Hi, I am just a hobby baker but I want to keep track of what it is costing me to make a cake and I might at that I am a math nerner!!!

how do I calculate a per serving...for instance

1 can of shortening...paid 3.14 there are 108 tablespoons per can...that comes out to 6.75 cups per can...how to I calcuate the per cup cost? multiply what by what? divide what by what?

TIA

Happy Caking
Sherry

it is a lot of maths! made easier if you set up a spreadsheet, then you can easily allow for changes in price, add up the cost of a cake.
divide the cost of the ingredient by the measure you use - i will tell u tht grams is easier than 0.X of a cup! so 1 cup = so many cents. your recipe calls for 2 cups, so 2 x last answer.
xx

You would take the cost $3.14 and divide it by the 6.75 cups and that would tell you how much $ per cup. 46.5cents per cup. Dont forget to add in your cost of things like paper towels, parchment wax paper, food coloring, sprinkles, etc. And if you go to your power company website they have info on how you can calculate your electricity usage...I havent gone that far myself, but my husband has complained that the electric bill has gone up since I've been baking so much.

thank you for your replies. They helped much!

I would either take your 6.75 cups and say it is either 27 1/4 cups or 13 1/2 cups.

Take that number and divide it into the price. 3.14 divided by 27 gives you .12. Which means ever 1/4th cup of shortening is 12 cents.

Or 3.14 divide by 13 which is .24. Every 1/2 cup is .24 cents.

From there you can figure that if your recipe calls for one cup of shortening it is .48 cents or .96 cents for two cups.

I wonder if anyone already has a basic spreadsheet they could share with us newbies? I just get lost adding and subtracting and multiplying everything! There must be a simplier way!

thank you all for your replies...it made it so much easier and more math "understable" to me...I just couldn't get from point A to Point B