I know this has probably been discussed a million times, but I'm having a hard time finding a cake chart which I like. If there is a thread on this, please direct me to it (I couldn't find it).

Earline's is great except I find that my customers end up with too much cake, thus I loose money. Has anyone had experience using the Wilton chart? Do you find it works fine or are there other charts that I'm not aware of which would work better?

Thanks

Many people successfully use Wilton's wedding servings chart for all their cake business, no matter what the occasion. A 1x2x4 slice of cake is the industry standard.

http://www.wilton.com/cake/cakeprep/baking/times/wedding_2inch.cfm

If you find that's too small, but Earlene's is too big, you may want to try Wilton's Party Servings chart, which is in the middle of the two:

http://www.wilton.com/cake/cakeprep/baking/times/party_2inch.cfm

You need to adjust your pricing to the size of the serving.

For example, the wilton wedding chart (which is what I go by) is 1x2x4 = 8 cubic inches of cake.

Earlines, I've been told, is 1.5x2x4 = 12 cubic inches of cake.

The customer is getting 50% more cake with an Earline serving than with a Wilton serving. (8 x 150% = 12)

So if you and I are doing the exact same pricing, my wilton size serving would be $3/serving and your Earline serving would be $4.50/serving ($3 x 50% = $1.50. $3.00 + $1.50 = $4.50).

You can't charge the same price and give them 50% more cake. The math just doesn't work that way.

But the overall cake price remains constant. Let's use a 12" square cake for an example. When cut in 1x2x4, the cake is cut in 12 rows by 6 columns = 72 servings x $3 = $216

When cut in 1.5 x 2 x4, the cake is cut in 8 rows by 6 columns = 48 servings x $4.50/serving = $216.

The overall cost of the cake is the same, so if you price accordingly, you're not losing money. I just tell the customers "This cake will serve 50 to 70 people, depending on how you cut it......the price is $216"


My question to Earline chart users .... do you find you have to explain to customer why your price is $4.50 ".... but Debi only charges $3!"; that Debi's servings is way smaller than yours ... that your serving is way bigger than Debi's? Just curious.