Below I have attached a picture of a cake that a lady wants me to do for an upcoming baby shower. She wants the cake to be the centerpiece. She tried to keep it simple enough for my ability. She drew this diagram and gave me some things she would like to see as far as design. Per her instructions, I colored and placed designs on her drawing (just a rough draft). I like the look of it as it is, but my problem is that with this being rectangular (that's what it looks like she has drawn here) I would have to give her much more cake than she really wants. As you'll notice in her notes this should serve at most 30-40 ladies. Would single layers of 13X9 with a single layer 6" square look okay for this? Would single layers for this type of cake design look dinky? Or should I try to talk her into a 10X4" square base and a 6X4" square stacked on top? I thought about doing 8" and 6" stacked layers but that wouldn't give me enough "ledge" room to really do anything with. I'm trying to get the smallest cake I can for this design so that I won't have to charge her for cake she doesn't want. Does any of this make sense? If so, anyone have any remedies for me? Thanks a bunch. Tarina

Her sketch looks more rect than sq...I would think the 9 x 13 w/ the 6" sq would look good.

Do you have any square cake pans to use? I would go this way, a 1/4 with a square would look good but not feed the people she needs. At least with square cake pans you can give her the design she needs you are either going to come close or go over the servings she needs.

Yes, I think the 13x9 and 6" sq would work. I would make the 6" a 2 layer. It looks like she wants it to look like gifts. If so the bottom will look fine with just the one layer because it will look like a shirt box and the top being it will be taller...will look like a tall square box. Does she also want it to be off center? I have seen that done too. I think it will look great. Please post a picture when it is done. Please pm me with the picture too! I am eager to see the finished cake!

Good luck

I would do an 11x15 rectangle for the bottom with a 7 x 11 rectangle for the top cake.

If she wants them both filled, you might try a 9"x12" double-layer for the bottom and then a 6" x 9" double-layer for the top (just bake one more 9"x12", cut it in half and stack them together!).

This way, both box are rectangles and the proportions are right if you want to center the smaller cake on the larger one.

Better to go over slightly than to not have enough cake. i can't really tell from The sketch if She Wants rectangles or a square. Perhaps you might want to ask her which she would prefer To have. Let her know that it was not clear from The sketch. After all she is the one paying for the cake.

Once you know if she has any preference it will be a bit easier determining what size To use.


Princess


P.S I meant to add also that you should give her a call and voice your concerns concerning the height of The cake etc. Let her know that you don't want her to end up with a cake That looks dinky however, you are also keeping in mind that you dont want her to have to pay for anymore than She really needs. I always voice any concerns to my clients. After all I am the one that has a better idea of what looks good where a cake is concerned. They are depending on you to help them in that department. It's no different than calling in a wedding planner or An interior decorator.

Hope that helps

I would agree with the few folks mentioned of using 13x9 inch rectangular and 6" square. In using the 6" square you could almost use double layer and still come out alright and if there is extra cake left over, the mother to be might was to leave some cake for the next day and members attending the shower, might also want to take some cake home with them. These are just my thoughts.

thanks for all the advice on this cake. cake-princess, i ended up drawing two views of the cake she wants (side and top of each) - one was with rectangular single-layer cakes stacked and the other was square 2-layer cakes stacked. i explained to her that i didn't want her to have too much cake but that in my personal opinion, it would look better as stacked squares. she looked over the diagrams and said she would rather have the squares! so, i'll be doing this cake at the end of august and then i'll post a pic! thanks again for those of you who gave advice.

You are quite welcome fytar and I hope that all goes well with the cake, I am sure it will.