What's the cost of the cake I saw on TV??

Cake pricing can be such a mystery, how are you supposed to know what to expect?  What is a realistic budget as you walk into the store to order a cake?

Part of the mystery is perpetuated by the TV shows you see on Food Network and TLC.  They're so much fun to watch the cakes being created and see the drama unfold in the kitchen... but aside from that, these shows omit some really significant parts of the process: namely the time and labor and material costs that go into creating these cakes, which ultimately translate into the prices of these works of art.  No wonder you don't know what to expect!

In the industry we're a bit more knowledgeable and aware about pricing that's out there.  To put things in perspective for you, here are some points of reference--at Carlo's Bakery (Buddy Valastro's Cake Boss) a consultation costs $100, which includes cake samples and refreshments. This $100 is then deducted from the cake order total once you order.

Cake Boss's pricing for wedding and specialty cakes, with basic buttercream, starts at $8.00 per person. For more complex cake designs (things you've seen featured on TV or in a magazine), cost is closer to $12.00 to $18.00 per person. Adding unique design requests and creative artwork to the cake order then increases the price from there.

 

Duff Goldman of Ace of Cakes (Charm City Cakes) provides the following pricing: "Wedding and tiered cakes start at $7 a serving. We find that most of our clients choose designs that start at about $15 per serving. There is a 50 serving minimum on wedding and tiered cakes.  Minimum price for 3D [and] sculptural cakes $1,000."  Delivery is priced at $175/hr.

We want to share these things with you not to discourage, but to educate you about our industry!

Here's the good news!!:  Dessert Works' 3D and sculptural cakes start at $200 (cost for a smaller 3D figurine on a standard-sized cake is even less).   Our wedding cakes start at $4 or $4.50/serving.  We deliver cakes for $25/hr travel time, plus $0.50/mile (round trip). Pretty reasonable, no?  And these prices include the costs of producing our cakes fresh, made completely on-site, and with high quality ingredients.  We aim to produce cakes that taste as good as they look - the inside matters too!

Unique and specialty designs may be subject to individual pricing, but we're able to offer competitive pricing by offering "standard" designs and commonly requested themes at rates lower than completely custom cakes would be priced at.  Please call us (781-708-9088) to talk further!  We'd love to hear from you and talk about your specific cake ideas more!

How do you cut a round cake??

We're so glad you asked!  We get this question all the time.  Smaller cakes (like a 6" round) are easier to handle, as you can just cut sections from the center (as you would cut a pie or a pizza).

But what to do with a larger cake?  You can't cut directly from the center, otherwise you'll have quite long and thin slices, which really aren't conducive for serving.  Instead: start with a concentric circle.  Depending on how long you'd like each serving of cake to be, come in with your knife from the outer edge about 3" or so, and cut a circle this distance from the outer edge (effectively creating a "ring" of the outer edge).  Then, cut ~1" wide slices all the way around your ring. 

 

If your center circle is small enough, feel free to go back to the standard "wedge" cut from the center to finish serving up the cake.  If your center circle is still too large, go ahead and create another concentric circle, again cut slices from the outer ring, and keep working your way until you make it to the center of the cake.

Try this technique at your next birthday, anniversary party, shower, or mitzvah -- you'll look like a true professional!

The Fake Cake Myth

It is a popular misconception with wedding cakes, that having a fake cake made of styrofoam (also known as a dummy cake) and *sheet cakes to feed your guests will save you money. (*As a side note, here at Dessert Works we call the concept most people are referring to as a sheet cake a back-up cake. Most people think of a sheet cake as a rectangular cake with frosting. Our back-up cakes are most often round, and are the same 3 layers of cake, 2 layers of mousse filling and authentic buttercream frosting that our tiered cakes are make of. They simply aren't decorated or put on display. They are behind-the-scenes so that you have enough cake to feed all of your guests, but no one sees them.) Today for Sundays with the Chef we're addressing the misconception of the dummy wedding cake with a big healthy dose of reality!

Is a plain, undecorated back-up cake less expensive than a tiered cake? Yes, it probably is. However, what most people do not factor in is the fact that the majority of the cost of a tiered cake is in the time spent decorating, the materials used to decorate, and the skill and experience of the person doing the decorating.

So let's imagine you have 200 guests coming to your wedding. You want a 5 tier, extravagant dummy cake plus enough cake to feed all 200 of your guests. Would that dummy cake alone be less expensive than the same cake made of real cake? Yes (but still not as much less as you might think). But now add in the back-up cakes. If you think about your total cost in terms of the time spent baking the back-up cakes, materials and ingredients (both for the edible and inedible cakes), and decorating of the dummy cake, it will end up costing you more money to have this dummy cake created in addition to the real cake to feed your guests, than it would have been to just create the wedding cake out of actual cake!

