Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Food/recipes

For related content, visit our food content hub.

Original poster

Been quoted £80 for a 1st bday cake - wtf?!?

47 replies

u32ng · 13/01/2014 21:04

Am I being naive or ripped off??

Just want a vanilla sponge in the shape of a no.1; white icing with coloured dots that spell DS's (short!) name; & a little icing bear on top. To feed 30. It's just a local lady too not some fancy pants cake maker.

Me & DH had not expected or budgeted for this!!

Seriously thinking of making it myself even though I don't get home from work until 6.45pm (and his bday is a Saturday)....

OP posts:
Thread gallery
9
kansasmum · 13/01/2014 21:08

Bloody hell that's a rip off! I make birthday cakes for kids and a cake as easy as you describe- I would charge £30-£35!!

ParenthoodJourney · 13/01/2014 21:08

You're being ripped off that is a basic number cake !

Do you use Facebook? They have a lot of area for sale groups. I found a lovely lady who did my DSs for 35 quid and that was a big cake with special ingredients for his diet

So in my experience you are being ripped off

CMOTDibbler · 13/01/2014 21:08

You are paying for her skill and time as well as ingredients - £80 sounds about right to me

amouseinawindmill · 13/01/2014 21:10

Bake the sponge in advance and freeze it. Then on the day before, ice the frozen cake using ready to roll icing. Takes barely any time. £80 sounds about right for a professional cake... which is why I do the bake and freeze trick instead.

SantasLittleMonkeyButler · 13/01/2014 21:11

For an overly elaborate cake, I wouldn't be surprised to be charged £80 - because of the work involved. But for a cake that most of us could have a fair stab at & doesn't seem that challenging for a professional, no!

I would second looking on Facebook. That seems to be where most of my local cake making small business owners hang out!

SantasLittleMonkeyButler · 13/01/2014 21:13

The price you can expect to pay may depend on whereabouts you live too.

We are sufficiently north enough for no-one to find £80 a reasonable price for a simple sponge cake Smile.

SoftSheen · 13/01/2014 21:13

Check out Mark's and Spencers cakes to order, including this Number 1 cake which can be iced with your own message, for £35.

RockCrushesLizard · 13/01/2014 21:14

I had similar, coloured blocks with DD's name and two teddies, from a professional, £30
It's not a difficult cake to do, so I think that's excessive

ilovepowerhoop · 13/01/2014 21:15

I had a cake for our 40th made in a local cake shop. It was in the shape of an ice bucket with a mini bottle of champagne sticking out of it - was only £52. I would expect a simple number cake to be cheaper than that

SoftSheen · 13/01/2014 21:17

Just seen that there is also a Teddy version, also £35 for 30 portions.

Purplehonesty · 13/01/2014 21:18

I charge £45 for mine but even then they would feed 40 plus people.
£80 is madness but there are others near me who would charge that and get away with it...

MikeLitoris · 13/01/2014 21:18

Normally I would say that you get what you pay for but that sounds really simple and I would expect a decent cake decorator to do that for £30-£40.

Number cakes are so easy! Bake a large rectangular cake and cut it into a number 1.

Cover it in a thin layer of buttercream. Get chocolate fingers and stick around the side. Either pipe little blobs of buttercream on top or use white choc malteasers.

I would buy a little bear figure if you really want one.

I make cakes and this is one of the most popular ones I do.

Yardarm · 13/01/2014 21:20

I always do simple home made cakes and have used ready rolled icing but usually just do butter icing. Not elaborate decorations, either small sweets, sprinkles or ready made sugar decorations from kitchen shop or supermarket. Always goes down well and a small fraction of the price.

therunnawaybride · 13/01/2014 21:22

I had an almost identical cake made for my dd's first birthday, no 1 in lilac and purple icing with her (long) name on and little flowers all over, made by a local cake lady cost me £25! And I gave her £30 because it was beautiful! £80 is a total rip off!!! I'm in Devon btw

MikeLitoris · 13/01/2014 21:26

Like this but with white chocolateif you prefer.

You could easily use colored fondant to put dots over it if you want them.

Been quoted £80 for a 1st bday cake - wtf?!?
NeverKnowinglyUnderstood · 13/01/2014 21:28

it is alot of money
I wouldn't charge that Max £50 for that.
BUT it does depend where you are.

Original poster
u32ng · 14/01/2014 07:42

I'm up north so it's not like I'm falling victim to London prices or anything. In my head I had about £50 MAX!

Going to look into a couple more different people I think.

Thanks for the M&S link - great looking cakes though we do have our heart set on a number 1 with a bear theme.

Also thanks for the freezer tip. I'll store that one away for when we actually have a decent sized freezer that could fit a cake in it!

OP posts:
cakewitch · 16/01/2014 22:02

Just a quick question, op... how much do you think ingredients are for a cake this size??? How many hours of her time do you think the cake decorator will take to make it?? And do you think she should earn less than minimum wage for her time?? Because i dont think she should
. the problem with making celebration cakes (and, may i add, the reason i WONT do them) is that far too many people do it as a 'hobby' or a 'favour' and dont charge correctly for it. So people honestly believe that 20 or so quid is a fair price, and 80 quid is some sort of 'rip off'... ITS NOT!!!

Beehatch · 16/01/2014 22:09

I'm laughing at that M&S cake having CBA spelt out on the train, like blatantly admitting you are not a dab hand at baking!

ilovepowerhoop · 16/01/2014 22:09

she was expecting to pay £50, not £20. I paid £52 for mine and it was from an actual shop with overheads, etc. I wouldnt expect a simplish cake to cost £80

ilovepowerhoop · 16/01/2014 22:14

the shop I got mine from shows a number 1 cake for £44 (doesnt have a bear on it but could be added for less than an extra £36!!)

Been quoted £80 for a 1st bday cake - wtf?!?
nannycook · 17/01/2014 19:07

u32, i bake lots of cakes, made 5 in the last 2 weeks including a number 50 cake, i charged £50 which i believe was maybe abit underpriced but it was a very big cake, choc with chocolate ganache covered in white sugarpaste and decorated with red,blue and white stars , the board was also covered in white sugarpaste which took a massive amount of icing as the board for the two numbers was huge, the box and board alone cost me £6.00. The icing cost me around a tenner, double cream and bourneville choc cost me £3.00, then the cake mix itself was alot then on top it took 2 hrs as made two cakes, the amount of time it takes to decorate both cake and deliver all takes time.

Cheap cake isnt good, and good cake isnt cheap, something i stick by.

however i do think your cake does sound expensive for the skill involved which to be honest doesnt sound to be alot, all i can say is shop around.

Original poster
u32ng · 19/01/2014 08:52

Having had the faff of baking & icing my first Christmas cake this year I do understand there is time, effort, skill & ingredients cost.

Buuut, it's just a simple sponge, not huge & not needing to be decorated big time like a fairy princess castle or something. I do think £80 is a wee bit over the odds. The pic is what I had I mind.

Been quoted £80 for a 1st bday cake - wtf?!?
OP posts:
isitsnowingyet · 19/01/2014 08:57

Wow - some amazing cakes on this thread.

MarvellousMechanicalMouseOrgan · 19/01/2014 09:08

We got a birthday cake from our local cafe who make their own cakes. It cost £25 and was really gorgeous. Do you have a place like that near you?

Swipe left for the next trending thread