Do you provide clients with cakes that feed exactly their guest count? - Page 2

I love going to events where people drink heavily and don't want desert.  That usually means that I can have at least one extra and sometimes more.  Yes, I know, I'm a guts! (for those who don't know that's an Australian word for glutton)

i love y'alls' slang, cazza

and thanks for interpreting!

Quote:

Originally Posted by -K8memphis 

Quote:

Originally Posted by hbquikcomjamesl 

The Leland Awards cake worked out to just enough cake for everybody who wanted a piece to get one, with maybe one or two people getting seconds, and my dairy-allergic fellow docent getting her made-to-order dairy-free cupcake (literally the only cupcake I've ever made).

 

awesome james, any pictures?

You asked. Although it's been broadcast on Cake Central before. It was my first attempt at using edible images.

fantastic!!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by costumeczar 

 

He says to start at the top and work your way down so that you don't have to disassemble the cake while you cut it. 

I serve top down when I do this art center fundraiser each year, only cause I know that whole tower of cake is getting gutted and snarfed down for sure. :D 

Yeah I think it depends on your market, the client, and their culture.  For example, I always ask my millenials, what is the percentage of "grown-ups" to friends?  If there are going to be a lot of friends and there will be a lot of drinking, I go 20% less.  If the bride has her heart set on a design from Pinterest (those stupid ruffles.  Grrr, I HATE those stupid ruffles) and can't afford it, we will play with serving sizes so they have budget for the over-the-top design, which I have had one client opt for 20% less.  I meet with a lot of Asian clients and after the 10 course 500 person Chinese banquet, they don't eat sweets (and if they weren't born here I find that most I meet think American cake sucks).  So although I was super excited to book my first 500 person wedding, they only wanted cake for 130 because they will only serve slivers to be polite, and probably only the non-Chinese at the wedding will actually eat all the cake they are served.  I can't blame them - anyone been to a proper 10 course Chinese banquet?  No way is there room for cake!  

But if it's a traditional affair and very formal, if it's a small wedding (60 people or under), or they want to keep the top tire, we go 100% based on how many plates they guarantee at the venue.

But again, I think it really depends on your market and the client!

Quote:

Originally Posted by FromScratchSF 

 

 

But again, I think it really depends on your market and the client!

It really does. 

The servers at my wedding cut the cake from the top down, literally. Goodbye 1st anniversary cake. 

I offer my brides a free 4" ruffle iced anniversary tier for year a later later. Rarely does anyone ever remember to redeem it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FromScratchSF 

Yeah I think it depends on your market, the client, and their culture.  For example, I always ask my millenials, what is the percentage of "grown-ups" to friends?  If there are going to be a lot of friends and there will be a lot of drinking, I go 20% less.  If the bride has her heart set on a design from Pinterest (those stupid ruffles.  Grrr, I HATE those stupid ruffles) and can't afford it, we will play with serving sizes so they have budget for the over-the-top design, which I have had one client opt for 20% less.  I meet with a lot of Asian clients and after the 10 course 500 person Chinese banquet, they don't eat sweets (and if they weren't born here I find that most I meet think American cake sucks).  So although I was super excited to book my first 500 person wedding, they only wanted cake for 130 because they will only serve slivers to be polite, and probably only the non-Chinese at the wedding will actually eat all the cake they are served.  I can't blame them - anyone been to a proper 10 course Chinese banquet?  No way is there room for cake!  

 

But if it's a traditional affair and very formal, if it's a small wedding (60 people or under), or they want to keep the top tire, we go 100% based on how many plates they guarantee at the venue.

 

But again, I think it really depends on your market and the client!

Totally off topic, but I almost always do Japanese cheesecake with a traditional Chinese reception. (I know, different parts of Asia, lol). It's really light and not very sweet, it goes with their cuisine so much better than typical American cake.

My sister always orders so much more cake than she needs because she wants the cake to look dramatic. I just made her a 12 x 4 square to serve 20-30 people! Her wedding was 100 people and she ordered a 14" 12" 10" 8" 6".

I always worry that if I over bake then customers will get wise and start ordering smaller cakes. As a result, I try to be very clear about what the customer wants and what I will be providing. 

Those caterer stories are appalling. It's one thing to feed the staff AFTER service, but quite another for the staff to take theirs off the top. WOW. I will add that an experienced caterer will make a cake look good. An inexperienced one is horrible. I heard about guests at one wedding, I provided the cake for, getting slices with supports in it! How embarrassing! Off topic, this is one reason I am an SPS convert!

Quote:

Originally Posted by ellavanilla 

 I heard about guests at one wedding, I provided the cake for, getting slices with supports in it! How embarrassing! Off topic, this is one reason I am an SPS convert!

ouch!

Hmm. And if multiple flavors are involved, the bride (or other customer) might want to get it in writing, from those responsible for serving it, whether or not guests will have a reasonable shot at getting their own choice of flavor, before committing to a multi-flavor cake. It seems such a waste to go to the trouble and expense of accommodating guests with allergies or strong preferences (I fall into the latter category, with a deep-seated loathing of both chocolate and the citrus fruits), only to find out two weeks later that the wait-staff sabotaged those efforts.

(Indeed, it was my own strong preference that led me to go the extra mile on the Leland Awards cake, baking that cupcake with the maple-cinnamon glaze just for the dairy-allergic docent. And it had nothing to do with the fact that she's cute, given that she's also married, to a friend, and probably young enough to be my daughter.)

Oh boy, did a bride and I make a bad decisions once.  I made a 7 tier cake for this awesome lady, and she still orders something every once in awhile. But she decided she wanted a different cake/filling for every tier. And then I thought of the brilliant (<----said sarcastically) idea to make a framed menu to put next to it. We were both excited. So there sits the cake, with a framed menu next to it, and I get my pics and go home. 

Fast forward a year later when she comes to get her anniversary tier. Come to find out, there was no proper service that night, guests were left to their own devices when it came to the cake. So what happened? Yeah, most of them took several slices from different tiers.

Bride and groom never got a slice. She wasn't mad, in fact she was happy that they liked it so much that it all got devoured and got lots of compliments, but I use that incident as an example now when people start getting carried away with choosing flavors. I tell them it could be a fun thing to do, or it could make people take more than one slice, so if you choose to get many flavors, watch how it's served.