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Mini Wedding Cakes on Each Table - What to charge - Page 3

post #31 of 44
7/9/08 at 1:28am
I am in the middle of making 100 mini cakes myself...NEVER again! I have a good rythm going and they are going pretty quickly, but still never again. Even for a million dollars each.

They are being put into boxes and put as centerpieces.

The reason I would never order these guys as a bride is because they take so long to make, your cake is 2-3 days old already!! Unless you have a staff of 3-4 people making them, there is no way you can do these things with fresh cake.
hahaha!
Gotta have more cowbell!
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Gotta have more cowbell!
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post #32 of 44
7/9/08 at 1:31am
Quote:
Originally Posted by keepsake

Just thinking (dangerous!!). I also have problems with small cakes moving while frosting them. I seal them to their board with icing, but then it moves around on my turntable. What if we put a piece of the rubberized shelving paper between the cakeboard and the turntable?! I'm going to try that real soon and I'll let you know if it works, or if my mind is out of whack again!! icon_lol.gif



I glued some rubberized shelving paper to my turn table and it works great!! I just wipe it clean...Its not the waffle kind (found frosting gets into the holes) but its the kind with little raised dots. (I hope that makes sense...I haven't had any sleep in two days! haha)

I have found a frozen little cake also ices better...beleive it or not, its the weight that helps as well as the smoothness. I also use a star tip to run icing up and down the sides of the cake and then smooth it with a hot knife. This helps a lot too!
Gotta have more cowbell!
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Gotta have more cowbell!
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post #33 of 44
7/9/08 at 2:48am
I normally charge £35 for a plain iced 6 inch vanila sponge cake. Wow it's a good job their not paying say they have tables of 10 and 130 guests thats £455 plus the main cake at £80. Total £535.

I would charge the same as what i normally do same work same time. if not more. And no way would I even consider offering more than 3 different fillings on that amount of cakes. Choc, Plain and lemon. How much more work would that be.

I think some people take the micky when the cakes are free. Keep it simple at the end of the day your not getting paid.

I would be interested to see how you make 15 cakes min in a week all for the same day.

Good luck.
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post #34 of 44
7/9/08 at 2:53am
I did 160 mini cakes + a 3 tiered cake for the same wedding... and I almost die. If it wasn't for DH to come to my rescue... it would have been a disaster. I took this order to challange myself and try something new... and boy!!! did I got a challenge!!!!

In 3 days I only sleeped 7 hrs. I worked around the clock taking hardly any breaks. I charged $1 per mini cakes.... I know, I know... way, way, way to low for the amount of work... I didn't know then, but I know now. Never again will I do this.

If anyone is contemplating the idea on doing this... you need help. This is no job for one person to handle. And charge no minimum of $5 per mini cakes.

Great tips loriemoms... and for those centerpieces cakes... charge per what each cake will serve and not for how many people will be seating on each table.

Consider this.... how are you going to transport them? Will it all fit in the car? How many trips do I have to make in order to deliver the cakes?

I didn't consider that and ended up making two trips to the reception hall. Thank God it only was about 10 min. away.

Best of luck!!!
JulissaMyCakes
www.freewebs.com/julissamycakes
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JulissaMyCakes
www.freewebs.com/julissamycakes
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post #35 of 44
7/9/08 at 3:10am
Wow hands down to you julissamycakes.

Do you have pictures.

Kicky
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post #36 of 44
7/9/08 at 5:12am
For icing smaller cakes--you can flip your turntable over too if it's a footed one and use the smaller end on top.

The waffle weave shelf paper works good cause you can just wash it. And you don't have to glue it, it will stay put.
 
 

 

 

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post #37 of 44
7/9/08 at 5:16am
I also put a 3" square piece of rubber shelf lining under all of my cakes when I have them on my turntable. It helps a TON for all cakes.
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post #38 of 44
7/9/08 at 5:18am
Oooh.. that's a good idea k8.. I use the waffle weave kind too.. it just goes in the dishwasher when I'm done.
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post #39 of 44
7/9/08 at 7:03am
My turntable is the crappy plastic Wilton one. I know, I know! So, would you put a 4" on another board? Since mine was for a stacked cake I had the board cut to size, actually just a little bigger so I didn't have to worry as much w/ straight sides-just held my spatula on the edge of that cardboard. But b/c my cake kept moving I ended up w/ a freakin tilted cake anyway. Thankfully other people are oblivious.

I understand sticking the skewer in, but I've heard nightmares about people's icing sliding off a frozen cake--am I misunderstanding?
Friends will enhance your life. Everyone else is just an acquaintance
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Friends will enhance your life. Everyone else is just an acquaintance
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post #40 of 44
7/9/08 at 6:10pm
You all are just great. I've really enjoyed all the responses and appreciate the advise. I am please to say that I heard from my customer this morning and she decided to go with a regular cake. WOOOOHOOOO!! LOL She didn't want to spend $400 for 100 mini cakes. I can't even begin to imagine her reaction if I had quoted her more than that.

Thanks again to everyone!!

Gayle
Gayle
"The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do."
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Gayle
"The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do."
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post #41 of 44
7/9/08 at 6:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by dandelion56602

My turntable is the crappy plastic Wilton one. I know, I know! So, would you put a 4" on another board? Since mine was for a stacked cake I had the board cut to size, actually just a little bigger so I didn't have to worry as much w/ straight sides-just held my spatula on the edge of that cardboard. But b/c my cake kept moving I ended up w/ a freakin tilted cake anyway. Thankfully other people are oblivious.

I understand sticking the skewer in, but I've heard nightmares about people's icing sliding off a frozen cake--am I misunderstanding?



I'm not exactly sure what you mean. I can usually keep a thumb on the board if nesessary to keep it from sliding.

When I ice a little cake or a hex or a petal shape, I pipe the icing on like with an open piping bag, just a coupler no tip. I just go 'round and 'round and 'round. Then I smooth it with a spatula. If it's crusting bc I pat it down with a smooth towel.
 
 

 

 

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post #42 of 44
7/9/08 at 7:41pm
The thing that makes it difficult is when it came time to take off the excess/smooth the icing w/ my bench scraper. B/c the board was cut to size I had nothing to hold onto when scraping off the excess. Do you cut the board to size after icing. It's just the cake didn't weigh enough to keep it from moving. I tried putting the non-slip underneath it but it didn't help it from "wobbling"
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Friends will enhance your life. Everyone else is just an acquaintance
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post #43 of 44
7/9/08 at 9:38pm
The thing with the teeny mini tiered cakes is that you don't need boards under each tier. I ice all mini tiers on a large board. I have the crappy wilton plastic turntable too.. icon_wink.gif.. it's what 10" round. So I use a 10" board so I can hold onto it or better yet.. use a big binder clip to fasten it to the turntable. You can chill the tier and after it sets you lift it off with a spatula. Run it around the edge and pop it off and transfer it to a parchment covered cooie sheet and re-use the board. After you assemble your cakes you can place them on a board and add your bottom border and call it a day.
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post #44 of 44
7/10/08 at 7:40am
Jkalman, I comprehend that. Do you use a board if a 3 or 4" cake is going to be the top of a tiered cake or is the cake not heavy enough to sink into the tier below it? I hope I'm making sense
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