I was wondering how people price sculpted cakes.
I wouldn't think it would be per serving since they can take so many hours to make... do you charge for supplies plus a per hour labor fee?

How do you charge?

Thanks in advance!
Stella

I do a lot of sculpting (you can look at my pics for some examples) and I charge by the serving. I know how quickly I can go, I know about how much waste I'll have, and I plan accordingly. I charge $5/serving for buttercream sculptures. The cake in my avatar was around $95 - I forget because it's been a while, it may have been $92 - because the dog was the only sculpted part. I charged normal price for the cake that made up the "yard" because it's so minimally carved it wasn't worth the upcharge.

The French rabbit cake was $65.

HTH,
Deanna

supermom, you got the best person to answer your question. She also has a great DVD available at www.lickthespoonproductions.com on making sculpted cakes with buttercream. She does a great job of showing her technique. If you look at the photos in her gallery you can see that she is very talented.

Check her out!

Michele

Thanks so much!! Do you charge more for fondant sculpture cakes? (more supplies=higher cost)

I don't do fondant sculptures often (in fact, I do them rarely), but yes, they are more expensive. Anything fondant is more, "regular" cake or otherwise.

Deanna

TooMuchCake, I really appreciate your input here. Thanks so much!

Was wondering one more thing...how do you figure out the serving amounts for a scuplted cake? Do you just have to kind of guess...take the amount of servings according to the pan size and then try and estimate the amount that you carved off?...

It sort of comes with experience, but think about how big you like your servings to be, then decide how big your finished cake needs to be to feed the number of people it's intended to serve. If it's something that you do a lot and you know how many it feeds (like my dogs) you can tell customers "this feeds 'x' people, and I can put it on a sheet cake if you need more servings" or something like that.

Make templates for your designs. My DVD comes with templates that can be used for different animals, for instance. Then you can easily see what size pans you need to bake in, to accommodate the templates. Make a template of the top and at least one side if this is a truly 3D cake. It may be helpful for you to make a front or back template as well.

HTH,
Deanna

[/quote]

My Shrek cake was $275. Thomas the tank in my avatar was $210.[/quote]

Did you charge per serving? Or did you just come up with a price that was fair to you?... I am wanting to be fair to people when I charge, but also wanting to be fair to myself.

And WOW!! That Shrek cake is awesome! What would you have charged for the electric guitar cake in my pics? or the fenway park?

What I do is I charge for the price per serving that I am giving them and then if it's under 20 servings I charge a $50 base fee...this automatically lets my customers know it's going to be a little more expensive than a regular cake! If it's 20-40 servings then it would be a $100 base fee....then any type of fondant accents would be extra...so my latest purse cake was $100 and that was just under 20 servings...I think It works out good for me...I really don't break down the pricing for anyone yet! But, if I did then I know what to tell them!

sorry if I've confused you!

stepOnmi
So if I am understanding you right then for a cake that serves twenty you would charge (say) $5 per serving
20x$5 ($100) PLUS an add'l $50 base fee? so a total of $150?...

opps...sorry...my $2 per serving plus the $50 base fee...and then I charged $10 each for the flap and handle of the purse...hmmm...I am kind of weird huh? sorry...that is so confusing! Maybe I SHOULD just do a $5 per serving and do it over 20 servings! But, I know some people just want a sculpted cake for a medium party and I don't mind doing them!

$30 for the servings
$50 base fee
$10 each for handle and flap
= $100
Does that make sense?? sorry for the mix up!

Someone asked a question in the comment stream under my photo "Wake Up And Play!" that I thought I'd answer here, just in case it helps with the pricing question.

The buttercream sculptures in my photos are covered in regular buttercream, the kind you ice a "normal" cake in, not rolled buttercream. I always have regular buttercream on hand, it's cheap and easy for me to work with, so that's what I use.

Some people work best with fondant, and some like me work best with buttercream manipulation.

Deanna

I have no idea how you do it with buttercream! LOL! I can never get mine smooth... let alone be able to do what you do with it...

i use crusting buttercream...I like to be able to work at a fast pace and get it right by using the viva method! that's just me!

Have anyone used the fondant from Lawrence foods before?

Thanks
Kendi

Supermom, all of this to say, you'll find your own comfort zone - both in pricing and in the medium you like to work with. It's all personal preference and what your customers like.

I rarely use Vivas on sculptures but I do use them on "normal" cake, rarely use fondant, etc. Others prefer fondant over buttercream. Take the cost of your materials into account and how fast you can work. Now that you have some examples, do what makes sense to YOU.

Kendi, I've never used the Lawrence Foods fondant before. I like Satin Ice when I need fondant. Have you tried that?

Deanna

Thank you so much!!

Stella

No I haven't, but I was curious to know what it taste like.

Kendi

The regular Satin Ice tastes pleasantly of vanilla and sweetness, not unlike a marshmallow but without the rubberiness. The chocolate Satin Ice tastes like Tootsie Rolls.

Deanna