My cake making background is very small. I started Wilton classes in November and besides my class cakes, mostly my only experience is in my photos. Not too many 
But I did grow up with a mom who is an artist and took a lot of ceramics courses and sculpture in college and so forth. My purse cake was a total experiment (new buttercream recipe, new cake recipe, first 3D cake etc) and a gift for a friend. I was thrilled with how it came out. Another good friend saw it and has asked me to make a cake for her mom for next week. She offered to pay me. Now my goal is to start making cakes on a small scale for a fee. Nothing big, just small out of the house. But I am nowhere near that yet. I told her yes via a txt and then mentioned to my husband I would charge her for material only. Mostly because the fondant costs 2xs as much locally compared to global sugar art and I would have to buy it locally to have it in time. Not to mention the drive to go get it etc. He jumped all over this and told me I had to charge for my time too. He said if I start out too low I will loose money in the long run when I officially hung out my sign etc etc. I know he has a point, especially since I have read about issues on here for selling cakes to friends. But I just put together a dummy cake to start practicing. Having a real cake and some cash to cover materials seems like the best next step to me. I need a portfolio and I need lots of experience. I should mention I am going to make a more basic fondant with fondant cut outs on it, so not that much time invested. Thanks for any advice!
But I did grow up with a mom who is an artist and took a lot of ceramics courses and sculpture in college and so forth. My purse cake was a total experiment (new buttercream recipe, new cake recipe, first 3D cake etc) and a gift for a friend. I was thrilled with how it came out. Another good friend saw it and has asked me to make a cake for her mom for next week. She offered to pay me. Now my goal is to start making cakes on a small scale for a fee. Nothing big, just small out of the house. But I am nowhere near that yet. I told her yes via a txt and then mentioned to my husband I would charge her for material only. Mostly because the fondant costs 2xs as much locally compared to global sugar art and I would have to buy it locally to have it in time. Not to mention the drive to go get it etc. He jumped all over this and told me I had to charge for my time too. He said if I start out too low I will loose money in the long run when I officially hung out my sign etc etc. I know he has a point, especially since I have read about issues on here for selling cakes to friends. But I just put together a dummy cake to start practicing. Having a real cake and some cash to cover materials seems like the best next step to me. I need a portfolio and I need lots of experience. I should mention I am going to make a more basic fondant with fondant cut outs on it, so not that much time invested. Thanks for any advice!
