Cake Pricing and all it’s friends

Ever wondered why custom cakes are “pricey”? Wonder no more because I am about to break it down down down. There are a lot of misconceptions about this topic and my experience is that people tend to compare custom made cakes with mass produced cakes from large enterprises and commercial chains. I have had numerous encounters with customers that would want to go all out for their design (which I always love and get excited about), but there are other factors to consider before pricing. While sometimes some people just go with it undisputed, some might back out, while some (almost like a reprimand) mention how cheap they buy it at the grocery store. I have some very interesting stories that would crack, you, up! I’ll publish that soon.

“so, how much is it? “

Here is how the process starts, I get a phone call or message from a client that wants a cake, they talk about or send me their ideas and what comes right after almost all the time is, “So, how much is it”? This is the point where I plead that we backtrack a bit (a lot actually) and I start to ask them questions that help me understand the details of their order.

“friends of cake pricing”

In order to gain better perspective and understanding of the needs and details of the order, I like to ask a bunch of questions that helps me determine the price of the cake, I like to call them the “friends of cake pricing”, each one just as important as the other.

First and foremost is, When is the event for? Pretty straight forward reason for this is to check for availability and or urgency.

Next, What flavors would you like? This is where we discuss the flavors and fillings. Some flavors cost more than others because of special or additional ingredients that they require. While some flavors can be sold as they are, they can also be base flavors for another when altered with additional ingredients. In this case, the base flavor that is sold as is would be cheaper.

• 

• 

Up next, how big do you want the cake? For customers that don’t know much about sizing I help them by asking the number of slices they’d want to get from the cake or how large their party is, this helps to put the size in perspective and I am able to use my size guide to determine the cake in inches and or tiers. Follow this link to find and download my size guide https://treatlane.com/faq/

If we don’t already have a picture, I ask what the design for the cake is? I recommend they go through my gallery to see if they find anything interesting, request for a guide or reference, or we come up with a custom design that I draw, this usually helps determine the kind of frosting that will go on the cake which could be cream or fondant. Fondant costs more than cream because it is made with more ingredients and more tedious to work with than cream. Usually, I recommend cakes that require heavy designs are frosted in fondant for sturdiness and support, also, fondant works better in some weathers when buttercream or whipped cream would otherwise just melt away and end up in a delicious disaster (ahhh, memories… delicious disaster tales coming soon… *cry laughs a little*)

All in the talks of design include details such as if the cake would have some type of sculpting on it like a figurine or teddy bear, edible sugar flowers, sugar crystals, chocolate molds, fresh fruits, tier-separating cake stands.

Outside the details of the actual cake are other logistics about the cake (if applicable) such as the delivery and distance, cake cutting and serving, cake stand, cake table and decorations.

“tastes like a cake doesn’t make it a cake!”

Up next? the moment we’ve all be anxiously waiting for *drum rolls* I give the price. There is no cookie-cutter one size fits all to cake prices. Large chains don’t put all that I’ve mentioned into consideration, theirs is to mass produce and provide you with the only options they offer and you either go with it or not. They aren’t as flexible with designs, what you see is what you get, they aren’t worried if you order a buttercream cake in the Texas summer, they would not do delivery, they would not order or sculpt your special cake topper, above all… they would neither bake your cake from scratch nor to order, and what that means is you don’t even know the ingredients in your cake or how long ago it was baked. Remember, looks like a cake, tastes like a cake doesn’t make it a cake! For custom bakers, baking is a labor of love and the best reward is in the joy and great reviews from satisfied customers. Cheers!