Are sheet cakes usually covered in fondant? 3 tiered square wedding cake to feed 150 people,...

I wouldn't make a three tier for that many servings. I'd be at least 4 or 5 tiers. But I don't know about your client's budget/design ideas, or your skills with larger cakes.

And you're right! Why should it be cheaper? It's not with me. I don't offer sheet cakes, but I will do undecorated cakes that are still iced and filled like the real cake is. The dummies aren't discounted either, so there's no savings there.

Sheet cakes are normally not covered in fondant unless specifically requested.

Most of us would offer a sheet cake properly filled and iced in buttercream  with simple shell borders top and bottom.  We would charge our base price for this. 

Remember that the servings are calculated by volume so a 2" high cake will serve half the people that a 4" high cake will.  The common online serving tables are for 4" deep cake.

If you like, you can offer simple piped (dried royal icing) or gumpaste flowers to garnish each serving of cake, to match the flowers used on the fancy cake.  For a price, of course.

If the dummy cake is decorated in fondant , then so should the kitchen cakes be. 

When I do this I tort and fill , and cover like I would if I was doing the actual wedding cake , it gets a simple snail trail around the edge.  The idea is to make it look like it was cut from the actual cake. I charge the same base price , that I charge for a single tier . Tiered cakes are charged at a higher price. . 

My cakes are usually 4inches high ( unless I tort and fill them then they are higher) . So my kitchen cakes are the same . 

If each tier is 4" high (as many layers of cake as the bride would like, we are only concerned with total height), a "wedding cake" slice in North America is 1" x 2" of the cake area.

Then 14" square cake serves 98, 10" square cake serves 50, 6" square cake serves 18

Most of us would feel comfortable with calling this the right size of cake for your bride, a little extra is a good idea.

OK so about the height of the cake: you can bake 2 layers each 2" deep, and use them like that with one filling.   Or slice each layer again to make 4 layers.

Or you can bake 3 layers 1.25 inches deep and make up the height with the filling between the layers. This is very easy even with the largest pans, when you use bakers parchment paper to line each pan. 

You should use the silvery-fabric "magic cake strips" to help your cakes bake with flat tops.  These are reusable strips.

Quote:

Originally Posted by pastrymaniac 

AZCouture, in which cases do you choose to do undecorated cakes ? Since you do not charge them cheaper (I agree) do you do them only when the bride wants a dummy cake on display or also in some cases of big heavy cakes like this one (to be delivered in the Summer)?

 

Thanks

 

Sara 

I've only needed to do it a couple of times, and they were for extra servings, not because of a dummy cake. Both of the cakes were already pretty big, so yes, it was just because I couldn't fit them in anywhere else. 

Is the bride doing dummy cakes to save money? Because by paying for dummy cakes that will in fact be of the right size to feed her guests, as well as paying for sheet cakes, she is paying more than she needs to.