Sunday, January 25, 2015

Decorate Your Own Cupcakes

One of my favorite little girl clients is not that much of a little girl any more.  She decided this year instead of a cake she wanted to decorate her own cupcakes at her party.  I'm not sure when she got so big, and it kind of broke my heart a little bit.  The cupcakes made at the party though were fantastic and so creative!  I made the cupcakes out of yellow cake and made purple, medium tone blue, and hot pink buttercream icing.  The rest of the decorations her mother provided!   

The final cost of these cupcakes was:
Buttercream Icing per Batch: $3.55 x 4.5 = $15.98
Yellow Cake: $2.81 x 1.5 = $4.22
Labor: $7.50 per hour x 2 = $15
Total: $35.20





Thomas the Train Front View



I have made several Thomas cakes before, but never a front view - always a side view.  Frequently, after making one cake a few times I like to change it up which is why I tried the front view this time.  This Thomas the Train cake was hand cut and created out of a 9x13" cake.  I did not use a cake pan.  He is yellow cake with blue, black, white, gray, yellow, and red buttercream icing. I think the details are what make cakes special, so I cut out around the face to make it stand "out front" just like on Thomas, the cake is wider in some parts than others, Thomas' nose bumps out, the tires have appropriate train rails, his eyes are sunk in a bit while his cheeks pop out, and there is a step between the undercarriage of the train and the blue body.  Most of these details are hard to see in pictures, but they made the cake look so special.  

The price reflects 2014 pricing because it was commissioned in 2014.  The final price for this cake was:
Buttercream Icing per Batch: $7.65
Yellow Cake: $1.93
Wrapping and Plating: $4.88
Labor: $22.50
Total: $36.96







Monday, January 12, 2015

Bot and Geo Cakes and Cupcakes

These birthday cake and cupcakes were made for a little boy's fourth birthday who loves Team Umizoomi.  I had never heard of the cartoon or characters before, but after doing some research Bot and Geo are pretty cute and made great cakes!  They are both made of yellow cake with green, yellow, white, blue, black, orange, peach, light blue, and red buttercream icing.  The cakes were for the friend party and the cupcakes were a little extra treat for his home birthday party. These cakes were commissioned before my 2015 price increase so the prices below reflect 2010-2014 prices. 

Bot Cake:
Buttercream Icing per Batch: $6.38
Yellow Cake: $1.93
Wrapping and Plating: $4.88
Labor: $24
Total: $37.19

Geo Cake:
Buttercream Icing per Batch: $6.38
Yellow Cakes: $.97
Wrapping and Plating: $4.88
Labor: $21
Total: $33.23

12 Cupcakes:
Buttercream Icing per Batch: $2.55
Yellow Cakes: $.97
Foils: $1
Labor: $4.50
Total: $9.02













Sunday, January 11, 2015

Price Increase

Greetings!  Hope everyone is having a wonderful 2015.  I wanted to let everyone know that due to the rising cost of groceries it finally became necessary I increase my prices slightly for the first time in four years.  I also have never taken into account operation costs, overhead, or delivery, so that slight increase is reflected in the labor cost.  The new prices are as follows.   

Buttercream Icing per Batch: $3.55
Cream Cheese icing per batch: $2.92
Yellow or Chocolate Cake: $2.81
Wrapping and Plating: $4.88
Labor: $7.50 per hour