing!!
AThanks soooo.much to everyone..... I was thinking of doing a tiered one an doing a small 3D purse on the side.....I'm just like AHHHHHH. an I was thinking of a royal icing tower but man that would be a lot of icing.....I think I will buy an Eiffel tower an put it on top......I'm lost....lol........ just wondering how much would u charge for something like this?? I told her I will draw an get my mind straight and let her know the price in the a.m. ..I'm in Sacramento can.....I don't know what to charge.............. oh an she wants a different GOURMET FLAVOR in each. .... :-O o_O
Did you establish what kind of budget she is willing to pay before you go to all the time of designing and pricing out the cake? It is going to be an expensive cake and as we all know, people are not always realistic about what cakes cost. For an order like this we would always establish their budget before we go any further, a lot of the time they want a lot more than they can afford. Establishing their budget first saves a lot of time and enables you to design a cake that is based in reality.
A
Original message sent by 810whitechoc
Did you establish what kind of budget she is willing to pay before you go to all the time of designing and pricing out the cake? It is going to be an expensive cake and as we all know, people are not always realistic about what cakes cost. For an order like this we would always establish their budget before we go any further, a lot of the time they want a lot more than they can afford. Establishing their budget first saves a lot of time and enables you to design a cake that is based in reality.
she said the most she can spend is $300 is it worth. it? I was giving her a discount because she is my husbands cousin..... I'm a newbie at this whole pricing my work...... I don't know how to price things for my time and overhead..... for example I sold the school bus in my pics for $40 an I know I should have charged more now.....just don't know how....Any advice or tips? an she is limited to a certain budget should I tell her that a lot of the things she want will not be on the cake???!!!!
The formula jason_kraft (a forum member here with a LOT of good management and legal information) recommends is linked in his signature, http://jasonkraftblog.wordpress.com/2013/05/14/the-magic-pricing-formula/ . I've also read that 3 times material cost usually runs similar to that for cake.
She would not expect to pay only $2 a slice for cake in a restaurant, nor would the restaurant cake be decorated like that. How many hours do you expect it to take you to make? What do you think your expenses would be? $300 minus expenses divided by hours is your hourly rate. Would you work for that? Is it worth the time away from your son?
If you wish to do the cake within her budget (which is too low for what she is asking for), some ideas I would have for lowering expenses might be:
Fewer servings. Perhaps she could invite fewer than 150 people.
Does she own (or can borrow) items that could be used in decorating? With a barrier between the item and the cake or arranged around the cake on the table. I've seen decorative shoe statues. Does someone in the family sew and have a dress maker's dummy? It would be draped with jewelry.
Fewer decorations on the cake. She listed a lot of items.
A
Original message sent by IowaBaker
The formula jason_kraft (a forum member here with a LOT of good management and legal information) recommends is linked in his signature, [URL=http://jasonkraftblog.wordpress.com/2013/05/14/the-magic-pricing-formula/]http://jasonkraftblog.wordpress.com/2013/05/14/the-magic-pricing-formula/[/URL] . I've also read that 3 times material cost usually runs similar to that for cake.
She would not expect to pay only $2 a slice for cake in a restaurant, nor would the restaurant cake be decorated like that. How many hours do you expect it to take you to make? What do you think your expenses would be? $300 minus expenses divided by hours is your hourly rate. Would you work for that? Is it worth the time away from your son?
If you wish to do the cake within her budget (which is too low for what she is asking for), some ideas I would have for lowering expenses might be:
Fewer servings. Perhaps she could invite fewer than 150 people.
Does she own (or can borrow) items that could be used in decorating? With a barrier between the item and the cake or arranged around the cake on the table. I've seen decorative shoe statues. Does someone in the family sew and have a dress maker's dummy? It would be draped with jewelry.
Fewer decorations on the cake. She listed a lot of items.
I really appropriate all you help and advice, I'm gonna let her know I can't do all that for only $300.... if she scales done I will do it..... an no it's not worth the time away from my son not at all..... I'm a PERFECTIONIST so I like things to be perfect, an everything she wants on the cake it would definitely take me WWWWWAAAAAYYYY over a week or two for all the little details I would have to mold an sculpt. ........ I think I would lose my mind an I have my goddaughters with me also so doing that cake with kids 5,4 & 3.... I would lose it lol
$300 for 150 people? So $2 per slice but what about your time and effort? what about all the baking? the sculpting? etc etc. I'm not the best at calculating but it seems way off, lowaBaker mentions Jason's blog, you should check it out if you have a minute or 2. He's awesome at stuff like this.
A
Original message sent by Claire138
$300 for 150 people? So $2 per slice but what about your time and effort? what about all the baking? the sculpting? etc etc. I'm not the best at calculating but it seems way off, lowaBaker mentions Jason's blog, you should check it out if you have a minute or 2. He's awesome at stuff like this.
I'm going to right now...... I'm trying yo figure it all out: -)....... thanks
Quote:
Thanks soooo.much to everyone..... I was thinking of doing a tiered one an doing a small 3D purse on the side.....I'm just like AHHHHHH. an I was thinking of a royal icing tower but man that would be a lot of icing.....I think I will buy an Eiffel tower an put it on top......I'm lost....lol........ just wondering how much would u charge for something like this?? I told her I will draw an get my mind straight and let her know the price in the a.m. ..I'm in Sacramento can.....I don't know what to charge.............. oh an she wants a different GOURMET FLAVOR in each. .... :-O o_O
Sac is such a diverse area, it really shouldn't be much of a concern. There's high income, low income and a whole lot of in-between there. Like everyone else said, get your pricing down first and be firm with it. Then you can help clients pick a cake that fits their budget. And, if I've taken anything from these boards, it's make sure you get paid IN FULL before you turn on the oven. If you want an idea of local pricing, check out the Freeport Bakery on Freeport Blvd. They do a lot of custom work and often have lines out the door on the weekends and they draw from all over Sac.
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