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pricing a fruit cake?

post #1 of 6
1/20/13 at 2:16am
Thread Starter 

Hi I am new to this site which I love already!

I only bake for myself and family and friends and dont charge and give them as presents  and was asked to make a 12 inch square highly decorated fruit cake for a family members business associate who business was celebrating 60 years.

The cost of ingredients and cake board etc from a supermarket was £40+ so I said I would do it for £60 and they were horrified at the cost.!! I thought this was cheap considering the work that I would have to put into it. They went elsewhere which was not a problem as Im not a business .

What are your thoughts as to costing.?

 

PS i am thinking of starting a business this year as I make cakes all the time and give them away and lots of friends think I should do this as a job which I would love to

 

Many Thanks

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post #2 of 6
1/20/13 at 2:37am

They would have got 135 portions from that cake (see this guide below). At less than 50p per portion it was a bargain and goodness knows where they will get their cake from. Even charging 20 more than your ingredients, you would not have made any money on this cake after you paid for everything else associated with it (petrol, electricity, water and soap for washing up, your wages, profit on top of that etc)
 

http://www.sweetsuccess.uk.com/portion_guide.asp

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post #3 of 6
1/20/13 at 2:42am
Thread Starter 

many thanks for your message. I will check that website out.

I was really upset with his reply and he did go elsewhere!

Goodness knows where he got a brandy soaked free range egg and butter rich fruit cake from at less than £60 then

X

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post #4 of 6
1/20/13 at 6:48am
Quote:
Originally Posted by cazablanca View Post

 

Goodness knows where he got a brandy soaked free range egg and butter rich fruit cake from at less than £60 then

 

He didn't.  He got a commercial cake with candied potato and mystery fruit, no brandy, no butter, not much egg.  Mostly sugar and colouring.

 

When I baked both sponge and fruit cakes for weddings, I charged 3X the cost of ingredients for fruitcake when  the decorations were dead simple piping.

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post #5 of 6
1/20/13 at 8:43pm
I love fruit cakes, I use my own dried fruit medly and after chopping them I soak them in coconut rum for a few days, not expensive I can bake an eight inch for under ten dollars.
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post #6 of 6
1/20/13 at 10:05pm
Pricing a fruit cake is tricky, if you use more dried fruits and ripen the cake with rum or brandy for at least three months, for an eight inch I would sell the cake for twenty bucks.
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