What Do You Consider ‘Basic’ Work?
Decorating By KitchenSix Updated 28 Feb 2019 , 2:36pm by -K8memphis
I started thinking about this after reading through some of the pricing forums! What do you consider as basic for a starting price?
Buttercream only with a border? Light fondant/gum paste/chocolate work? Covered in sprinkles? A ganache drip?
I’ve always considered buttercream only as basic, maybe some sprinkles, but have considered ganache drips, and even light chocolate (don’t use fondant), as extra!
So I’m just curious as to what ‘basic’ is for you guys!
fully decorated cake that takes no additional time to complete -- just a regular amount of decor for example all scrolls or full rose spray w/filler flowers, buds, tendrils, inscription, double top & bottom border -- side décor -- that's regular décor to me --
so a ganache drip would not be extra work but I might charge a tad a bit extra because it's an additional expensive ingredient just depends on the rest of the décor involved
and that's ^^^ for standard birthday cakes --
but for a tier cake it's anything more than a couple hours of decoration -- give or take
I consider doing extra buttercream decor outside of borders extra— making flowers takes a little time, and extra buttercream! So I think it’s pretty neat to see that difference!
cool -- but people more often than no get flowers and inscription on a cake -- it's normal -- a pro decorator can decorate a regular b-day cake like the one i described -- that's already iced -- with piping bags loaded -- in five minutes
Thanks for that! I’m currently reworking what I consider basic decorated cakes, and how I want to price around it. I hope a couple more people will add what they think, and I appreciate your guys’ input very much!
Buttercream, happy birthday writing, border piping, accent sprinkles or candy (different if it’s covered in it or filled with it) and small amount of simple flat fondant work like hearts, stars, flat balloons, names, clouds, stuff like that. Hope that makes sense?
I list three "levels" of cake embellishment on my site: Basic, Detailed, and Elaborate. Both "basic" and "detailed" have a "wiggle room" - a small range in price per serving, to allow for "but can we also add This?? and That? A whistle here and a bell here??"
"Basic" would be borders, some simple b/c piping like swags and small flowers, writing, sprinkles. In some way, not much fancier than a good grocer's decorating (not that I am comparing at all my product with chain grocery stores). Most of my clients do not come to me for basic cakes, but I had people request an "elaborate" or "detailed" smaller cake for display, and an extra "basic" half-sheet or so, to compensate for number of servings needed, without going over the budget.
"Detailed" would apply to more embellishments, crossing into fondant, more materials/textures used, creative and time-consuming b/c piping, light shaping/carving.
"Elaborate" is an open-end pricing. It picks up at where "detailed" leaves off, and can go as high as the client's imagination takes - according to their design wishes (and as far as my abilities allow). At low-end, "Elaborate" may include personalized flavors, tiers, fondant and/or multi-media cover, much fondant or sugar work, sculpting both cake and decorations, carving, designing, premium materials, internal structure engineering... It can go pretty high, depending on the agreed design and special requests.
HTH
the biggest deal here is that this cake is all but the same labor, negligible difference in ingredients as a 10" cake with a ton more servings and much heftier price so for that reason you have the option to institute a minimum price -- like $150 or whatever -- so that no one can rangle you down to three and a half servings doing a sports car sculpture -- you know how some people can get about it --
minimum price is a very important tool to have
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