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help! cake size serving chart and pricing a cake!

post #1 of 3
7/11/12 at 6:26pm
Thread Starter 
I'm new to the cake industry.. and I'm very serious about it, ive always been very creative but ive realized that being in this industry takes a lot more than that.. I'm having a problem that's caused me so many headaches, ive looked up so many websites and tried to figure this out but it only made things worse. Cake serving sizes and prices. Such a nightmare. Everybody had their own serving sizes and different prices.. and I have no idea where to even begin on pricing a cake. Why do they do it by serving? How big should the serving be? What if the bride wants a bigger serving size... does that mean I charge her more per slice.. how Much more then should I charge? Why is it when I look at someones serving chart for say a 6" round tier, do they all have different amounts of pieces it will serve.. do they to by the circumferance of a pan.. ive tried that and I got confused. Pricing a cake is so beyond me and ive sold quite a few and its getting serious with people recommending me to other people.. but I cant even price them correctly. Someone please help me icon_sad.gif
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post #2 of 3
7/11/12 at 8:44pm
I use the Wilton chart. I find that most, if not all, caterers around here cut the cakes according to this method. You can find the serving sizes of many different sized and shaped pans here:

http://www.wilton.com/cakes/making-cakes/baking-wedding-cake-2-inch-pans.cfm

As for pricing, it's up to you how much you charge and how you decide to charge for your cakes but what I do, and in my opinion the easiest way, is per serving. You set your price per serving and use the chart to determine how many servings your cake contains. You use that number to determine the total price of the cake.

If the bride wants servings that are twice the size of the ones in the chart then she is really ordering a cake with twice as many servings. For example, she needs to serve 100 guests but wants serving sizes to be twice the size of the standard, then she is ordering a cake to serve 200. Your price should vary according to the number of standard servings you are giving.

Also, you should charge for the number of servings the cake you are making contains, not the number of servings the bride requires. If she needs to serve 100 but the cake she chooses and you make serves 118, then the total cost would be based on 118 servings.

Good luck and I hope this helps! Congratulations on your orders as well!
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post #3 of 3
7/12/12 at 12:16am
You've been given good advice.

Quote:
Originally Posted by flourxxchildxx

.. do they to by the circumferance of a pan..


Based on 1"x2"x4" servings, it's 8 cubic inches.

If you'd like to calculate alternate size slices, Metria's Cake Calculator (by volume) is helpful...
http://shinymetalobjects.net/cake/calculator/cakulator.cgi?option=3&option=Select+Cakulator
As previously mentioned, you need to charge accordingly for servings larger than the traditional 8 cubic inches.
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