Cake Decorating Community - Cakes We Bake

I am getting ready to make a cake that has a 10 inch round on the bottom and a 6 inch round on the top. Would most of you bake just one cake each and then cut each one in half for the filling or would you bake two tens and two sixes? This is my first stacked cake and by judging pictures I can't seem to tell if cakes like this have two stacked of the same size or if they are just cut in half.

Thanks!

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There you go Kate - we have our answer.  Thanks G!

I have special cake straws. Get them cheap. They are supper strong. My hubby has to cut them as I don't have the strength in my hands with my arthritis. That's how strong they are. Before those, I used the large drink straws & inserted wooden coffee stir sticks inside them for strength. :o)

Here is the finished product! I am really happy with how it turned out. The theme is "Monster High". I must live under a rock, because I had never heard of this character until I was asked to make this cake and apparently it is a very popular cartoon! I ended up stacking two ten inch cakes for the bottom and just one six inch on the top. The accents are all made from fondant. I had never made a bow before, so it was fun to do something different with this cake. I ended up using smoothie straws for support. It worked well and they were cheap! The client was very happy! Now I can rest easy! :) Thanks for all of your input.

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Well done Kate. Looks great! Hope your going to post it on your page. :o)

Great job Kate!! If u don't mind my asking, how much did you charge for this cake & how did you determine how much to charge? I'm asking because I have a cake to do in 2 weeks for a paying customer similar in size. It will be square, 7" top tier & 9" bottom tier. I will be doing 1 layer each & cutting each layer in half like you had originally planned to do w/yours. She wants it to feed around 25 people. I know this will be more than adequate to feed that amount of people w/some to spare. I haven't had a paying customer in years & am somewhat clueless as to what to charge. She told me she has a budget of $75-$80. If anyone else has any input, please feel free to add it. I would appreciate it.

You all will probably cringe when I tell you what I charged. I had asked for $75 originally to do a 12' base and the client, who is a co-worker of mine said $75 was out of budget as she is a single mom. I decided to cut it down to a 10' and charge $65. I know that was cheap considering some people charge alot more, but this was literally the fourth cake I've ever done and I felt bad for this poor girl. I copied my prices from a bakery and they charge $45 for a 10 inch and $25 for a 6 so that's kind of how I got my price. I also keep in mind charging 3x the cost of ingredients. Maybe over time I will feel comfortable charging more, but I don't feel right charging more than what I would actually want to pay for a cake.
Thank you both for the sweet compliment! I'm really loving this new found hobby!

Thanks Kate for sharing that info w/me & no, not cringing :).  I'm just so accustomed to making cakes for family & only asking them to cover the cost of ingredients. I've done some research on the internet & there is a lot of information but it all seems so complicated. Just wish there was a simple formula or something to go by. I know I'll have to come up w/a figure soon but when I'm finished w/it I will post it on here, let everyone know what I charged, & get everyone's opinion if they thought i undercharged or overcharged. Guess if you give people a cake w/quality taste & workmanship they will be willing to pay you what you're worth.

My husband made a good point last night. He said, "You are basically doing what the customer does not want to do or cannot do by making and decorating their cake. Therefore, they should be willing to pay your price." It is very true. I have just gone by price charts from other bakeries, because I really don't know how else to do it other than the 3x ingredients method, but sometimes that seems to rip me off. I have also just made cakes for family in the past, but now I am actually making cakes for strangers and it's a little intimidating when I have to come up with a price. I would love to hear suggestions from others on this topic as well. I just had to quote someone on a cake today and I hope I priced it right.

Denise Rico said:

Thanks Kate for sharing that info w/me & no, not cringing :).  I'm just so accustomed to making cakes for family & only asking them to cover the cost of ingredients. I've done some research on the internet & there is a lot of information but it all seems so complicated. Just wish there was a simple formula or something to go by. I know I'll have to come up w/a figure soon but when I'm finished w/it I will post it on here, let everyone know what I charged, & get everyone's opinion if they thought i undercharged or overcharged. Guess if you give people a cake w/quality taste & workmanship they will be willing to pay you what you're worth.

Well done Kate - the cake looks great and I'm glad you and your client were happy with it.  Gives you more confidence for next time

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