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What is it with customers and the sheet cake mentality? - Page 6

post #76 of 106
9/24/09 at 12:41pm
As Americans I know we a lot of sugar...but who cares. I can't believe anyone would get upset about you mentioning it. Maybe it was the way you said it. And I don't know anyone who assumes all Austrailians are hot.
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post #77 of 106
9/24/09 at 12:51pm
We don't really have this argument here in Australia as the term 'sheet-cake' doesn't even exist - We also don't have supermarkets selling decorated cakes (other than those with a bit of frilly paper stuck around them and a plastic Happy Birthday topper shoved in)
Our bakeries and pastisseries have cakes that you can order - mostly with edible images on them ...... BUT they aren't cheap!!

Buttercream is also not big here - so the difference between a cheap cake and a not so cheap cake - normally just comes down to ......

"HOW cheap somebody is prepared to work for"

The prices that you guys charge would not even cover the cost of our ingredients - thinking there needs to be a college course in PRICING!!
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post #78 of 106
9/24/09 at 12:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by LaBellaFlor

And I don't know anyone who assumes all Austrailians are hot.



LMAO, um.....me neither. Of course my biggest glimpse of Australia was watching Muriels Wedding! icon_lol.gif
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post #79 of 106
9/24/09 at 12:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by dkelly

Quote:
Originally Posted by cakesweetiecake

Quote:
Originally Posted by adree313

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 icon_biggrin.gif ). 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.



You raise a great point. For those of you who say it IS worth it, do you do SINGLE LAYER (2inch)es or DOUBLE LAYER (4inches?



My "sheet" cakes or whatever you all consider to be "sheet" cakes are 2 layers which are both torted and filled (4 cake layers 3 filling layers), so they look exactly like my round, square, oval, hex etc., when they're cut. Only difference is they are either 9 x 13 or 11 x 18 rectangular shaped cakes.

I don't offer single layer unfilled anything, heck I don't offer 2 layer with 1 filling. All of my cakes are 4 layers cake/3 layers filling. My minimum cake order is $100.

Hmmmmm.......maybe I DON'T do sheetcakes icon_confused.gif do I? Just what is the definition of a sheet cake anyway? icon_confused.gif



I torte all mine as well and still call them sheet cake... It's a "sheet of cake..." just so happens to be that ours are four layers of "sheet." icon_lol.gif

Honest to goodness, here's dictionary.com's definition of a sheet cake. Rather comical:

Main Entry:   sheet cake
Part of Speech:   n
Definition:   a one-layer cake often topped with frosting or with ingredients rolled into it
Example:   Sheet cakes are often sold at grocery stores and served at office or birthday parties.
Usage:   cooking
1 Chronicles 23:29
They were in charge of the bread set out on the table, the flour for the grain offerings, the unleavened wafers, the baking and the mixing, and all measurements of quantity and size.
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1 Chronicles 23:29
They were in charge of the bread set out on the table, the flour for the grain offerings, the unleavened wafers, the baking and the mixing, and all measurements of quantity and size.
Reply
post #80 of 106
9/24/09 at 1:06pm
No disrespect to the sheetcakes, I have seen some that are insane and if they are torted with 4 layers of cake and 2 layers of filling, they are just like regular round/square except they are rectangle.

The problem is all customers that approach me about 'sheetcakes' assume since Costco sells a gynormous one for $16 then they should be able to get one from me or the same...*maybe* a couple dollars more.

That's why I simply don't do them. Gotta agree with Jamie about doing what you like. I would potenially get alot more business if I started busting out sheetcakes for $25-$30 - but I would miserable.

But to be brutally honest, I am not paying for a storefront or supporting a family with "cake". If that were the case, I would have to be much less picky about what business I would take. So long story short, as long as I can afford to 'not' do sheetcakes, I won't.
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post #81 of 106
9/24/09 at 1:10pm
*headeesk* I guess this thread proves it's not the customers with the 'sheet cake' mentality, it's the decorators!

