A year ago I installed a POS system in my store. We have had a LOVE/HATE relationship with the system. Because we are such a custom shop, it took alot of tweaking and scripting to get all the data that we needed into the system to complete the orders. But, it does count EVERYTHING you put into the system.
So, a couple af weeks ago, I decided to check to see how many cakes we had made last year and how the flavor of cakes ranked. It was an interesting project.
Before you fire off questions about recipes, I will tell you that we use the Pillsbury Plus Mix in 50 # bags. We buy white, yellow, and devil's food mix. All our flavors are made out of those mixes. We have spent lots of time experimenting to come up with the varieties. Everything is measured out in pounds and ounces.
This shows the number of cakes...so a layer cake, or a tier of cake, or a sheet cake will count as one cake.
23,443 White
13,043 Chocolate
8,285 Marble
7,556 Yellow
4,809 Almond Pound
4,698 Raspberry Sour Cream
2,498 Fudge
2,368 Red Velvet
1,962 Dark Raspberry
1,529 Lemon Orange Almond
1,499 Lemon
1,463 Pumpkin
794 Chocolate Chip
762 Mandarin Orange
693 Apple Spice
688 Carmel
669 White/Chocolate
548 Carrot
399 Strawberry
397 Key Lime (which we introduced this past summer)
352 Banana
198 White over Chocolate
197 Coconut
155 Hazelnut
138 Apple Spice
86 Peppermint (which we normally do only in December)
82 Pineapple
41 Lemon Poppyseed
33 Peanut Butter
26 Mocha
TOTAL: 79,416
I did not count up the specialty flavors that we don't have on our "menu" but we do on request. These include dairy free, egg free, gluten free,etc., which are not made by the mixes.
We used about 11 tons of cake mix to accomplish this!
That is CRAZY! I do find it funny that mocha was at the bottom. I wouldn't have thought that would have came in last.
WOW! that is unbelieveable. I get myself worked up over 3 cakes per week.
I need a nap just reading how much you baked last year. You've for sure have a booming business. 
HOLY CATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
thanks for showing the line up...interesting!
dklttl -
NOOOO, please, I don't want to double. It's all I can do to keep things going as it is. The only thing I would want is more "off season" weddings...wouldn't we all! 
Ms. A. -
not 7 days a week...6 days a week!!
dberck -
Well, the hours a week were around 80 for quite a few years. But now I feel like I am cruising working 40 - 50 hours in the winter and 50 + the rest of the year.
I now have a baker, so I don't do much of that any more. We bake in two double stack convection ovens, so we have 4 ovens. We can bake 80 - 90 pounds of mix at a time. We bake on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursday.
so you baked that many cakes 3 days a week????????????
YIKES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
edited to add: My DH installs and programs POS systems for a living and there are certain restaurants in our area that he literally avoids because we can't have a peaceful meal without them pulling him into the kitchen to figure out why the printer is off or redoing some of the keys on the POS itself LOL
For whatever reason there is a lot of fussiness with them (job security) lol
Ilene, you are amazing! I wanna be like you when I grow up 
How can a "custom" shop decorate over 217 "custom" decorated cakes per day?
(An assembly line with 15 decorators can crank out 3,000 "non-custom" decorated 1/4 sheets per day with the assistance of equipment that slaps the icing on. That's an average of only 200 cakes per decorator per day.)
So, how do you do it?
Are there others out there who work at a bakery who may have stories to share about producing more than 200 decorated cakes per day per decorator? This is interesting, and I'm anxious to hear your experiences too. Thanks.
Keep in mind that some of these numbers include multiple tiered cakes. For example, a wedding cake may have 6 tiers, but count on her system as 6 cakes. Trust me, her staff can do it, they are amazing.
Keep in mind that some of these numbers include multiple tiered cakes. For example, a wedding cake may have 6 tiers, but count on her system as 6 cakes. Trust me, her staff can do it, they are amazing.
Oh, see I would have thought a 6 tiered cake would count as 12 cakes (2 cakes each tier)
Your explanation makes it even more amazing to me.
I'll probably not come close to baking that many cakes in my entire life, never mind 1 year! Truly spectacular indeed!
I understand the cake count, and yes, it does sound even more amazing since 6 tiers can take longer to decorate than 6 1/4 sheet cakes.
Even with a dedicated staff (of how many?) working 40-50 hours a week, I can't imagine how much manufacturing plant workspace would be required to have the necessary decorators complete that volume in one day, let alone the storage space for completed orders throughout the day.
Wouldn't it require a minimum of 5,000 sq. ft.?
I understand the cake count, and yes, it does sound even more amazing since 6 tiers can take longer to decorate than 6 1/4 sheet cakes.
Even with a dedicated staff (of how many?) working 40-50 hours a week, I can't imagine how much manufacturing plant workspace would be required to have the necessary decorators complete that volume in one day, let alone the storage space for completed orders throughout the day.
Wouldn't it require a minimum of 5,000 sq. ft.?
I'm reading doubt instead of amazement in your 2 posts. Why would anyone make something like that up?
Keep in mind that some of these numbers include multiple tiered cakes. For example, a wedding cake may have 6 tiers, but count on her system as 6 cakes. Trust me, her staff can do it, they are amazing.
I have to back Jill up on this. Classic Cakes is one of, if not THE premier bakery in Indpls. When you consider we are the 14th largest city in the nation, that's a pretty big claim to make and I am sticking to it. Her clientel include many celebrities. She has gathered together a great award winning team ! 
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%