Do-It-Yourself Cake Request

Business By costumeczar Updated 29 Jun 2009 , 5:51pm by costumeczar

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ljdills Posted 27 Jun 2009 , 2:56am
post #31 of 47

I sell plain cakes. Some of my customers really enjoy my cakes (hopefully all of them do) but anyway... sometimes they will want them just to eat with dinner or take to a Sunday brunch things like that where that won't necessarily want a fully decorated cake.
I understand all of the reasons that some of you have said you wouldn't do it, but the fact is we don't know what happens to our cakes once they leave us anytime ! From horribly ugly toppers, plastic flowers and toys, whatever. As far as dirty hands, if that is a concern you could always make them sign a waiver. But none of this really matters because the op stated that they were completely booked anyway.

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Bonnie151 Posted 27 Jun 2009 , 8:53am
post #32 of 47
Quote:
Originally Posted by artscallion

I wouldn't have done it mainly because I'm not in the undecorated cake business. And if word gets out that I sell undecorated cakes, I won't have time to do fully designed and decorated cakes. The profit margin I can make on a plain undecorated cake is minuscule compared to the profit margin I can make for designing and decorating a cake. In other words, I can make a whole lot more per hour as an artist than I can as a baker. So why waste my time on an order like that?




I do the odd plain cake and I charge nearly as much for them as I do a fully decorated cake. Mostly I do this because I don't want to do many plain cakes so if you order one from me you're going to pay for the "I don't want to do this cake so if I'm going to it's REALLY going to be worth my while" factor. It works for me because A) it discourages most people from ordering one and B) my profit margins are enormous for the few orders where people are adament that's what they want. icon_razz.gif

I do pick & choose which weeks I'll do one for so that my orders all balance out.

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artscallion Posted 27 Jun 2009 , 12:37pm
post #33 of 47

That sounds like a good solution, Bonnie.


Just to clarify...All of my responses have been based on my assumption that the OP's particular wording, "three plain white cakes" meant three separate, unfilled, unfrosted white cakes. I can see where the wording is ambiguous. And I would think differently about selling a filled, stacked, frosted, undecorated cake, if, as Bonnie suggests I charged the same as I would for my less ornately decorated cakes.

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BeeBoos-8599_ Posted 27 Jun 2009 , 1:36pm
post #34 of 47

The main reason I started my business is to do just the oposite. I make the decorations and mail them to the customer. They bake and ice the cake and apply my decorations. I even provide "diagrams" so they know how to place them on the cake. It is a nice solution for moms who want to do thier kids cake but cannot do the decorating part. In this case, I would have happily made the cake for her.

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momg9 Posted 27 Jun 2009 , 1:59pm
post #35 of 47
Quote:
Originally Posted by Trixyinaz

The only thing I can think of is "well I don't want people thinking I decorated it." But if you are a reputable bakery/cake artist, no one would believe in their right mind that you decorated it, plus you have the sales receipt to prove it and too many people would know beforehand that the bride had her bridesmaids decorate it.




I did a wedding cake years ago for a friend's son. It was huge, it was 7 cakes on different cake stands to feed around 300. It was all white buttercream frosting.

During the reception as dinner was ending they brought out dessert icon_confused.gif The dessert was a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. Everyone at the table knew I had made the cake, it was right there on the cake table, hadn't been cut yet and they still thought I had made the cake they were eating.

People really can be clueless. All they know is it's your cake and anything it turns out to be is associated with you.

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indydebi Posted 27 Jun 2009 , 2:55pm
post #36 of 47

There are multiple facets to this discussion.

I sell dessert cakes .... plain iced, undecorated, 3 layers cake and 2 layers of filling cakes. They are not cheap. They cost way more than a grocery store cake. But they are far above and beyond a grocery store cake. Anyone can order one of these and do whatever they want with it later.

I dont' charge for design elements. So a 3-cake (3-tiered?) cake with just dots and a ribbon around the base costs the same as a 3-cake (3 tiered) cake with basketweave and a cascade of BC roses going down the side.

(No, I'm NOT doing all of that extra work for nothing. My price covers that extra work. I'm not doing more work for the same money with the basketweave .... I'm doing less work for the same money with the just-wrap-a-ribbon-around-it cake.)

Maybe she's just going to throw some flowers on top of them as they sit on 3 different elevations, or scatter some rose petals. "We're going to decorate it ourselves" doesn't necessarily mean with a piping bag.

The question, the discussion, the controversy is only here because the bride said "I want some plain cakes that I'm going to decorate myself" (and I, too, assume that plain-cake means just iced and bordered). If she had just ordered "3 plainly iced cakes", it wouldn't even be a discussion.

