AZCouture started this excellent thread ( http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-748828.html ) not too long ago, and it led to probably one of the best discussions we've had on CC.

Recently I've had clients who ordered cake for an event, coming back wanting something smaller for, say, dinner with family or a game night. Don't want fondant or gumpaste or fancy boards. Just want my cake for dinner and thus cannot meet my current minimum order quantity.

I've also had people who have tried my cake at an event but just can't afford "fancy cake."

I'm thinking of offering 2 options of smaller cake 6 inch, 8 inch. Probably 3 inches tall vs my standard 4-4.5 inches with 1-2 layers of filling vs my usual 3 layers.

My question is, for those who have (added) a budget friendly option along with the fancy cakes, how has it affected your business?

Our most profitable product percentage-wise is a basic 8" round two layer cake (4" tall with 1 layer of filling). The trick is putting together a process that's as efficient as possible and eliminates slack time, especially if you are renting a commercial kitchen by the hour.

The demand for these "middle-of-the-road" cakes is higher than you would think, a lot of people are on a budget but want something better than a grocery store cake.

I do smaller cakes for clients who have bought wedding cakes for me in the past. They're always basic with little decoration on them, and I can usually bang them out in half an hour to an hour. I still charge the same per-serving price, though, so the profit on those based on time is higher. It hasn't affected my business at all in terms of people thinking I'm devaluing the wedding cakes, if that's what you mean.