If you offer sheet cakes for less than any other kind of cake and think that you gotta spend less than 10 minutes slapping icing on them, then YEAH, they ain't worth it. But that's ANY cake. Sorry, but you can just slap icing on a couple of tiers, pipe some crappy border around them, and crank 20 of those out a weekend too. (I've seen some at Safeway once in a while)

If someone wants a unique, one-of-a-kind, special, yummy cake with custom decorations that will take days to make, why is it a slap in the face or "less than" if they happen to want the cake as a 9x13 rectangle instead of a 8" round with a 6" tier? A cake is not more special if it has another cake stacked on top of it.

Wal-Mart cakes are Wal-Mart cakes because their decorators are only allowed 5 minutes to decorate a whole cake, not because of their shape. And Wal-Mart WILL do tiered, drapy, stacked cakes too. For $125 icon_lol.gif
Some women choose to follow men, and some women choose to follow their dreams. If you're wondering which way to go, remember that your career will never wake up and tell you that it doesn't love you anymore.
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Some women choose to follow men, and some women choose to follow their dreams. If you're wondering which way to go, remember that your career will never wake up and tell you that it doesn't love you anymore.
- Lady Gaga
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post #82 of 106
9/24/09 at 1:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by adree313

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 icon_biggrin.gif ). so, it's not really a very cost effective move then, is it?



I use the 2"x1"x4" serving size for all my cakes, which means a 9x13 RECTANGLE (as I've just decided I'm going to start calling them icon_biggrin.gif ) is 58 servings. My price for the 9x13 is $117 and can go higher depending on filling/icing choice. Yeah, most people don't want to pay that, but that's no skin off my nose. They want a cheap cake, they can go get a cheap cake from WM or the groc. store. They want a good cake, then they can order one from me and pay what it's worth!
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post #83 of 106
9/24/09 at 1:12pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by CakeDiva73

No disrespect to the sheetcakes, I have seen some that are insane and if they are torted with 4 layers of cake and 2 layers of filling, they are just like regular round/square except they are rectangle.

The problem is all customers that approach me about 'sheetcakes' assume since Costco sells a gynormous one for $16 then they should be able to get one from me or the same...*maybe* a couple dollars more.

That's why I simply don't do them. Gotta agree with Jamie about doing what you like. I would potenially get alot more business if I started busting out sheetcakes for $25-$30 - but I would miserable.

But to be brutally honest, I am not paying for a storefront or supporting a family with "cake". If that were the case, I would have to be much less picky about what business I would take. So long story short, as long as I can afford to 'not' do sheetcakes, I won't.



That was my concern. If you do sheetcakes, do people expect you to price them like the local grocery or wholesale stores?
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post #84 of 106
9/24/09 at 1:16pm
I know that everyone has their reasons for not doing sheet cakes. A lot of my customers always want sheet cakes no matter what I suggest, and they never want them filled. Just plain sheet cakes with frosting and decorations on top. I have never gotten a complaint so I must be doing something right. When I see a kids face light up with excitement from a sheet cake I have made for them that's all I need to keep making them no matter what.
I'm not as good as alot of you guys and in my area I could never get the prices that you do but I still make a profit. I see a lot of fantastic decorators om CC and you have to do what you think is best when it comes to sheet cakes. Just keep on decorating so people like me can keep on learning from the best like you.
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www.CalicoCornerGiftsAndGoodies.com

Contentment is not getting what you want but being satisfied with what you have.
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post #85 of 106
9/24/09 at 1:18pm
Around here, yep! They sure do. But that may not be true everywhere. I have seen posts from CCers who offer custom sheetcakes and get a pretty penny for them. I guess I just didn't feel like fighting that battle, ya know?

I have a Costco, literally 2 miles away...... and say what you want about grocery store cakes, Costco cake is GOOD! That is all we ate before I started decorating. Even still we will go to a party and if I see a Costco cake, I know it will not be left on the plate.

**Not as good as my cake, of course icon_wink.gif
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post #86 of 106
9/24/09 at 1:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by cakesweetiecake

Quote:
Originally Posted by CakeDiva73

No disrespect to the sheetcakes, I have seen some that are insane and if they are torted with 4 layers of cake and 2 layers of filling, they are just like regular round/square except they are rectangle.

The problem is all customers that approach me about 'sheetcakes' assume since Costco sells a gynormous one for $16 then they should be able to get one from me or the same...*maybe* a couple dollars more.

