12"x18" pan and batter quantity

This may be a stupid question, but I figure I'd ask rather than guess.

Based on the violin cake I made for my brother 3 weeks ago (http://cakecentral.com/g/a/3321068/violin-birthday-cake/) I've been asked to make a full size guitar cake.  This will only be my second real carved cake.  I'm not really worried about doing it as I've there are lots of great examples here on CC.

I haven't got a guitar to trace at the moment, but I do plan on making a template from one.  However from what I've seen online, I think I am going to have to make it slighly smaller than a standard size guitar based on my pan size unless someone has a suggested on how I can meet the standard measurements, which are 19 3/4" for the length of the body and 14 3/4" for widest part.  I'm trying to find the dimensions of a 3/4 size guitar because that may be better (and I don't want to assume it's literally 75% of the standard size or 14 3/4" for length and 11" for the width.)

I have a 12x18x1" jellyroll pan that I use for cookies.  It does have sloped sizes but since I'm going to carve, that doesn't really matter.

I'm thinking I would bake 4 single layers in order to get the height needed.  And it will be easier to ice and stack like that, and then carve.

My question is, the Wilton charge says as 12x18 use 14 cups of batter, but I believe that is a 2" pan.  Is it safe to assume that the pan I have would use half that amount?  I'm planning to use this recipe http://cakecentral.com/a/triple-chocolate-fudge-cake which I believe will give me enough batter for two pans.

I've never baked cake in these pans, so I'm not sure how long or at what temperature I would bake them.  Is there any chance that the middle might not bake?

In regards to my comment above regarding the size of the final cake, should I consider baking the equivalent of a full sheet cake using the 1" layers and put two of them together to get the dimensions I need?  It seems I would end up with a lot of extra cake.  I need the length of the pan (18") in order to carve the wide part of the guitar (14 3/4") and double the width (24") is a fair bit more than I need for the length of the cake (19 3/4").  I don't think I can get around that.

They're going to have 50 people at the party.  It just seems that the standard size guitar cake is going to be too big for them but a 3/4 size guitar may be more reasonable being more like an 11x15 size.  I would still bake it up the same way with the 1" 12x18 layers to allow for carving room.

I think there's a question somewhere in all of that. LOL.

Thanks.

Pam

Thanks K8 for the complement on the violin.  I was really proud of it and my brother was in shock. :) 

As for this cake, thanks for your input.
I think I will aim for a slightly smaller than standard size.  I don't want to give them a ton more cake than they need.  I think I would have about 60-70 servings in the carved cake given your suggestion.

Just so I understand what you're suggesting, you're saying bake 12x12 squares and place them beside each other to give myself the 12x24 size.  Bake 4 two inch high layers to get the height needed for the guitar.

Then, cut down the length by 4" so it's now 12x20.  I would then shift the bottom square to the side and place that 4" strip beside it to make it 12x16 giving me the width I need for the widest part of the guitar.  I figured a cake of this size would, in the end, be enough to provide

(I think I basically repeated what you said. LOL)

Based on what I've been reading here, I would use foamcore or cardboard to make the neck of the instrument and cover it in fondant. 

I have seen in other photos that some have placed a dowel underneath the head to support it, others a piece of styrofoam or something covered in fondant, and someone even made a "pillow" of cake covered in fondant to place it on.  I'm leaning to a dowel attached to the board.

Do you have any suggestions?  I know it needs support of some sort. 

I've been looking more on line and I've found a couple of things.

I've found the Taylor Guitar site and I found basic dimensions for the Baby Taylor which is basically a 3/4 size. 

I also found another site that provided blueprints for making a real guitar. :)

I could get Kinko's to print it out to about to about 75% of it's actual size and I think it might be what I need.

It also has all of the other parts needed (ie. finger board, fret spacing, headstock) in the size proportional to the body.

Plus it shows where the sound hole should be and it's size.

I plan on covering the board with sheet music like I did the violin cake, so perhaps a stack of music under the head would work.  I'll have to think about that.

I don't really want to make that out of cake, so I'll have to figure out how to do that.

The only other thing to really think about is the strings and how to attach them.  I don't have an extruder so maybe flower wire would be the way to go.

I did have some issues on the violin getting them to sit right.  I saw on other threads that people have used silver thread and strands of wool.  I'll to give that some more thought to this feature.

I've got three weeks thankfully, so I'm not super worried about being able to get it done.  I can always bake the cakes needed in advance and freeze them.

I can also get the board cut at Home Depot in advance, plus get the template prepped as well.

I just have to come up with a price.  This is for my hair dresser's son. He's suggesting a trade of services but doesn't want me to lose on this.

I really appreciate your input in this. Thanks!  :)

I might take a look at the real strings.  I would have to determine how I'd be able to secure them at each end.  Same issue I had with the violin. LOL.

So I have a question about price....this cake is for my hairdresser's son's 30th birthday.  He had asked me how much a guitar cake would be. I've never really priced a carved cake like this so I'm curious about price. It seems a little easier than some carved cakes (is this considered 2D or 3D?) as it's just the body that's being carved.  But there are a number of other elements that have to be created (neck, holder, custom cut board).  He wants to trade services for cake, which I'm fine with.  I'm going to go with a 3/4 size guitar which has a body that is about 15.75" long and 12.5" at the widest part.  So given that I'm going to be cutting away cake, I figure it has the dimensions of an 11x15 sheet cake but not the full size.  Wilton says that gives 74 servings (the cake will be 4" high), so with the carving, I'm figuring more like 60.  I need 50.   I gave him a price of $350.  Was I out of line?  It is going to be covered in fondant.  I was basing it on $5/serving, and the 70ish servings that the cake had before carving.  I realize that the thread above has me baking cakes larger than the 11x15 to get the area I need to safely carve.  In this case, I'm not going to charge him that price.  He's a family friend whom I've known all my life.

I'm not looking for questions about if I'm legal, or what my overhead and other costs are.  I know that and have taken that into account.  I just am curious if $350 is within reason for a cake like this.

Thanks :)

 

So I had to deliver the cake last weekend and it was a huge success.  I of course saw all of the flaws.  It took way longer than I thought and covering the body with fondant was a bit of a challenge.  But I'm really happy with the way it turned out.  And the "strings" were my favourite part.

http://cakecentral.com/g/a/3334948/guitar-cake/

Thanks to everyone, especially K8Memphis, for all your help and advice.