Before I started making cakes "for real" and I'm still really small time, I had no clue.

I always made my own cakes because they taste better. ONE TIME I bought a bday cake from tehe bakery for my son's 2nd bday. I twas a SMALL 6" cake with the center scooped out and hard ice cream packed in... We paid $60 for the cake. EVERYONE RAVED about taht cake shop, but we thought the cake was awful... so I felt ripped off and continued to make my son's bday cakes (nothing more).

Then, my best friend was getting married and she asked me if I would make the cake. There were only going to be 50 guests, but she wanted a 3 tier cake for the look of it. I was flattered, but SCARED... a WEDDING CAKE?!?!?!?! The only cakes I had made up to that point are the ones in my photos toward the bottom - NOT wedding cake level!!!

But, I decided to take a Wilton course and we decided on decor I could handle. I bought Dede Wilson's Make your own Wedding Cake book and we went from there.

I remember asking my BF how much this cake would cost her if she paid for it and she said about $500... and I thougth WHY???? For THREE CAKES???

Well, after spending ALL DAY making cakes, torting them, adding simple syrup and wrapping them and the rest of the day making the bc in batch after bath... I was beginning to understand. Next day took several hours too to fill, crumb coat and final coat, and stack and then make the 2 dozen BC roses, and end with the border.... I had spent nearly TWO DAYS on this cake!

Of course, I was slow... I could probably do a 12, 9 and 6 stacked cake now in one day, but still... HOW could I charge for LESS than $500 for somethign like that? JUST the ingredients were a lot of money..

So that day, I went from "it's just cake" to GETTING IT...

People who have only made a single bday cake here adn there just don't understand the time that goes into sculpting, or making pieces, and so on. They see the grocery store prices and figure "ah, maybe 10% more for custom"....

I just wish for each of those people who balk at prices to have a day in the kitchen when a cake is being made - let them see the prep, the cleaning, the skills needed and the TIME it takes... I bet they would change their tune FAST!

melissa

I totally agree with you. I had a lady order a cake from me that was priced only $8.00 more than our local grocery store bakery. She was appauled that I would charge even a dollar more. How do you get them to understand? I told her she was welcome to cancel this order and order from them, however she would probably be getting a frozen cake. At least mine are fresh with fresh icing. Id put my cake up against my local grocer any day. Afterall it was only $8.00 more. Geeez!

"Getting it" .... I know what you mean.

Part of my speech to brides, I actually include the phrase, "By the time you arrive at your reception, my crew and I have already been working for 8 or more hours. And after we leave your reception 4 or 5 hours later, we still have 2-3 hours work to do." It's not the cost of the food .... it's the cost of the labor.

I had a friend work for me one day at a reception and I could tell her butt was draggin'! I asked her "Are you holding up ok?" she said "Yeah." I said, "Do you now understand why catering is a bit expensive?" She said, "OH YEAH!!!!"

Had another friend who wanted to make her daughter's first birthday cake. I helped with all kinds of advice, even loaned her my pans, decorating tips, baking strips, cake leveler..... everything. Hubby said, "You're creating your competition." I knew he was wrong. Sure enough, when she returned the equipment, she said, "Man, I'm never working that hard again!"