That's why I simply don't do them. Gotta agree with Jamie about doing what you like. I would potenially get alot more business if I started busting out sheetcakes for $25-$30 - but I would miserable.

But to be brutally honest, I am not paying for a storefront or supporting a family with "cake". If that were the case, I would have to be much less picky about what business I would take. So long story short, as long as I can afford to 'not' do sheetcakes, I won't.



That was my concern. If you do sheetcakes, do people expect you to price them like the local grocery or wholesale stores?



Well, yes, but they also expect the other cakes to be the big box store price, too. If a customer isn't willing to pay what you and your cakes are worth, that's not a customer you want to have. Education helps. Explain/show how your cakes are different. Customer referrals help, too, because chances are, if someone's seen and eaten one of your cakes, they're going to "get" that it's worth more than at the store.
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post #87 of 106
9/24/09 at 1:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by CakeDiva73


The problem is all customers that approach me about 'sheetcakes' assume since Costco sells a gynormous one for $16 then they should be able to get one from me or the same...*maybe* a couple dollars more.



Ahh, so it's not "sheet cake" so much as "CHEAP cake"!! Ok, duuuuuur me! Here I was thinking people were turning down cakes strictly because of their shape and not because of cost.
Some women choose to follow men, and some women choose to follow their dreams. If you're wondering which way to go, remember that your career will never wake up and tell you that it doesn't love you anymore.
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Some women choose to follow men, and some women choose to follow their dreams. If you're wondering which way to go, remember that your career will never wake up and tell you that it doesn't love you anymore.
- Lady Gaga
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post #88 of 106
9/24/09 at 1:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Win


Main Entry:   sheet cake
Part of Speech:   n
Definition:   a one-layer cake often topped with frosting or with ingredients rolled into it
Example:   Sheet cakes are often sold at grocery stores and served at office or birthday parties.
Usage:   cooking



LOL...I love the "with ingredients rolled into it" line. Just WHAT do you suppose they mean by that?"

OK, so now I know that my "rectangle" shaped cakes are NOT indeed "sheet" cakes......

Thanks Win, for clearing that up for me! icon_biggrin.gif
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post #89 of 106
9/24/09 at 2:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by CeeTee

Quote:
Originally Posted by CakeDiva73


The problem is all customers that approach me about 'sheetcakes' assume since Costco sells a gynormous one for $16 then they should be able to get one from me or the same...*maybe* a couple dollars more.



Ahh, so it's not "sheet cake" so much as "CHEAP cake"!! Ok, duuuuuur me! Here I was thinking people were turning down cakes strictly because of their shape and not because of cost.




Here in lies the rub. I do a lot of "sheetcakes" but my prices are no way comparable to grocery store prices! I pity the fool that compares my cake to a grocery store cake. I end the discussion right then and there and suggest they need to shop elsewhere.

And, I do think the term sheetcake must conjur up visions of kit cakes. I never thought of that before this thread. To me, it's simply a shape, nothing more; a blank canvas!
When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, "I used everything you gave me". Erma Bombeck
~~~
If God is for us, who can be against us?
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When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, "I used everything you gave me". Erma Bombeck
~~~
If God is for us, who can be against us?
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post #90 of 106
9/24/09 at 2:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by dkelly

Quote:
Originally Posted by Win


Main Entry:   sheet cake
Part of Speech:   n
Definition:   a one-layer cake often topped with frosting or with ingredients rolled into it
Example:   Sheet cakes are often sold at grocery stores and served at office or birthday parties.
Usage:   cooking



LOL...I love the "with ingredients rolled into it" line. Just WHAT do you suppose they mean by that?"

OK, so now I know that my "rectangle" shaped cakes are NOT indeed "sheet" cakes......

Thanks Win, for clearing that up for me! icon_biggrin.gif



My favorite line was the example:"Sheet cakes are often sold at grocery stores and served at office or birthday parties."

icon_lol.gif
1 Chronicles 23:29
They were in charge of the bread set out on the table, the flour for the grain offerings, the unleavened wafers, the baking and the mixing, and all measurements of quantity and size.
Reply
1 Chronicles 23:29
They were in charge of the bread set out on the table, the flour for the grain offerings, the unleavened wafers, the baking and the mixing, and all measurements of quantity and size.
Reply
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