Please could somebody help me price a cake?

[Lovecat]

I've had someone ask if they can have a price for a cake I made for my niece last year - as it was for family it was a freebie, I have no idea what's reasonable to charge...

Pic here: www.flickr.com/photos/lovecat66/8006446359/ and the next two in that photostream are close up details.

I've costed the cake out and for a 10" it would be c.£23.00 (£18 for an 8") for ingredients and electric - based on the one I made before I think it's about 4 hours solid work. It's a 4 layer vanilla madeira with jam and buttercream filling.

What would you pay for it? If I give myself an hourly rate it would work out at £58/£60 - that seems one hell of a lot for a child's birthday cake...

Anyone who's done this before and can give me some advice would be much appreciated!

Also - ridiculous question I know, but how many slices would you get out of a 10" cake? As I made it for my sister's DD, I have no idea! It got put into about 15 party bags, all the adults at the party had a slice (another 6-7) and it was then eaten gradually at home over a week...

Charge what it's worth, they can say no if they are tightfisted want to. That's a lot of work!

Fwiw, i do dn's cake every year to help out sil. This year he'd started school so had a whole class party with another child. The other mother gave me a card containing a £20 voucher! For something that cost a tenner in materials, i enjoyed doing, and was part of dn's present! (no way to return it, i didn't open it till after as was running round after kids, plus we don't live nearby). It was 33 cupcakes with "happy birthday dn and friend" iced on, so hardly time consuming or fancy.

So £60 for your pic seems very reasonable :)

This keeps coming up in conversations, I think most people just don't realise how much work goes into making a beautiful cake. I don't actually think £60 sounds too unreasonable, but I'm sure you'll get a catsbum face if you quote that much!

I was quoted 50 pounds for a similar sized cake and was no where near as well decorated as yours

What a lovely cake. I would pay £60 for it. It is also useful to say will feed 30 children. Usually when I order a birthday cake for 30 I find that it easily feeds 30 children and adults. Good luck.

Yes I agree. £60 for that level of decoration is reasonable. All the little characters take time.

If they dont want to pay that then they can have a crap asda one for a fiver.

When I saw the pic I was going to say minimum £50, you want to make it worth your while after all. If they want a cheapo one, they need to go and get a supermarket one.

Thanks very much, you have reassured me. Like PurplePidjin, I really enjoy baking so I feel weird charging money for it!

Let's see if they want to pay it or they catsbum off to Tesco...:o

I make cakes for a living, its so hard to price isn't it?

I think £60 is a very reasonable price for a cake that detailed. You can always tell them if its too costly you can reduce the decor!

I think your cake is awesome I had a tall Dalek cake made for ds s birthday which was amazing and made by a woman at the local bakery, they charged 40£. Tbh honest I would have paid a bit more but around here about 40£ is what they charge for a similar cake. (am in the east by the way)

Lovecat, abit late to reply i know, but moved house yesterday. I make cakes too, i charge £30 for an 8inch, £40 9inch, and £50 10inch, sponge with jam and buttercream, if thats any help at all?