How much to pay a friend to make a Birthday cake??

[Pipercloe]

My friends son, who is 16 bakes lovely cakes.

I asked if he would mind baking one for DH birthday.

He is excited to make the cake, but I have no idea how much I should pay for this, I have no clue how much even the ingredients would cost for a cake. I’m on a bit of a budget currently, so don’t want to pay lots but also don’t want to under pay.

What is a reasonable price? 😬

Thanks George, i'll take that very seriously.

Thankfully I'm an educated professional capable of reading the regulations in question and judging that they absolutely do not apply to me.

Offer to Pay him at least an extra £40

On top of the ingredients

Anything less is just a bit embarrassing

That'll be £60 for his time alone.

I would pay for the cost of ingredients plus £20 hr . The time and effort deserves to be appreciated.
edited because I think anyone’s time is worth £20 hr regardless of age!

Is it a special birthday that DH is having ?

as a 3 tier birthday cake is special.

and will cost !

I think giving him a fixed budget will be a good exercise for him in working out how much he is spending, how much he'd potentially make, how to work within a budget.

I agree with this.

Honestly i think a lot of people in the baking industry are determined to professionalise this type of thing. I suspect because reality is, the fact that there are lots of skilled hobby bakers out there happily making a retirement cake for Ken from accounts for free, is one of the biggest factors limiting what people are then willing to pay a "professional" baker for their time.

I've never bought a professional cake for the huge price tags you see quoted on here, I'd always simply nake my own. Its not that hard once you've learned a few techniques and built up a stash of kit. Its a hobby to me, i enjoy the time I spend doing it so I don't need to charge for it. Of course the professional bakers hate people like me, it undercuts anyone wanting to be paid for time spent on this.

If the ship has sailed with giving him a budget I'd whack £30 on top of the ingredients cost / round that to the nearest 5.

I make cakes and occasionally sell them. From that description, I’d charge around £100. You have to consider the ingredients, time, electricity etc. It’s not cheap to make a cake.

Absolutely great if you have the time to learn techniques and have the ability to decorate a cake 🤦‍♀️Many people do not have the time or inclination to do it themselves!

I used to make cakes for family and friends and received no money for it. I did stop not because I didn't like it but it was very time consuming. Ingredients can cost anything from £20-£30. It included different packs of fondant icing, as I used to make the iced decorations myself, the base, the basic ingredients, cake box. It would take a couple of days with both evenings before dedicated to it. It really depends on exactly how detailed and decorated the cake is. Baking it is the easy part, it's all the rest!

Agree with this for the most part and that’s likely the reason for backlash in here.

However, I am actually a professional baker and really I couldn’t care less about hobbyists. There are customers out there for us all and everyone has different budgets. 💕

Absolutely great if you have the time to learn techniques and have the ability to decorate a cake 🤦‍♀️Many people do not have the time or inclination to do it themselves

Of course. But for many people it is enjoyable.

I often think we've lost track of the notion of a hobby. Everyone wants to do everything for money. Its not enough to love singing & enjoy the church choir etc, everyone wants to be a professional singer.

There's space for hobbyists and professionals. As a pp said for all the people out there who love doing it for fun, there's all those who hate it and are happy to pay £150 for a child's birthday cake in order to not think about it.

A retired friend in my village charges me £45 for a one tier fondant iced cake with a few fondant decorations on (fondant letters spelling a name, for example) for my kids
birthday parties. (I’d pay more if she asked, but it’s always £45!)

if there is anything particular / fancy the kids ask for in terms of decorations, i buy them and give them to her.

amazed at the number of people that don't understand the concept of a reuseable cake container
ANGIX 30cm Cake Box with Handle

That's already a lot of money buy the ingredients and then pay him £15 an hr still a bargain .

I'm amazed all the people assuming he must want paying.

I'd be so embarrassed if friends offered money for me making them a cake (beyond ingredients cost). I'm doing it as a friend, being offered money would make me feel like they didn't value me as a friend and felt obliged to pay

Do be aware some people could be quite offended at being offered hourly wage etc for something they want to offer as a gift or sign of appreciation.

It's not that people don't understand the concept. It's more so that when you're baking a cake for somebody, they usually take the cake away and it gets eaten over the course of a few days. It also doesn't look professional presented in one of those. They're fine for a cake for your nana, but for a birthday party or occasion, people generally want a board and box they don't need to then return.

Unless he's registered with his local council to allow him to sell food from his home then it's a moot point. He can legally only charge you for cost of ingredients.

Ingredients will be more than you think. Butter and eggs alone are pricey now.

I’d pay for the ingredients and then thirty quid on top.

Didn't you? Presumably you know they take a few hours and that people will charge more than minimum wage for a skill like cake making and decorating. If you'd thought about it for a few seconds you would have realised you'd be looking at £30-40 just in labour at least, plus the ingredients.

I think you need to give him at least £60.

You don't really suggest only to pay for ingrediens?

At least the cosy of the ingredients, which is quite pricey these days. Plus the cake board, the cake box to carry it in. Plus minimum hourly wage for his age group

Add Macmillan coffee mornings to that list too.

I'd get him an Amazon gift voucher then.