I have been asked to do an 8-tier ranging in size from 6" to 22" dummy cake for an 80th birthday party. The birthday girl's family owns a firework company so they are doing a huge celebration complete with firework display, this huge cake and I'm happy to be a part of it, but I'm totally unsure about what to charge for this cake. I can buy the dummies for about $60 but the decorating will be simple--nothing too elaborate, just smooth white icing and minimal borders. Any thoughts or advice on what to charge would be greatly appreciated!!
I usually charge 90% of what my price per serving is. All the work is still there--only thing missing is the cake.
for us it depends on whether it is buttercream or fondant. For buttercream I start at $75 a tier. Fondant starts at $90 a tier.
just to give you some numbers so you can see the range this might fall into:
A 6/8/10/12/14/16 serves 308.
18" serves 127; 20" serves 157= 284.
Total so far: 592 servings.
Couldn't find a 22" serving chart, so let's assume 175. Total: 767
767 x $3.00/serving = $2302 x 80% (my dummy rate) = $1841.60
Thanks for your input guys. Now we'll see what the family thinks when I tell them what I'll charge. They also have been doing research on this and suggested using Perma-Ice--has anyone had experience using this product? And should I dowel all of these tiers together or will the icing hold them together? The tallest dummy cake I've done is 5 tiers and I can't remember if I doweled that together or not......Help!
It is not necessary to dowel dummy cakes. I "glue" mine together by brushing some water on top of each tier and then center the next dummy on. Never had a problem with any of the dummies moving. HTH
I use perma ice on all my dummy cakes that I want to look like buttercream icing. I like using it better than real buttercream because it lasts forever, never fades, never chips and be washed by using a damp cloth.
No need to dowel the cake tiers. I glue the tiers using a hot glue gun.
Don't know where you are getting your foam but unless I am getting them back I charge the same because honestly even if I use Dallas Foam the shipping plus the cost for those is the same and sometimes more than what real cake ingredients would cost me. So I don't give a discount on fake cakes. Other question...are you providing the sheet cakes that they are actually going to serve?
I also charge 80% of what real would cost.
I've used PermaIce and all I can say is ::shouting:: do NOT wash your bowls or utensils in your sink. Take them outside and hose them down. You do NOT, NOT I say want PermaIce in your drains. <--voice of experience.
Thanks for that info Leah, I have never used the product, but plan on doing so at some point. I can only imagine the problem that would create!
I charge $.75/serv. less for dummy cakes (love the idea of doing 80% or 90%).......not because it's THAT much cheaper for me to make, but because I hate baking and it's more convenient for me to make dummy cakes (since they can be worked on little by little over the course of weeks instead of just days before the celebration)
Sounds to me like if they want you to use permaice that they might be planning on keeping it as a display piece!
By the way.......firework displays (even shorter ones) run into the 10's of thousands if not 100's of thousands of dollars.....don't be gunshy to tell them what you'd charge!
Thank you for all of the info! Once I quoted my price, the 8 tier faux cake is not going to happen . I think they were expecting to pay far, far, far, far less! Oh well, it would have been cool and fun to be a part of. Now we're just going with cake for 60.
Cake for 60. hahaha.... cake muggles!
I usually charge $1/serving less than real cake.
Thank you for all of the info! Once I quoted my price, the 8 tier faux cake is not going to happen . I think they were expecting to pay far, far, far, far less! Oh well, it would have been cool and fun to be a part of. Now we're just going with cake for 60.
Did they at least understand the reasoning behind the pricing?
I had a lady call and asked about fake cakes. I asked her, "are you asking because you THINK it's cheaper?" Uh .... yeah. After I explain the process involved and why it's not really cheaper, she offers her thought of "I figured you bought them wholesale."
First, I ALREADY bought my cake ingredients wholesale, so if that was a factor, it was a wash. Second, to buy styro's at a wholesale price, I'd have to buy about, what ..... a THOUSAND of them?...... to get a discounted price.
"And I'm sure you can understand that it's not cost efficient for me to buy 1000 styrofoams so I can use THREE for your wedding."
Cake civilians ..... they're fun to watch!
I didn't go into any explanations about my pricing, but I proly should have just to educate .
I'll give you an even different point of view on this subject. I don't even offer them. I know I should........but this is why I don't. There is a bakery about a half hour away from me that does a 4 or five tier one for weddings for only $125.00. THey do them in any style decoration, etc. I dont' understand how they can do them at that price. But I just can't make myself do one for that price and I don't want to. I can see doing one or two tiers to fill in a cake to make it bigger when you don't need that many servings. But I have actually lost a few orders just because I wouldn't do the "fake cake" thing, and for that price. I feel your pain, and I really hope it works out for you! IN the meantime, I'll just keep pushing for real cake for my brides' wedding receptions! lol
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