Oh yeah, there are some AWESOME sheet cakes around these parts, works of art handsdown!

Laurel stated in her OP she does them because sheetcakes=$$$. From what I read in many forums there are a lot of people out there feeling the cake slump... IMHO If it puts butter on your bread then why fight it? There are just some things in this world people won't change their minds about, and sheet cakes for birthdays seems to be one of them.

i'll do sheetcakes -- why not?

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so --- something to consider:

and what if Renoir, VanGough, Monet, Manet, Seurat, DaVinci, El Greco, Picasso, Dali, et al had said --

NOPE won't do a flat white rectangular canvas -- it has to be a 3d sculpture!!!!

(and then there's that sculptor -- what if Michelangelo had refused to do ceilings?!!!!)

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we're only limited by our own built in mental roadblocks.

===

the sheet cake is a canvas -- create!

can we say ThanhThanh??
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-photo_851633.html


or how's about these:

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-photo_779503.html
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-photo_489043.html
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-photo_747383.html
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-photo_58469.html
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-photo_1165658.html
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-photo_46834.html
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-photo_695063.html

and the it just blows me away one:
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-photo_36559.html

I never really felt one way or another about sheet cakes...LOL!
Now you all have me thinking...I hate thinking...ugh!
Anyhow I do remember a certain someone, whispering so she doesn't hear.... Jamie who's avatar actually used to say something to the matter of "me no make sheet cakes"??!! LOL!!!
Than again almost anything Jamie does cracks me up, sooo ...

The standard sheet cake from a grocery store is just a 1 layer cake with frosting. They do, do them with fillings if you ask. But seriously, why do people request sheet cakes, it's a cost thing. They feel that they can get a custom made cake cheaper, cause it's a sheet cake. I'll do them, but I'm still going to charge by the serving, not by the cake size and I still have a $100 minimum. That tends to make people want to go ahead and get something more "custom" looking. And yes, there are customers who will apy big bucks on an eleborate sheet cake. Just like someone said earlier, people have hired party planners for a 1 year old's birthday and they ain't millionaires either.

Lol! Thanks!

And Doug, I know ya mean well, but I consider myself a highly creative person who does not in the slightest bit feel like I've constructed a mental roadblock for myself by passing up on requests for sheetcakes. And yep, I'll say it again, I see awesome sheetcakes out there. Just not something I'm interested in marketing at all. There are 4 Walmarts in my relatively small town. And another 10 grocery stores. They can have the sheetcakes (whatever they look like) and I'll stick to custom work. Nuttin wrong with that, and it hinders not my creative abilities.

I never had a tiered cake except at a wedding either, but all of that was before cable, before Food Network, before Duff Goldman.

It's education time, folks. People order sheets because they are USED to ordering sheets. Like when they ask for a "half sheet" to feed 10 people. They use the terms because it's habit. It's what they've always done. It's all they know.

My non-wedding sheets are cheaper because I dont' deliver them. I don't have to close the store; I don't have to drive anywhere. I'll happily do them because they help pay the rent.

I'm not rich enough to be particularly snooty about the shape of the cake I decorate.

And for me, I just can't afford to make sheet cakes. It's just not cost effective. I'm just a humble, lil' ol' sweet, stay at home mom/housewife.

I'm hurt... very hurt... ...that you don't believe me!

Okay, so I thought it sounded better then "I'm just too good to make them"!

And everybody I'm just joking, okay!

Yeah, and I see nothing wrong with offering what some of us have done successfully, to the OP who is having a problem, and that is to put a nix or limit on particular styles.

Yup money is money....you want square, round, rectangular whatever as long as you pay me the green stuff.

I do torte and fill my sheets and they are the same price per serving, just a different shape.....no biggy.


Speaking of money, I saw a hilarious slogan on the back of a Septic Cleaning company truck the other day......"Your $hit is our Bread and Butter".

Ya just gotta laugh at that

I actually had someone ask me if I ever do the "cheapy grocery store type sheet cakes or only the Duff type cakes" UGH! I smiled patiently, ok, I hope it looked like a smile, and said, I do make sheet cakes, they start at $50. I don't think that was the "cheapy" she was thinking about. But I mean, come on, she had one of my flyers in her hand that has the photos of my cakes and the prices ON IT!

I don't really mind doing sheet cakes all that much but to me, honestly, they are a bit boring. I prefer to get a whole lot more creative.

Glad to hear others here feel the same way.

Cat

Why would sheet cakes not be cost effective? You just charge enough to make them so.

Or did I miss a joke?

For me personally they would not be cost effective, cause I wouldn't be selling them at a flat rate of $50, which is what people would expect. I also can't mass produce them to get them down to that price. I have a home based business. I would have to charge by the serving like any other cake & I do have a minimum. Most clients think sheet cake & they don't think "Yeah I don't mind spending $150 on a sheet cake" even if I do make torted and all that good stuff. Also, you have to determine what type of business you want to run. For me I would rather do one $150 cake then 3 sheet cakes.

Somebody has to do the "sucky" jobs!

