I Want To Make A Beautiful Tiered Cake!!!

Decorating By jescapades Updated 16 Apr 2009 , 12:16am by dmhart

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jescapades Posted 15 Apr 2009 , 11:17pm
post #1 of 12

how come i keep getting orders for sheet cakes, cupcakes and other cakes that don't challenge me?!?! i want so badly to make a beautiful, tiered cake with gorgeous flower work or fondat figures or something! i want to challenge myself and see what i can do. i can't afford to make a practice cake that involved. i just don't feel like my skills are being put to good use with swirl after swirl and fbct after fbct. i mean, yes, that's a good use of my skill, but it's just not a challenge.

i dunno, am i whining? should i just keep my mouth shut and be happy that i am getting any orders at all?

any advice, or a swift kick in the pants would be helpful! thanks for listening!!

11 replies
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__Jamie__ Posted 15 Apr 2009 , 11:24pm
post #2 of 12

I hear ya! I only....ONLY take orders for tiered, carved, or other stacked and interesting cakes. Bah...no thanks to the unchallenging cakes please!

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jescapades Posted 15 Apr 2009 , 11:29pm
post #3 of 12

i'm beginning to wonder if people even know that sheet cakes aren't the only option.

love your avatar, btw, jamie!!!

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Kay_NL Posted 15 Apr 2009 , 11:39pm
post #4 of 12

I always follow up a request with about 3 cake ideas and give quotes for each! i am very low-scale so have the time to do it that way though!! I give the sheet (or whatever boring option) option with a picture drawn on, a mid-scale cake with maybe chocolate shapes or fondant figures, and the top-scale which could be a 3D sculpted cake with fondant figures, or entirely covered in fondant, etc.

Maybe people don't know there are other options and you need to say "that sounds lovely, but what about either of these options??"

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__Jamie__ Posted 15 Apr 2009 , 11:40pm
post #5 of 12

Hee hee...some love it, some hate it! I love it....and really, it is more of a frustration when brides start the conversation of "what about a small cake and sheet cakes for the back...." Arrrggh! No!

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sjholderman Posted 15 Apr 2009 , 11:41pm
post #6 of 12

I hear ya. I finally started doing dummy cakes to build my portfolio and practice gumpaste flowers and all that fun stuff!!! Try tay lor fo am.com to order dummy cakes.

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__Jamie__ Posted 15 Apr 2009 , 11:42pm
post #7 of 12

Oh yeah, tay lor foam. com is my buddy!

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Jayde Posted 15 Apr 2009 , 11:48pm
post #8 of 12

I like dallas - foam .com for cake dummies, annnd I practice. You could even decorate one side one way and the other side a totally different way. The flowers/figures can be dried and last forever, if stored properly.

I like to practice flowers at home after the kids go to bed. I will put in a good movie or show on tv and lay out EVERYTHING that I need to make a rose or a lily on a silpat on the coffee table. I can crank out several of those suckers while watching a movie, and it doesnt even feel like work to me.

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miss-tiff Posted 15 Apr 2009 , 11:48pm
post #9 of 12
Quote:
Originally Posted by jescapades

i'm beginning to wonder if people even know that sheet cakes aren't the only option.




It's quite possible! I'm thinking back to when I ordered my own wedding cake. I didn't have any experience with cake, so it just never dawned on me to request anything other than white and round. icon_rolleyes.gif

A sheet cake is comfortable, familiar, whatever you want to call it. People know what to expect, how to cut it, etc. Maybe you could try advertising some of the neater things you do. "May is Carved Cakes Month: Place your order by May 31 to get 15% off your Carved Cake order!" (Then they wonder, "A carved cake?...")

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dmhart Posted 15 Apr 2009 , 11:53pm
post #10 of 12

Jessica I feel you pain. In the area I live that is the norm, sheet cakes, I always try to influence tiered cakes. Most don't want to pay a penny more than what a sheet cost. And I have some that grumble about the price of a sheet cake. But I want to do more tiered cake or fondant figures as well. I have done a few cakes and sent to work with my husband just to get practice. And it depends on the customer, I have done a tiered cake for a few customers for the price of a sheet to be able to do a cake I have been wanting to try. Just for the practice alone it was worth it to me. But I promise you with experience and as I build my picture portfolio, the free or discounted price cakes will be over.

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sjholderman Posted 16 Apr 2009 , 12:03am
post #11 of 12
Quote:
Originally Posted by dmhart

But I promise you with experience and as I build my picture portfolio, the free or discounted price cakes will be over.




I do that too, and I always tell my friends, "Ok, you don't tell ANYONE I gave you this price, but it'll be XXX" They always understand it's a one time, for-them-exclusively special

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dmhart Posted 16 Apr 2009 , 12:16am
post #12 of 12
Quote:
Originally Posted by sjholderman

Quote:
Originally Posted by dmhart

But I promise you with experience and as I build my picture portfolio, the free or discounted price cakes will be over.



I do that too, and I always tell my friends, "Ok, you don't tell ANYONE I gave you this price, but it'll be XXX" They always understand it's a one time, for-them-exclusively special




That is how I handle my too, it is understood this is a one time deal. And I don't do that for most, just a few real good customers. And a couple of them have sent me some new customers that have been happy to pay my prices. It is hard to find new, different style cakes in this area.

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