I've only made slightly more than a handful of cakes for close friends who have dietary restrictions like dairy-free, vegetarian, and even vegan. As well, my main objective has always aim to reduce sugar in all my recipes. I've attempted as well as adjusted different recipes before I was happy with what I now call my own – apparently, it's a hit! Everyone who's tried my cakes are repeatedly asking to place orders. The cakes I've posted are all slightly different 1) vanilla buttercream frosting rosette cake for a one year old smash cake (friends were too pleased with the cake that it didn't end up getting smashed but shared instead after photoshoot), 2) expresso chocolate cake (dairy-free), 3) mixed berries chocolate cake (dairy-free, 100% real fruit used on top and filling, vegetarian safe), 4) chocolate fondant cake (not my favorite as the marshmallow fondant is above my threshold of sweetness, but everyone else loved it!), 5) lightly whipped caramel cheesecake (home made caramel, no bake), 6) vanilla cupcakes for a kid's small party (100% vegan), 7) my own kid's special order (very first ever cake!)
I gave the side gig idea some thought and realized I absolutely enjoy catering cakes to people and watching their faces light up when they see and taste their cake. No jokes, cakes require a lot of effort and I think I'm getting the hang of it. I could really earn the extra cash to help with the inflating market and bills too.
Sooooo how does one start a gig? How does one calculate their cost to fairly price a cake while being competitive in pricing as well? Most of cakes are between 6-8 inches wide and 4-8 inches in height, if that may also help. Thank you kindly in advance!
by QuteFx
4 Comments
I’m pretty new to baking as well and struggling with the same issue. I talked so someone I know who works in the baking industry and she told me that your time is worth a lot but at the same time you can’t expect to charge for 12hrs of work just because you’re still new and still struggle. She told me “when in doubt, just calculate the cost of ingredients and multiply by 3”. Of course different details and requests on cakes will be more but I think it’s a good starting point. Hope that helps!
I can throw some numbers at you, but first you should see what the pricing is like in your local area for specialty baked goods. If you can’t find anything, then increase your prices because you’re in a niche market.
Not knowing your area and the fact that you’re baking for friends, I’d suggest $40 for your espresso cake or a dozen simply decorated cupcakes. For the rosette and the 100% fruit, that price definitely goes up, $60. For the fancy decorated slide four and the Pokémon cake, $80. Depending on the size of that jigglypuff, I could even see that price higher depending on how many hours the decoration took you.
Cost of materials and cost per hour added together. Then ask would I pay that. General I’d say somewhere between $50-$100 per cake. That’s what I pay a bakery.
You do fantastic work