As Doug illustrated so well, sheet cakes are the same as a blank canvas. I do a lot of them. I like doing them. I think my clients order them because they are easier to serve than having to dismantle a tiered cake. None of my clients has ever requested fondant, in fact, all have refused when fondant was offered as an alternative. A cake is a cake is a cake in my opinion. The customer wants what the customer wants. If you don't want to do sheet cakes, then don't.
Simple as that.

And I must agree that NO ONE does sheet cakes like ThanhThanh. What a gorgeous body of work to aspire to be half as good as!

i always wondered about this... according to the wilton servings chart, a 9x13, filled (2 layers, so 4 inches high), is 50 servings. even if you charged a low $2.00/serving that's still $100 (yes, bravo for me for doing my math ). so, it's not really a very cost effective move then, is it?

or are we talking just single layered? because i know there's a difference in wording (sheet cake vs ((i think)) kitchen cake?) i'm just not 100% sure about it.

i actually do alot of tierd cakes around where i live.it mostly depends on the occassion. round tiered (stacked) cakes are the easiest for me to do which is why i dislike doing sheet cakes. i wont refuse to but if i can talk them in to doing a round or round stacked i will lol. i usually give them all kinds of ideas and options etc but if its for a huge crowd and they prefer it due to easier cuttability (i know its not a word but it is now lol) example i did two sheet cakes for large gathering- one was a teachers appreciation day at the elementary school. friends family students faculty so i expected alot of ppl. another was a large retirement party with the same, unknown amount of ppl to show up etc.

i was asked to do a cake for the local scholarship program earlier this year and afterwards i was told she'd just only expected a simple sheet cake lol i had arrived with the superhero stacked cake in my photos. i think the stacking / tier-ing throws them off/or intimidates them as to how hard it will be to cut and serve etc.

On the "same amount of batter" argument. Yes it might take the same amount of batter but the time it takes to decorate a 9x13 is significantly less than a tiered cake. It takes less parchment to do the single cake than 2 tiers worth of pannage, and because my parchment is exactly the length of the bottom of the pan there is no time spent drawing then cutting the parchment in the shape I need. Also, takes more baking release spray for 2 pans than one, I can ice and do a basic design on a sheet cake in less than 10 minutes. So I can crank them out quickly, If more detailed decor is necessary then I charge more accordingly to the amount of time it takes. A tiered cake is at least 2 seperate cakes to ice & fill, therefore more icing needed, and takes more time to deal with, not to mention support needing to be used and an additional cake board. Fondant always ups the cost whether it be totally covered or fondant decor on BC. I have different pricing levels on my sheet cakes. bargain basement if single flavor, no filling, BC icing, basic border/decor, still more than a grocer or box store, but priced that I can actually sell them. If you want more elaborate decor or a kit the price goes up accordingly, photo sheets add $10 more, fondant adds $1 a serving whether it is decor only or fully covered. It takes time to make fondant decor so that factors into the price. The more custom you want it the more the price goes up. But to just do a basic iced with a shell border, some edible confetti, a few roses, or fleur de lis, with a happy birthday inscription, yeah they are inexpensive. I still make 80% over ingredient costs, with a final profit after time & overhead considered of 40% on them. But the time allowance on them I still keep so really I am making still a large profit margin off that basic inexpensive sheet cake. Send your sheet cake orders to me...I'll take them!...LOL!

LOL I'd rather do a sheet cake than a tiered cake! LOL

My tiered cakes start at $55 and that is really plain and simple. Most ppl want a nice cake for a cheap price. That is probably why they opt for the less expensive cakes.

Wow, 55 for a tiered cake? Mine, plain, start at 75 and go up from there. My sheet cakes start at 50 for regular type shell border and some buttercream embellishments. When people ask for the cheapy grocery story type they are asking for a cake for about 25 and if I priced my sheet cakes that low I'd be making about 2 an hour. Way too low for me to meet my overhead. Do I dislike doing them? No so much, they are just kinda boring to me. However, they ARE easier to deliver! LOL!

Cat

Yeah those finger potions are super-dee-duper tiny! LOL But everything in America is bigger-includng most of our waists and bottom lines.

For those of you who do sheetcakes, do customers expect your prices to be like that of the local grocery store, Walmart, Sam's club, etc?

I just love to do cake, period. Sheet, cuppies, tierd, carved, fondant, buttercream---you get the drift.

As far as "weeding" out the cheap-os.. shame shame on you!! Not everyone even WANTS a sculpted fondant draped, painted one of a kind 'creation'---some folks just want a really good piece of.. ahem.. slab cake. AND I'm just the gal to bake it for them too!! Like yesterday's butterpecan sheet cake with caramel buttercream frosting topped with chopped pecans the high school teachers indulged in.

If you're exclusive--more power to you. I'd rather feed the masses, I enjoy the ooohhhyummmmmieessssss everytime--and if it means they're eating a tierd, awesome, if they're eating a sheet... awesome too!

....I just can't deprive a segment of the population based on shape of cake.. what would that be.. slabism??