Guides / Cafés
How to price a custom cake so decorating hours get paid
Ingredients are a tenth of the price. The hours with the piping bag are the rest, and most bakers give them away.
Skip the reading. The tool does this maths for you, free, as you type.
Price a cakeA three-tier fondant cake has forty dollars of ingredients and seven hours of skilled work in it. Bakers who price from the ingredients end up earning less than minimum wage on their best work. Price from the hours.
The formula
Labour = (baking + decorating hours) × the rate you need. Direct cost = ingredients + labour + box, board and delivery. Cost = direct × (1 + overhead share). Price = cost × (1 + profit). Per serving = price ÷ servings.
What a good number looks like
Take the order and put the deposit in the calendar.
It pays you but not the business. Fine occasionally, not as a rule.
You would pay to make this cake. Offer a simpler design instead.
What to do about it
- Time three cakes with a phone stopwatch. Decorating always takes longer than you think.
- Set an hourly rate that is at least what a skilled decorator would cost you to hire.
- Charge for delivery. Driving a cake across town is an hour of your life.
Now do it with your numbers.
Free, no account, saved on your device. The verdict comes back while you type.
Price a cake