Makes sense right? More time + more materials = more cost!

If you're really on a tight budget, and can't afford that extravagant 5 tier cake that you've been dreaming of, that doesn't mean you're out of options. Instead of thinking fake cake plus back-up cakes (more materials + more time = more cost), think smaller tiered cake and back-up cakes! If you have a 3 tier cake to feed 100 people created in a smaller scale version of that 5 tier cake you're dreaming of and back-up cakes to feed your remaining 100 guests, THEN you're saving money! Think about it compared to our first scenario... There's no extra materials like styrofoam, in fact you're using less to actually decorate the cake that will be on display because it's smaller. You also need fewer back-up cakes because you've used real cake for the cake that will be on display. VIOLA!

Now, this certainly works with a scenario of 200 guests. But keep in mind that the fewer guests you have, the less money you will save by taking this route. If you have 120 guests, the difference between a 3 tier cake for 100 with a back-up cake for 20 and a tiered cake for the all 120 guests in minimal, if anything.

So there you have it - the dummy cake myth - BUSTED!

Rolled Chocolate vs Edible Image

When creating a custom cake based on a particular image or invitation, there are two different techniques we can use. Today for Sundays with the Chef, we are showing you examples of both techniques so that you can see the difference.

The first way we can go about this is to create the image by hand out of rolled chocolate. We call this technique rolled chocolate applique.

On the cake above, the scene itself is created out of buttercream. The children in Halloween costumes were then created by hand, out of rolled chocolate and the details were added by hand in buttercream.

The other way would be to use an edible image. The exact image is scanned into a machine and printed out with edible ink, on edible paper. The images are then cut out and applied to a rolled chocolate backing.

You can see on the cake above that the same background scene was created out of buttercream on the cake. The edible images were then added to the scene.

So the next time you have a specific image you want added to a cake, you know the difference between your 2 options when we tell you we can use rolled chocolate applique or an edible image.

Q&A

Today, for Sundays with the Chef, we're asking you what you would like to read about on Sundays!

Is there something you want to ask our Head Chef? Have a baking question? Want to know something about Dessert Works? Wondering how many cakes we create in a week? Curious what our favorite desserts here are?

ASK US! Leave your question in a comment below and we may use your question as the inspiration for an upcoming Sundays with the Chef post!

Fondant vs. Rolled Chocolate

With the multitude of cake decorating shows and cake competitions on television, just about everyone has heard of fondant. If you haven't heard of it, it is basically a sugar dough product that is rolled out and used to decorate cakes.

Since everyone sees fondant used on television, when they request it used on their cake, they are surprised to learn that we generally do not use fondant here at Dessert Works. Instead, we use rolled white chocolate, also known as modeling chocolate.

Essentially, the rolled chocolate creates the same look as fondant. However, if you have ever tasted fondant, you know that it does not taste very good. We can make the rolled chocolate any color we want, it gives the same appearance and it tastes a lot better!

Even though the fact that the rolled chocolate tastes better is important to us, that is not the main reason why we use it! Chef Kristen Repa also finds the rolled chocolate easier to work with. When working with fondant it tends to dry out very quickly. Rolled chocolate does not dry out as quickly, allowing more time for Kristen to perfect the details of what she is creating!

So the next time you are in the store and one of our staff suggests using rolled chocolate, you will now know exactly what they are talking about!

Kristen Repa: About Our Head Chef

For today's edition of Sundays with the Chef, we're going share a little more about Desert Works' Head Chef, Kristen Repa!

Kristen began her career in the industry over 15 years ago. She has worked as Executive Pastry Chef for The Catered Affair, as an apprentice chef at The Ritz Carlton Boston, and as a cake decorator for Konditor Meister. She also trained at Gerstner, the world renowned pastry shop in Vienna, Austria.

Kristen has owned Dessert Works Bakery, with her husband Leonardo Savona, since June of 2001. Dessert Works began as a small shop in Medfield, Massachusetts and quickly outgrew its space due to Kristen's reputation for outstanding desserts and beautifully artistic designs. In 2004, Dessert Works was relocated to a larger facility in Norwood, Massachusetts to meet demand.

Kristen's specialty is her creativity and artistry, making Dessert Works unique to any other pastry shop in the area. Walk into our shop and you will see the beauty Kristen and her staff bring to dessert. Taste one of our cakes and you will understand why we have customers all across New England!