What should I charge for my cakes?

The most important aspect of figuring out how much to charge for your cakes is deciding how much you want to make an hour. If you look under the job listings in your area and find a cake decorating position, you can see what hourly rate a bakery is paying. You can also call bakeries and ask for prices of decorated cakes, 3-D cakes, etc. That would at least give you an idea of what is being charged in your area. The last thing you want to do is under-charge for your time and skill. It's that thought in your head that...oh I'm just starting out...I just want people to see what I can do...after I build my business up I will charge more. DON'T DO IT!

Yes, you will probably make less of a profit than a bakery would for the same cake since you don't buy in bulk like they do...which is even more of a reason to keep your pricing competitive but not less.

You're an artist...get paid for your talent.

So what can you expect in a Cake Decorating interview?

So what can you expect in an interview? They'll want the usual resume of course. If you have pictures of cakes you've done, bring them along. Or if you have your pictures online make sure you write down the address of where they're located. Don't expect them to hire you just because of your pictures. They show your artistic ability but you can't see how fast a person is with them. Your actual size Chewbacca cake looks amazing but it took you a week to put together. Next will be a skills test. All bakeries will have a different skills test. Some will want you to just decorate a small cake with a border on the top and bottom, a few flowers and probably write “Happy Birthday”. If your applying for a position that entails decorating wedding cakes, they might ask you to decorate one of those. One bakery I was hired at asked me to freehand draw a horse with icing onto a paper plate. Another bakery gave me 3 hours to decorate a small birthday cake with icing balloons; Freehand draw the Philly Fanatic and airbrush him; Cut a cake into the shape of a sports jersey and draw a sports logo on it; Cover a cake with rolled fondant and copy a design from one of their sample cakes; Finally, put together a 3 tiered cake in a New England / beach / lighthouse theme. Whew...that was fun. I did get the job and I finished in under the time they gave me. This interview was more involved but the money was more as well. Just ask ahead of time as to what they are expecting from you.

Can Cake Decorating make you a living or add to your existing income?

If you look at some of the “Salary” websites, you’ll find that choosing Cake Decorating as a career will not necessarily place you on easy street. I can attest to that myself… at certain companies. It’s not that way everywhere though. Depending on your experience and expertise you can easily expect to make $20 an hour or more if you have the experience. Making good money will require you have skills in wedding cakes, fondant, sculpting, free hand drawing as well as many other skills. As with applying to any position, your pay is negotiable. We cake decorators are artists. Don't let anybody tell you differently.

How to make a 3D Yoda Cake...Finished!!!

So, here he is. Yoda in a tux with his ragged Jedi cape. The body is stacked pound cake. The walking stick is made from pastillage. The hands and feet are rice krispy treats. And fondant, fondant...and more fondant.

Everything on Yoda is homemade. The fondant is marshmallow fondant. Even when I have a cake like this where I am charging a decent amount, I can't get myself to spend money on premade fondant. Marshmallows, water, powdered sugar and a microwave and badda boom badda bing...you have fondant. One thing that people want to know is how I made the black fondant. I just make chocolate fondant by substituting some cocoa powder for powdered sugar and then add black food coloring paste. That way you don't need a ton of food coloring and the fondant ends up tasting like a tootsie roll.

Got any questions or comments? Let me know.

Sculpting the Head

The obviously most important feature of Yoda is his head and face. I am using Pastillage for his head as well as his eyes. I used non-toxic markers to make his brown eyes and black pupils. Pastillage sets up very quickly, so you have to move fast. But, once it is dried you don't have to worry about anything sagging or cracking.

First I made a mold out of krispy treats. I attached the mold to a piece of pvc pipe. This will allow me to shape the head and then the body.

How to make a 3D Yoda Cake

I am in the gathering-of-information stage for a Groom's Cake. The customer wants a 3D Yoda in a tuxedo, wearing his tattered coat or cape. I will be posting my progress and step by step photos and descriptions.

In this phase I have gathered a number of photos, as you can see below:

Hellboy Cake Sculpture

Take a look at this cake sculpture from Instructables .com. Very cool and a step by step instruction manual.

Hellboy Cake Sculpture