I had a lady call this morning wanting a 1 layer 6" amaretto cake for tomorrow. How much amaretto do you add to such a small cake?? What would you charge? I live in a very rural area and people are not will to pay much.
Please help me!!
Darrah
I can't help much with the recipe, sorry, but with pricing, especially with a cake with not a whole lot of complicated decorating a good way to estimate price is to estimate your cost and multiply by 3. That way you take into account the prices of supplies, which might be more in your rural area than in a city. Hope that helps.
You have to remember that most likely you won't be using a recipe that accomodates using only a 6" pan. You will have leftover batter and her cost should include whatever it takes to make the entire recipe, not just the batter for a 6" cake.
darkchocolate
For example, I read once where if the recipe calls for sour cream, you charge whatever the sour cream cost, not what a cup would cost you. You had to buy the sour cream for the cake you shouldn't have to incur any of the expense, it should be applied to the cost of the cake.
Are you going to have to buy the Amaretto? Are you using coffee creamer of liquor?
I agree with charging for the items you bought, not the part you used. Except for things like vanilla which I always just have around.
If you need one box of cake mix, that's what you charge for. Not for half the box. What will you do with the leftover batter? More than likely, family will eat it, but it's the idea that you had to open the WHOLE box to get her portion out.
I also figure the cost of ingreds x3 and that's what I use as a basis. I also cheat and call the bakery now and then and inquire about the price of their cakes! 
Just to make sure I'm where I need to be. I think it's hard to put a price on our work, but it has to be done.
I guess it makes sense to charge for cost of ingredients per batch, but it hardly seems fair to the customer. Say your cake recipe makes enough for an 8" cake, she only wants a 6". So she is going to be charged the same for both an 8" and a 6"? Then maybe you could call and ask if she wants the bigger one for the same price? I don't know. I can see both ways.
I guess it makes sense to charge for cost of ingredients per batch, but it hardly seems fair to the customer. Say your cake recipe makes enough for an 8" cake, she only wants a 6". So she is going to be charged the same for both an 8" and a 6"? Then maybe you could call and ask if she wants the bigger one for the same price? I don't know. I can see both ways.
In a case like that, my 8" cake would be slightly higher because you're using more time to decorate the extra surface area, bigger cake boards cost us more, bigger cakes have to bake longer than smaller ones--higher elec bill, etc. The cake mix isn't the only thing going into that cake. There are a lot of hidden costs. Also, with an 8" cake, they will have more servings, and I know a lot of people here charge by the serving rather than the size.
Again, most of us aren't Wal-Mart or a local grocery store with a variety of different sized cakes in our freezer ready to pull one out that fits the need. We have to make cake batter, cake icing and bake the cakes.
I do understand your point Randipanda. I look at things as a consumer also.
darkchocolate
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