So my customer wants a cake that looks like this to serve 65. She wants the servings to be big and she wants the cake to "be a presence." I was going to make a 12 inch and a 10 inch but she doesn't think that that is going to be big enough. She was also asking about a stand. What kind of stand should I get to put underneath it? Does it even need a stand? I mean I'm putting a thick board underneath it. What size do I make the cake? What do I even charge? 1 tier chocolate cake one tier white cake and buttercream filling and icing. How do I get my gumpaste that shade of red? I'm stressing out!

Love Donna

the deal with larger servings is that they pay more for that right? because you do not absorb the cost of their desires -- so a 12x10 serves 95 so say you charge $6 a serving -- you times it times 95 not 65 -- capiche? 

$570 -- and this client doesn't understand cake, impact and sizes -- you need to explain this to her -- but if she wants bigger -- great for you -- charge her for bigger --

i mean there are 10,000 different plateaus and stands one could use...

but do not  cave on the larger servings and the price point :)

Totally agree with -K8memphis on the serving sizes and pricing.  The cake with the simple cake board edged with black ribbon looks fine.  If she wants another cake stand, let her buy it.  When I want flowers that intense, I color my gum paste a pink color, then paint on the bright red (petal dust and vodka) color after they dry.  You could do this prior to assembly to make it easier to reach all surfaces.  You can also purchase gum paste already that color.  I have tinted my gum paste that dark, but it get pretty sticky.

you could also use powdered color

i actually love to make cake stands -- i have designed several in my head since you posted this 

I just wanted to mention that a 12" and 10" is going to look more wide/squatty than the cakes you have pictured here. 

inthekitchen2 is right....the bigger round the cake the squattier it will look.  That's why a 6"x4" round looks very tall but a 12x4 will look a bit squatty compaired to it.

I just bought some powdered color so I'm going to try that as well as painting it to make it nice and Rich. Yes I had a feeling it would be Squatty so I thought about making 3 layers or double barrels to give it heighth. I'm just hoping that the buttercream filling doesn't bulge out and that my bubble tea straws are long enough which I think they are. I'm so nervous. How do you make your own cake stands @k8memphis ? Thank you everyone! 

Ganache does a good job of containing bulgy filling, aldonza.

Thanks Sandra! 

I agree with the others, dusting it or painting it after is probably the best bet. In the past whenever I try to get the gum paste a deep red (or black) it gets sticky and harder to work with. It's been fine for me but I don't know that I'd be able to make flowers with it as those require some delicacy and need to dry quickly. You can knead sugar in of course but too much of that and you have a cracking issue when drying! So I like the idea of coloring it pink then painting it deeper red.

I agree a 12 and 10 won't look like that... if you do a double height bottom (or 1.5x height so like 2 cakes that are 3 inches tall to make a six inch tall bottom cake) that will help but I hope she is paying you for all of that extra! Technically one should get 95 servings from a regular 10 + 12 cake I think- meaning if you are doubling the bottom as well you are looking at providing 140 servings of cake so please do not charge for 65 !

I think a double tall 10 inch (board in the middle) with a 6 on top would look nice and provide 65 servings easily

good luck to you!

listen carefully -- cakes that look squatty are not decorated properly -- end of story

here is one cake stand i made:

https://forums.egullet.org/topic/68445-demo-making-a-wedding-cake-at-home/

UuummmmK8 that link is to you making 1,000s of small flowers -not how to make a cake stand :)

Okay so I think I solved the problem with having big pieces, lots of cake, and making a presence. I am going to double barrel my 12 so it doesn't look squatty. I'm all about Aesthetics so I agree with you @k8memphis. I'll probably end up double barreling the top layer as well. Now comes the tricky part how the hell do I stack this thing? I have Bubble Tea straws and Cake rounds to separate the cake. Well that support my cake?

@kakeladi keep scrolling it's after the flowers. @k8memphis that's cool and I love how you use your washer and dryer as extra counter space brilliant! Counter space is Prime real estate lol! I don't have much.

double barrel 12 & 10 is going to be enormous! if she wants to serve 65 there will be wayyy too much cake.

just make sure you charge for 150 servings not 65 !

good luck and don't forget to post a picture of it :)

to aldonza -- that's 152 servings, my friend

to lynne -- that thread is a couple pages long -- it's about making a wedding cake at home including the cake stand i made -- that's about a quarter way down the page

to everyone -- while we're on the subject -- if anyone saw the big white 20 qt mixer there about halfway down the page of the link i posted -- the heavy duty berkel --

first of all --  i'm gonna convert our den from a bakery back to being a den or actually a "denkery" -- i just made that up -- i'm gonna have a plexiglas sheet made to fit over the bolt on top of that mixer and use it for an end table -- ha! something awful happens inside me when i try to seriously get rid of my cake stuff-- like my guts are being dissassembled so i think i'm just gonna incorporate my equipment into the scheme of things :) we'll be able to enjoy the "denkery" without amputating my prized possessions -- because the oven sticks out like a sore thumb anyhow albeit a beloved sore thumb -- so gonna run with it --

A double barrel, 12" tier??  Do you realize how large your fondant will have to be to cover that monster, even if you do the wrap method?!  The largest double barrel I've done was an 8", but it was 12 inches tall.  Because I didn't have the space to do it any other way, I covered it using the wrap method and I still had a hard time finding enough room to roll out the fondant.  If you want to do double barrel tiers, why not do a 10" bottom tier, three layers only, not double barrel, then use a double barrel 8" for the next layer?

if you are doing a "double barrell" then you are making a 4-tier cake -- 9x9x6x6 will be 90 servings

it's just that you are repeating the sizes -- but that's a four tier cake

a 10x10x7x7 is 117 

sandra's 10x10x8x8 is 128

see here: http://capitalconfectioners.com/cakulator/cakulator.html

to sandra, i think she is doing all buttercream

if i was doing that cake i would do a 12x8 -- that's 106 servings -- 40 more than she needs and that would be a nice impressive sized cake for display and the eight is easier to camouflage with all the froufrou decor you have -- even if you made the eight a wee bit taller you're not out performing and over working yourself with two extra tiers -- kwim

wait wait wait -- 12x8 is not 106 it's 81 

12x8x8 is 106 -- sorry 'bout that 

All buttercream and it was massive! I should have weighed it! I practically threw my back out! I love the way it came out! She absolutely loved it! Here it is!

gorgeous! don't you love a good cake high?  -- wonderfully done -- you got it just right  

@aldonza it is fabulous !!! You did a great job!

Perfect!  It is beautiful and with that luscious buttercream, I would really enjoy a big slice!

so what sizes did you go with?

Thank you everyone! So I baked the 12x2" and cut them in half so each tier has 3 layers...4 would be too high and look stupid plus I would never be able to lift it.. top tier is three layers 9-inch round.

Omg! I'm over the moon!