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chefjess819 Posted 27 Jun 2009 , 3:17pm
post #37 of 47

i really dont see what the big deal is. i dont do wedding cakes, and after reading some discussions on these forums, not sure i want to. what if the bride were to omit the part of how her bridesmaids were going to decorate it. (yes i know the OP is booked but lets just roll with it anyways just for fun) if a bride were to walk in, ask for a plain white 3 tier cake, would you tell her heck no! get out of my bakery, i'm above that? i personally would love this. just a simple cake, no frills, so the people could taste how great the cakes are. not a "well the cakes didnt taste that great, but it was so pretty so i guess that makes up for it". and with the BM, maybe one is a florist and they are going to put fresh flowers on it? if they ruin the cake they ruin the cake. usually when people go to the wedding, they know the bride and wedding party well enough to know what is going on. i wouldnt charge the same as a decorated cake, but i would be super cheap either. but its just my opinion. sry so long, couldnt figure out why people were in a wad over this....

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indydebi Posted 27 Jun 2009 , 3:26pm
post #38 of 47
Quote:
Originally Posted by chefjess819

usually when people go to the wedding, they know the bride and wedding party well enough to know what is going on....


I tend to agree on this one. I know in my family, the conversation would along the lines of
"Did you see how horrible that cake looked?"
"Yeah, but you know why, don't you?"
"No ... why?"
"Well Betty Lou thought she'd save a buck or two and decorate it herself!"
"You've GOT to be kidding! She flucked ColoringBook in kindergarten! What made her think she could decorate a cake?"
"Yeah, I thought the same thing when I heard the story!"

Oh yeah .... the story would spread like wildfire!

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Trixyinaz Posted 27 Jun 2009 , 4:24pm
post #39 of 47

Debi, that's how I enviosioned the converstaion of the night. How funny! I must be the only one who thought she meant, she wanted a white cake (as in white cake, not chocolate cake or yellow cake), no icing, etc., but I can see know that she meant a plain cake decorated with just white icing...no bells and whistles.

Either way, I wouldn't have a problem with either order. And like Debi, I charge the same if they wanted only a white cake with a simple border or a white cake with basketweave, or a cascading arrangment of buttercream flowers or dots, etc. So I stand by my original post. Just cake w/o filling or icing = a discounted price. A tiered cake with filling and just iced in white buttercream = my normal price per serving.

I understand the OP is booked so it really is moot. But for the others that wouldn't do it, I just don't understand your reasoning behind it.

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costumeczar Posted 27 Jun 2009 , 4:29pm
post #40 of 47

Okay, Im back. Sorry I didn't reply to some of the questions earlier, I was actually *Shudder* busy working and haven't been online.

She wanted plain, undecorated white-iced cakes. The bridesmaids were going to "take care of the decorating" the day before the wedding, then "dress them up" with fresh flowers the next day. I took it to mean that they were going to pipe the borders or whatever on them, then the flowers were the toppers. She was going to put them all on separate stands.

I was booked anyway, but I wouldn't do it if I wasn't for these two main reasons, some of which have been mentioned already:
1. Liability of someone else touching the cakes and not doing "clean" food prep.
2. People thinking that I did the potentially crappy decorating if they turned out to look like a 3rd grader did them. WORD OF MOUTH IS EVERYTHING!

I don't like to do sheet cakes for other reasons (they get served cold way too often, get cut early and dry out, etc. etc.) The question of selling a plain sheet cake and this being a similar thing isn't really relevant to my business because I don't do birthday cakes, so I don't do sheets in general.

The main thing is that I have a certain customer base that I market to, and selling plain white cakes for someone else to do isn't in my business plan, so to speak. I do think that if someone wanted to market their cakes like this there might actually be a customer base for it, but that isn't my focus. That would be a separate business plan for the do-it-youselfer.

Totally theoretically, though, if I did do the cakes I'd charge her full price for them. Other people have made the point that they do cakes with minimal decoration, and so do I, if that's what's ordered. I don't charge extra for basic flowers, etc., so the price per serving wouldn't be lower. I don't know if she was trying to save money, I just assumed that she was.

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margaretb Posted 27 Jun 2009 , 4:51pm
post #41 of 47

Here I am thinking that this is a GREAT idea -- after you sell the cake for the base price, delivered a day or two early so you have more time for your weekend cakes, then if they wreck the cake, you get to rent out your emergency cake dummy (which I would totally have if I were in the wedding cake business) and profit twice!

