To feel sick when I watch cake making programmes.

[mrsmillsfanclub]

There are lots of programmes on featuring very successful businesses (mainly American) charging a fortune for OTT cakes that have been overly manhandled by at least two or three different people, none of whom wear gloves.
I love a bit of cake but would flatly refuse anything highly decorative or sculptured because the chances are that it will be covered in germs from many manky hands.

actually I have never thought about it from a hygienic point of view

Latex free, I don't think any surgical gloves are latex these days.

I agree about choccywoccydoodah, the overall impression of the cakes is striking, but when you look at the detail they are very messy and slapdash imo.

I watch Ace of Cakes and whilst I am amazed by some of their creations, but often there is very little actual cake, it all seems to be polystyrene pieces covered in icing or those rice crispie slabs sculpted and covered in icing.

Brian that's exactly what I thought of. The more expensive the meal, the more sweat, spit and dirt you get with it!

When choccywoccy started out years ago her cakes were beautifull but since she`s become famous her stuff looks like cheap shit and badly made. As for the American shows how the hell are most of the family run companies still going,they bicker constantly, shout and throw tantrums all the time, and as for the family where the mother plays cards on the company computer and spilt coffee on it and broke it, well i would KILL HER....but no they go and buy and new one

Straight after Choccywoccydooha I watched Amazing Cakes last night. They made this insanely elaborate design, and it knocked spots off the ridiculous choccywoccydooha cakes. They attention to detail was really impressive. No comparison really.

How much do wedding cakes like these cost from 'celebrity' cake makers? Does anyone know?

I think there are prices on most websites Gerrof. We looked at Choccywoccydoodah cakes years ago when I got married the first time and they were around £6-700 then, that was in 2000. We went with another chocolate cake maker in the end, (thank goodness now I have seen their kitchen) and our cake was fantastic. It tasted beyond amazing!

Peggy Porschen, Mich Turner, Maisie Fantastie etc start at around £500-£700 ish, but go up to well over 10 times that, which I can understand for some designs which have hundreds of well made sugar flowers, as they take so long to make well. Prices are on their websites. I have noticed though that the 'celeb' makers seem to get an awful lot of portions out of their cakes compared to the average cake maker, so you're obviously paying more and getting less.

I don't come anywhere near the PeggynPorschen prices- but I charge from £50 up to about £300, depending on the complexity. And I do some of the PP cakes for that!

golden as a woman with a latex allergy, most surgical are still latex, I have to remind doctors nurses dentists aaaallllll the time,

most household gloves are too, I dont really care about all the hands cake is cake imo I love it.

Good lord seeker can you actually make those Peggy Porschen cakes?

I wouldn't even attempt it, they look so incredibly precise and beautiful.

I can understand why they are so expensive - the ingredients must cost a small fortune nowadays and all the time taken.

I looked at this website last night after seeing them on amazing cakes - extraordinary! www.christophergarrens.com/weddings

I do think some of the PP cakes are over priced, but others, not so much, although you're obviously still paying for the name. I'm assuming you're not a business though Seeker if you are charging £300 as your maximum price?

You're right Gerrof, the ingredients are expensive, but it's also the time taken. A 'basic' wedding cake will take about 15 hours from start to finish, so even if you're charging £10 an hour for your time, that's £150 before even taking the ingredients, equipment, insurance etc into account. Realistic looking flowers, such as large wired roses can take up to an hour each too, so if realistic sugar flowers are wanted then that can really push the price up.

Most people are happy with 'average' sugar flowers though, there aren't many people left in the UK who can truly make realistic looking sugar flowers. Peggy Porschen is one of them, but personally I think Alan Dunn's work knocks spots of hers, although it's not such a 'romantic' style and AFAIK he mainly teaches these days, I'm not sure if he makes cakes at all any more.

Off to look at the Christopher Garrens website now...

Actually Seeker, that sounds a bit offish, sorry. What I meant was, if you are making PP style cakes for £300, you are hugely under charging.

I had samples of Peggy Porschen cakes at a wedding fair, and I can honestly say they were the best cakes I have ever tasted. And I have tasted a lot of cake.

I charge what my market will bear, midori! Sadly, I don't live in London.....

But i do make a profit- just not a very big one , and I can't charge properly for my time.

I make up for it with my super fast 2 rose 3 leaf loads of glitter cup cakes!

MrsBucket I didn't realise that, although mine are definitely latex free as DH has a latex allergy and often eat the off cuts from my cakes

Ive tasted a Choccywoccydoodah cake in the cafe, reasonable price for how much cake you get (and lots of choccy buttons) It was very nice. Wouldnt pay for a full cake though.

yanbu I NEVER eat cakes with models of "stuff" on them...too fingered.

How do they get the icing on some of those cakes to look so squared off? Like this one www.marthastewartweddings.com/231266/modern-wedding-cakes/@center/272453/wedding-cakes#111690

I haven't got an artistic or skilled bone in my body re such things, but I own god knows how many cake baking books. I can but dream!

I'm not sure if that is Royal Icing (something else not many people can do properly these days, it's been a dying art since the invention of sugarpaste, although it's making a come back now) although a lot of cakes in the US are buttercream (although they use Trex/Crisco and not butter) instead of fondant.

You can get very squared off edges on sugarpaste using the right tools and method though.

This is one of my favourite cake makers. Her attention to detail is amazing.

allofmycakes.blogspot.co.uk/

Not totally correct frangipan.
We get surgical gloves prescribed for ds. They are latex. I have just worn a pair for jointing a chicken medical purposes.
However none of us are allergic.

Seeker, I think the problem is largely that so many people are making cakes now and charging stupid amounts (there is someone near me who charges £25 for an iced and decorated 8" round fruit cake, and £18 for an iced and decorated 8" sponge, there is no way she has worked her costs out properly!) that a lot of customers expect something for nothing. I think people genuinely do not realise the cost of the ingredients, equipment and the time it takes to make a good quality decorated cake.

Midori, I think that is in part because you can make a cake cheaply if you use cheaper ingredients. If you want it to taste good as well as look nice it will cost more.

I agree that people have absolutely no clue how much cakes cost to make or how much time it takes if you aren't talking a cake mix and a can of prepared icing slapped on top.

I don't wear gloves but I do obsessively wash my hands

1. as someone said, it spoils the finish and you risk transferring colour etc.
2. I hate the feel of messy hands.
3. I couldn't do what I'm doing with gloves on, they would get in my way.
4. It is unlikely someone would eat the bits I hand model.

I've also eaten plenty of artisan bread which was hand kneaded and shaped, just like it has been done for thousands of years.

There are some truly amazing looking cakes on that page midori, how on earth does she make those fruit cake baubles?

And I am not really keen in cupcakes but some of those are really impressive.

I really don't get elaborately decorated cakes. All looks and no substance IMHO. Give me a delicious piece of humble Victoria sponge or a bloody good brownie any day.

As for Choccywoccydoodah, I've heard nothing but bad things about them. Apparently they use cardboard layers to achieve the height. They also royally fucked up a FOF's wedding cake. Think white chocolate instead of milk chocolate, wrong decoration, wrong decorations. Nothing about the cake matched what was ordered. They didn't even complain!

*Wrong WORDING, I meant to say!