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Mindy1975 Posted 27 Jun 2009 , 4:54pm
post #42 of 47

I'm not going to be a smart a$$ here, but for me, why take the chance of damaging your reputation just for a cake order? What if the reception is for 300 people. Do you really think all 300 of those people are going to know that you baked the cake, but then somebody else decorated it?And not associate the work with the original baker? And if it looked like crap, then o.k., it's not that baker's fault. That is my main reason. I just don't want my name attached to someone else's work, especially on the same cake. If I were doing the groom's cake and someone else was doing the wedding cake, then I wouldn't have so much of a problem with it. But I don't like taking partial responsibility or association with someone else's work. And please, I'm not trying to be angry about it. I can give you another example. I have worked construction, building log homes with my dad for the last 12 years. ( Yes, actually on the job, doing the labor, not in the office.)We are one of the few companies that do not sub-contract the electricians, plumbers, roofers, heating and cooling guys, because we don't want to have to take responsibility for someone else's work. WE shouldn't have to. So, I guess being self employed practically all my life, is why i'm being such an a$$ about this topic in general. I'm not saying that someone else isn't free to do what they want, I'm just stating that there are several obvious reasons why I wouldn't sell something "half finished". At least if it gets damaged, or whatever, it was still a nicely decorated cake when it left my shop, and I don't have to worry about someone else adding their decoration to it and then passing it off as something that I actually created. I've said my peace, and that's all I'm going to say on this topic.

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cocorum21 Posted 27 Jun 2009 , 5:39pm
post #43 of 47

IMO... Subcontracting work on a home(cake) is totally different than selling an unfinished home(cake) No one is saying that they are going to hire someone else to bake their cakes. They are still baking their own cakes, making their own icing...This is nothing like subcontracting.

Like I mentioned before, if someone ordered a plain cake with ribbon...who's to say they aren't going to try to "decorate" it once they take it? Are you going to repo the cake? The truth is once a cake is picked up or delivered none of us knows what happens to it. Kid puts a booger on it, cat licks it, Granpa scratches his @$$ then wants to touch the pretty flower......Who knows. Just read down this forum where someone complained about the florist ruining the cake and she was right there.

I guess the only reason that I would worry is if someone complained that their cake was horrible and sent in a photo with extra work done after it was delivered, then I could pull the photo from my file and say "well you did this, this & this after I delivered"

Once it's out of your hands you no longer have control.

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Annabakescakes Posted 28 Jun 2009 , 1:56am
post #44 of 47
Quote:
Originally Posted by ZAKIA6

ive seen on planet cake website. they sell you plain iced cakes.... i guess you or your florist do the rest????

http://www.planetcake.com.au/onlinestore/store.php?sid=89




They also sell a slab of cake with no icing.... icon_confused.gif

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Bonnie151 Posted 28 Jun 2009 , 7:24am
post #45 of 47
Quote:
Originally Posted by Trixyinaz

But for the others that wouldn't do it, I just don't understand your reasoning behind it.




I do the odd one but I understand why people wouldn't want to - it is such boring work! It's not the type of cake person I want to be at all and only take the odd one on when I have a small gap because they are such easy money. I don't mention these cakes on my website because I really really hate doing them!

I don't think anyone has pointed out the importance of having a bit in your contract about liability ending with you once the cake is handed over - e.g. if someone decides to put poisonous lilies on the cake, you don't want it ending up on your head! I make it clear with any cake that any items placed on the cake after handover must be non toxic and that I bear no responsibility.

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Ariginal Posted 28 Jun 2009 , 8:21am
post #46 of 47
Quote:
Originally Posted by leahs

I would NOT do this for the liability issues alone. Lets say the bridesmaids are decorating and don't wash their hands properly. And spread a little e. coli onto the cake. Guess who get blamed for that? The OP and her liability insurance and reputation.

Run, baby, run.




Over here brides ask for a plain white iced cake quite often and I personally do not supply them basically for that reason leahs... I tell them that I will not supply cakes to be decorated with fresh flowers, real shells etc due to food contamination and if anyone got sick they would blame the cake not thinking about what they have put on it... Its just not worth the risk or hassle.. and most when i explain this are totally understanding and either go for the whole hog or we just leave it at that..

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costumeczar Posted 29 Jun 2009 , 5:51pm
post #47 of 47

Well, I just got the latest issue of Martha Stewart weddings, and there are at least three pictures of plain white cakes, with descriptions of ways that the bride can decorate them herself! Maybe this IS going to be the new "money saving" idea that they start suggesting.

There's also a suggestion in the "budget bride" article for the bride to buy sheet cakes and stack them herself, using dowels to keep them from collapsing (no mention of boards, though icon_twisted.gif ), then decorate the plain cake with fresh flowers, etc.

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